If you are growing cabbages, kale, broccoli, cauliflower or other brassica plants, it is a really good idea to protect them before cabbage white butterflies start laying their eggs! Butterfly netting is a must for both the serious gardener and the 'grown your own' novice alike, although butterflies are not all bad news - they feed on nectar and pollinate flowers – their caterpillars can do extraordinary damage to your brassica crops. What to do if you don’t have hosepipe? Don’t worry, you can make some nifty net supports instead – Find some old jam jars or beer bottles, upturn them and place over the top of 1.3m high bamboo canes. Push the canes into the soil at intervals along the sides and middle of the brassica patch, then you can drape the netting over the top and secure at the sides. Keep butterflies away from your brassicas and other vegetables, meaning you get to enjoy the fruits of your labour. Trim off excess netting using the scissors, leaving a 2-3″ skirt all around. Fold this under and secure it with staples to the base of the cages. Finally, fire in a few pins along the top support rail to prevent any movement of the netting.

Insect netting is a very fine mesh that prevents insects and butterflies entering, and is suitable for susceptible crops in the brassica family like brussels sprouts, broccoli, and cabbage. A superior weighted netting, weighing in at 17g per square metre. Perfect for protecting your brassica crop and other vegetables in the kitchen garden or on the allotment. Soft to the touch but definitely hard on butterflies, this netting is the ideal material to keep your home-grown vegetables and brassicas in particular caterpillar-free. Although the 7mm mesh netting is small enough to keep out the cabbage white butterfly, it will also exclude a number of bees and other beneficial insects which help with pollination. For protecting vegetables that require pollination we would recommend removing the net during the flowering period or that you chose a larger mesh netting such as our 20mm x 20mm diamond mesh bird netting. Simply push two bamboo lengths halfway into the soil on either side of the row of plants you wish to cover (about 2 foot apart should be fine, but play around with distances to suit your plot). These will form the base of the hoop, holding it steady. Now thread the hose pipe onto the bamboo at each end, pushing it right down to the soil if you can, to make the hoop. Repeat this at 2-3 foot intervals as pictured.You'll frustrate the cabbage white butterflies’ season after season with this anti butterfly netting as the 100% polyethylene construction gives a long-life expectancy. All you need is a few equal lengths of old hosepipe measuring around 100-130cm (we’ve used an old drip hose) and a few short lengths of bamboo, approx 40-50cm long.

The netting is lightweight and can be suspended on a structure of garden canes or hoops. If using canes, it is worth protecting the caps that touch the net to ensure that these do not damage the mesh.You'll frustrate the cabbage white butterflies season after season with this anti butterfly netting as the 100% polyethylene construction gives a long life expectancy and the multifilament technology used in the manufacture provides a soft, lightweight yet high strength netting. The cheapest types of bird netting tend to be in smaller sizes, and need to be stretched to reach their full size. There are many stronger and more durable types of bird netting available, which also have the advantage of being easier to use. The recommended mesh size for brassicas is typically 1/4 inch or 0.6 centimeters. This size is small enough to prevent common pests like cabbage worms and flea beetles from entering the cage while allowing proper airflow and sunlight penetration. The butterfly netting is made from strong HDPE and UV stabilised. With the feel of soft fabric to touch and durable enough to last for many years.

The Wonderwall requires no base and no specialist tools for installation. Installation takes 2 - 3 hours for 1 - 2 people (including tea and chatting time!) Easy to follow instructions, with full colour photographs of each stage of installation. A Brassica cage should ideally be at least 2 feet (60 cm) high to provide sufficient space for the plants to grow and to protect them from pests. However, for taller Brassica varieties, such as kale or Brussels sprouts, a height of 3-4 feet (90-120 cm) may be necessary to accommodate their vertical growth. The cage should be tall enough for adequate airflow and easy access for maintenance and harvesting.The soft butterfly netting is light enough to lay directly over crops and strong enough to be used to cover frames, cages, or hoops. This netting has a mesh size too compact for bees to fit through. As a result, if you are growing crops that need pollinating, remove this netting during flowering. Make sure the brassica net is propped up by hoops that are as high as the plants will get so that the net can stay there for the whole season. You can also prop the netting up with bamboo canes topped with jars. For broccoli, cavolo nero, red russian kale, and sprouts, 1.5m tall is about right. For cabbages, cauliflower, romanesco, turnips/swede and curly kale, 60-70cm would be fine. Choose mesh netting as pictured for best protection. Plant nasturtiums as a sacrificial crop nearby Soft Mesh Butterfly Netting issoft to the touch but definitely hard on butterflies, this butterfly netting is the ideal material to keep your home grown vegetables - and brassicas in particular - caterpillar-free. When left in place for the whole of the growing cycle, the final outcome from using butterfly netting can be a much healthier and larger crop.

The butterflies will be more likely to lay their eggs on the nasturtiums and the caterpillars will destroy the nasturtiums rather than your brassicas. Inspect leaves regularly and remove eggs/caterpillars The final job is to cover the brassica cage with the scaffolding netting. I selected the green netting as the blue can look a bit much on your plot. When you’re happy with the position, secure one long edge to the frame using the staples.The high strength knitted anti-butterfly netting can be draped over the frame and secured to the soil using the supplied plastic ground pegs.