What's Growing on My Kale?

c64 on 19/05/2021 - 12:31
Last edited 19/05/2021 - 12:34

On the underside of my beautiful pristine kale leaves there are some very small, round, flat, disc-like objects. They easily dislodge with my fingers or under a spray of water. All under 60-mesh garden netting. The only noticeable pests I seem to have at the moment are occasional white-flies (which I'm going to address with a vacuum). Eggs of some sort? I don't think it is scale.

https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/37385/89091/1.jpg
https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/37385/89092/2.jpg
https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/37385/89093/3.jpg

Home & Garden Gardening Plant Vegetable

Comments

  • notdealbot on 19/05/2021 - 12:53

    looks like sources of protein.

  • elgrande on 19/05/2021 - 13:02
    -1

    That's fiscus misentatious feroli, I'd avoid it.

  • nocure on 19/05/2021 - 13:03
    +1

    Rust, spray with eco oil

  • one man clan on 19/05/2021 - 13:04

    Looks and sounds like scale to me

  • ESEMCE on 19/05/2021 - 13:51
    +2

    Cabbage Moth eggs. The caterpillars are fat and green, very hard to spot on Kale and other Brassica leaves.
    just wipe them off before they hatch.

    https://www.leafrootfruit.com.au/white-cabbage-moth/

  • Jolakot on 19/05/2021 - 13:56
    +1

    Looks like cabbage worm egg masses, and the fact that you can dislodge them basically confirms it. Not much you can do other than scrape them off at this stage, I don't know of any products that can kill eggs before they hatch.

    You should start spraying the leaves with Yates Nature's Way Caterpillar Killer Dipel as they start to hatch, you get about 40L of it after mixing with water for $20 at most garden supply stores. It contains a natural toxin that causes caterpillars to die pretty rapidly, without affecting most other beneficial insects or animals. Certified organic as well if that matters to you, but I mainly use it as it's entirely non-toxic to pets.

    • ESEMCE on 19/05/2021 - 14:10

      No need to spray IMHO if you just keep you eye out for eggs and scrape them away.
      Then keep an eye out for evidence of caterpillars in a month's time in case you miss a few eggs.
      They're well camouflaged, but not that hard to spot if you know they're present and they don't eat all that much really.

      • Jolakot on 19/05/2021 - 15:19

        I phrased that pretty poorly, no need to spray if the eggs never hatch, but if you notice actual caterpillars then spray.

        I've found that it's not so much the nibbled spots, but the fungal or bacterial infections that end up ruining leaves which almost always start in the same spots. Easier to kill caterpillars and do everyone around you a favor by reducing their numbers than to battle an infection.

  • Euphemistic on 19/05/2021 - 14:12
    +7

    Probably something slightly more edible than kale.

    • c64 on 19/05/2021 - 14:17
      -1

      yeah, i don't bother washing the leaves off cause i'm just chopping them leaves up and sauteing them in a frying pan

      • squidz on 19/05/2021 - 14:40

        why not…
        in thailand, they eat silk worm, grasshopper etc…
        prob ok

  • c64 on 19/05/2021 - 14:15

    i've had both cabbage moths and cabbage white butterflies back in summer/autumn but have since stopped due to the colder weather now.

    the cabbage white butterfly eggs they've got height to them so i'd say it isn't them.

    i think i've seen cabbage moth eggs.

    these things are pretty flat and small (photo taken with a macro lense) and they dislodge. in the 2nd photo i caught some white flies there so they are about twice the size of an adult white fly.

    the only other thing i could think of is scale but i thought it had a dome like appearance rather than being flat

    • ESEMCE on 19/05/2021 - 14:45

      Yeah, I agree that these do look flatter than a cabbage moth egg.
      I just assumed it was a regional variance though.

      Now I can see the white "flies" I think.
      They look pretty aphid-like to me. But it's hard to gauge the scale of the image.

    • Jolakot on 19/05/2021 - 15:29
      +1

      There are many species of cabbage worms.

      Imported cabbageworm eggs are usually tall and white/green, and what we mostly get here in Australia.
      Your pictures look exactly like cross-striped cabbageworm eggs:
      https://marysveggiegarden.files.wordpress.com/2020/03/cross-…

  • rompastompa on 19/05/2021 - 14:20

    Hey! That's Michael.

  • bazingaa on 19/05/2021 - 14:59

    may be some kind of eggs? btw, is there a white kale variety as shown in pictures? I don't eat kale but used to have a purple kale plant from a store bought stem just for fun.

    • c64 on 19/05/2021 - 17:29

      the photo was taken in sunlight. it's tuscan kale and the leaves are dark green. i like that variety the best. it grows vertically about 1m and you just snip the lowest leaves off the main trunk with scissors when you want to eat some.

  • ihbh on 19/05/2021 - 16:09

    Would love to see a pic of your garden.

  • c64 on 19/05/2021 - 17:11
    +1

    i think this is a cabbage moth nest. there was a thread like cap (like a spiders nest) and it covered hundreds of little grubs. these get a brown stripe running down the side and eventually turn brown when they get bigger. lucky i spotted this one

    https://files.ozbargain.com.au/upload/37385/89102/4.jpg

  • c64 on 15/06/2021 - 20:05

    after further research i've come to the conclusion that they are whitefly nymphs, which also probably explains why i've got an endless supply of whiteflies. i've hung a few pieces of yellow stick paper which seems to be catching a heap of the flyers. i will try spraying with some home-made white oil which hopefully will take care of the nymphs.

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