We have a couple of beautiful heads of cauliflower and a nice set of broccoli. The cauliflower looked nice until we cut through it to find lots of little bugs, turning some of the flower inside dark. We have a few aphids on our mustard greens, but the cauli bugs do not look like aphids.
Is it possible to grow ANY Cruciferae up here without infestations? I have NEVER been able to grow ANY type without some kind of bugs. At least the aphids wait until the bok choy flowers before they infest….and our yard has lots of ladybugs! Is there any hope?
We recommend that you start your seeds indoors to reduce the threat of insect infestation. Once the plants have begun to establish themselves, you can move them outdoors.
These books have great information about growing vegetables in the Pacific Northwest:
Growing Vegetables West of the Cascades: The Complete Guide to OrganicGgardening (by Steve Solomon, Sasquatch Books, 2007)
Sunset Western Garden Book of Edibles (Sunset, 2010)
Winter Gardening in the Maritime Northwest(by Binda Colebrook).
Colebrook explains that crucifers are “susceptible to attack by clubroot, cabbage loopers, imported cabbageworms, cabbage maggots, and gray aphids.” Sunset recommends that to prevent pests, “plant in a different site each year. Row covers will protect plants from aphids, cabbage loopers, imported cabbage-worms, and cabbage root maggots. Collars made from paper cups or metal cans (with ends removed) deter cutworms, which chew off seedlings at the base.”