Cabbage, a widely grown garden vegetable, attracts various animals. Understanding which creatures are feasting on your cabbage is the first step toward protecting your harvest.
Mammalian Pests of Cabbage
Several mammals commonly target cabbage plants. Rabbits make clean, angled cuts on stems and leaves, often consuming entire young seedlings or tender outer leaves.
Deer leave ragged, torn edges on leaves, consuming large quantities of vegetation and trampling plants. Groundhogs, also known as woodchucks, cause significant damage to cabbage, often gnawing plants down halfway.
Voles, sometimes called meadow mice, are small rodents that feed on cabbage. Their damage appears as gnaw marks near the base of plants, and they create surface runways indicating their presence.
Insect Pests of Cabbage
Insects frequently damage cabbage. Caterpillars, such as the imported cabbageworm and cabbage looper, are common. Imported cabbageworms are velvety green larvae that create large, irregular holes in leaves and can bore into the heads, often leaving behind greenish-brown fecal pellets. Cabbage loopers, named for their “looping” movement, are pale green and also chew ragged holes in leaves, boring into early cabbage heads.
Aphids, particularly the cabbage aphid, are small, soft-bodied insects that form dense colonies, often on the undersides of leaves. They feed by sucking plant sap, leading to yellowing, curling, and stunting.
Flea beetles are tiny, jumping insects that create small, rounded “shot-hole” damage in leaves. This damage is severe on seedlings, stunting or killing young plants.
Mollusks and Birds Affecting Cabbage
Mollusks and birds also damage cabbage plants. Slugs and snails leave irregular holes in leaves, often with smooth, scalloped edges. Their silvery, slimy mucus trail is a key sign, especially visible in the morning or after rain. They prefer to feed at night and can devour entire seedlings or strip mature plants in humid conditions.
Birds may occasionally peck at cabbage leaves or young seedlings, causing small, irregular holes or tearing. While not as destructive as other pests, birds can damage young or tender foliage. Their activity is often sporadic and localized.
Identifying the Culprit
Identifying the culprit involves observing the damage and looking for additional clues. For mammals, look for clean, angled cuts (rabbits), ragged, torn foliage (deer), or plants gnawed down halfway (groundhogs). Additional signs include pellet-like droppings (rabbits), larger droppings or hoof prints (deer), or remnants of stems (groundhogs).
For insects, inspect leaves for “shot-holes” (flea beetles), irregular holes with caterpillars or fecal pellets (cabbage worms/loopers), or dense clusters of small insects (aphids). Slimy trails indicate slugs and snails. Observing feeding times (day vs. night) and searching for the pests, their droppings, or tracks can further pinpoint the specific animal.