Cabbage Looper, Cabbage Worm

I get this pest on fall grown broccoli and or cabbage. So in order to avoid it I plant my crucifers in the early spring as a cultural method to avoid the pest.

I live in S. Florida and had this little beastie munching on my tomato plants. It seems they are way worse in the Summer/Fall months than any other time. I actually had a tomato plant almost croak because they devoured almost all the leaves off it.

Since I refuse to use pesticides on any of my fruits or vegetables; you can usually find me out in the garden chopping their heads off with a pair of rose pruners. This seems to do the trick! It also isn't hard to find them as they like to roll up in the leaves. Like that's going to protect them... HA! CHOP!!

I put forth a little more effort but, since I go to such lengths, I have super tasty tomatoes! Also, I got smart and bought a solar bug zapper. It's currently staked in my garden and catches the adults BEFORE... read more they can lay their eggs on my plants. So the combination of all that plus weekly applications of Neem and insecticidal soap have been keeping them under control. Tomatoes are rockin!

I put this one in the books as a win!

A highly destructive crop pest, cabbage loopers feed on members of the Cruciferae family (cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower), and even tomatoes and cucumbers. They feed on the undersides of leaves and move toward the center of the plant.