Recognize and fight pests

Prevent pest infestation

It is always easier to prevent pests than fight them. The following applies: A strong, healthy kale is less susceptible to pests. Therefore, pay attention to:

• regular watering (this also helps against earth fleas)
• sufficient supply of nutrients (horn shavings)

Furthermore, fertilization with nettle manure strengthens the kale and prevents pests. A vegetable net is also useful if you have heard of fly infestations in the area.

Neighbors that keep pests away

It is particularly clever to combine the kale with plants that pests do not like. These include, above all, strongly aromatic plants such as:

• basil
• Borage
• dill
• Eberraute
• celery root
• Tomatoes
• peppermint
• radish
• Marigolds
• rosemary
• sage
• mustard
• Tagetes
• thyme

Kale's greatest enemies

The most common of these is kale Cabbage white butterfly, the whitefly, the Cabbage fly

and attacked the earth flea. Even caterpillars of all kinds like to eat the kale.
This is how you can tell which pests are bothering your kale:

• Cabbage white butterfly: White butterfly that lays its eggs on the underside of the leaves. The caterpillars eat the leaves
• Whitefly: Eggs on the underside of the leaf; secrete sticky substance
• Cabbage fly: resembles housefly, the maggots eat the roots; the plant dies
• Earth flea: eat holes in the leaves and roots

What to do in the event of a pest infestation?

As with any pest infestation, it is important to proceed as quickly as possible with kale. The sooner you spot the pests and the faster you act, the more likely you are to get rid of the bugs.
The first step is to remove the severely infected leaves and dispose of them (if possible not on the compost heap next to the bed!). Then it is sprayed:

Fight pests naturally

Since you will eventually want to eat your vegetables, chemical pesticides are strongly discouraged. Even if the manufacturers like to tell something else, all chemical sprays are suspected of causing serious diseases such as Alzheimer's, cancer, allergies and others.
You should therefore use biological agents that are also much cheaper and just as efficient. The following means can be used to combat the above-mentioned pests:

• Soft soap solution
• Nicotine (from old cigarettes or tobacco plants), possibly with a little alcohol
• Water with neem oil