Brussel sprouts can be tricky to grow in a cold climate with a short growing season like Zone 3. They take a long time, are prone to bug pressure, and take up a lot of space. However, the taste of an organic, homegrown brussel sprout roasted to perfection makes it worth it!
It’s taken me four tries to finally grow Brussels sprouts worth eating, and now I will share with you how I grow them from seed. My advice will work best for those who garden in Zones 2, 3, and 4, but the bug pressure advice should work for any gardener in any zone.
Something is Eating My Brussel Sprout Leaves – Identifying the Culprit and Solutions
As a brussel sprout grower, noticing damage on your plants’ leaves can be alarming However, don’t panic! With some detective work, you can identify the pest and take action to protect your crop. In this article, we’ll explore the most likely culprits eating brussel sprout leaves and provide organic solutions to combat them
Start by Closely Examining the LeavesWhen you first notice leaf damage on your brussel sprouts, put on your Sherlock Holmes hat and closely inspect the leaves Chewed holes, silvery trails, sticky residue or tiny insects can all provide clues to identify the pest Damaged areas may appear skeletonized, have a lacy texture or be riddled with small holes.
Here are some tell-tale signs of common brussel sprout pests:
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Small green worms – Could be cabbage loopers or imported cabbage worms. Inspect undersides of leaves.
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White butterflies – Cabbage white butterflies lay eggs which hatch into voracious cabbage worm larvae.
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Tiny holes in leaves – Potential flea beetle damage. Look for small, shiny black beetles that jump when disturbed.
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Sticky residue – A sign of sap-sucking aphids which leave a honeydew residue.
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Silvery trails – Indicative of leaf miner larvae tunneling between leaf surfaces.
By examining damage patterns, you can zero in on the culprit eating your sprout leaves.
13 Common Pests on Brussel Sprouts
According to gardening experts, the following bugs are most likely to attack brussel sprout plants:
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Aphids – Sap-sucking insects that transmit plant diseases.
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Armyworms – Larvae of night-flying moths that skeletonize leaves.
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Cabbage loopers – Inch-long green caterpillars that chew lacy holes in leaves.
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Cabbage whites – Cabbage worm larvae hatch from eggs laid by white butterflies.
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Cutworms – Caterpillars that chew through sprout stems at soil level.
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Flea beetles – Tiny black beetles that leave shothole damage on leaves.
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Leaf miners – Larvae that tunnel between leaf surfaces leaving trails.
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Earwigs – Scavengers that chew tender seedlings and leaves.
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Slugs/snails – Nocturnal gastropods that riddle leaves with holes.
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Thrips – Tiny insects that distort leaves and stunt plant growth.
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Root knot nematodes – Microscopic worms that damage sprout roots.
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Diamondback moths – Caterpillars that destroy sprout buds.
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Wireworms – Soil-dwelling worm-like beetle larvae that damage roots.
For the most effective pest control, correctly identifying the culprit chewing your sprout leaves is key.
Organic Ways to Protect Your Brussels Sprouts
Once you’ve determined the pest eating your brussel sprout leaves, it’s time to take action. Luckily, there are several organic solutions to protect your plants without using harsh chemicals:
Row Covers – Covering plants with fabric row covers is an easy way to create a physical barrier against pests. Be sure to seal edges to keep pests out.
Companion Plants – Interplanting aromatic herbs like dill can help repel or confuse pests.
Beneficial Insects – Ladybugs, lacewings and parasitic wasps prey on common garden pests. Attract them to your garden for free pest control.
Natural Pesticides – Spray leaves with insecticidal soap or neem oil which smother and deter soft-bodied insects.
Traps – Set out traps filled with beer or sugar-water to lure and drown slugs and earwigs.
Hand Removal – Pluck cabbage worms and loopers by hand and drop them in soapy water to prevent further damage.
Crop Rotation – Rotating the location of brassica family crops each season reduces pest pressure.
With persistence and vigilance, you can protect your brussel sprouts from ravaging pests without using toxic pesticides. Implement preventative measures like row covers from the start of the season. Check leaves frequently for any signs of damage and address issues quickly using organic remedies. A multi-pronged approach is most effective to keep your sprouts bug-free and flourishing!
Are Brussels sprouts easy to grow from seed?
Yes, but in a short growing season, you’ve got to get the timing right. The bulk of my garden typically gets planted around the May Long weekend in Canada (sometime around May 20th), but Brussels sprouts need to be both started from seed and put outside much sooner than that.
The Brussels sprout seedlings below were started ten weeks before our last frost date–around the first week of March.
Since Brussels sprouts love and can handle the cold, I put them out in my raised beds under frost cloth and hoops around the beginning to middle of April. This step is the key to my Brussels sprout growing success.
The Brussels sprouts in these photos thrived in the cooler spring weather and were not stunted in size by staying in a seed starting pack for a longer time. The frost cloth kept them warm enough, but it was okay if there was a killing frost overnight because Brussels sprouts can handle colder temperatures.
It’s key to remember this fact in the fall.
When it’s the beginning of September and the first frost comes, don’t worry about covering your Brussels sprouts–they’ll be totally fine. In fact, if your Brussels sprouts are still on the small side, keep them in the ground until the temperature drops to around -10°C/14°F or lower. When writing this post, it was the beginning of October and my plants (except the one I pulled in the video) were still in the ground.
What insects eat Brussels sprouts? (And what do I do about it?)
One of the things that make Brussel sprouts so difficult to grow is that so many bugs like to eat them! Flea beetles, slugs, aphids, and more all love to get into them. It’s also frustrating because of the way Brussels sprouts leaves overlap each other. Once the bugs get in they can’t really get out, and it’s very difficult to get rid of them.
Sadly, the best way to “get rid of bugs” from Brussels sprouts is to prevent them in the first place. To do that, I keep the frost cloth over the plants as long as possible, as they also keep out most of the bugs. You can replace the cloth with actual bug cloth if you wish once the risk of frost is over.
The only downside of preventing bugs this way is that you need to make the hoops really tall. Mine were only about 2-3 feet tall, which was not nearly enough. Now I make them at least 4 feet tall, so I can keep them on through most of the bad bug pressure.
Finally, if aphids are the bug plaguing your vegetables, you can buy a colony of ladybugs from your local garden centre. Lady bugs eat aphids, so they’re a great natural pest control.
Something Is Eating My Brussels Sprout Plants
FAQ
How to get rid of brussel sprouts bugs eating leaves?
Why do my Brussel sprout leaves have holes in them?
Tiny shot holes in the leaves of seedlings
Flea beetles are tiny bronze or black beetles a sixteenth of an inch long. They eat small holes in the leaves of seedlings and small transplants. The larvae feed on the roots of germinating plants. Spread diatomaceous earth around seedlings.
What is eating my vegetable leaves at night?
Some common nighttime feeders are deer, groundhogs, rabbits, raccoons, opossums, and skunks. Deer and rabbits tend to do the most damage. Deer nibbling leaves behind ragged edges, while rabbits leave a distinctive 45-degree angle cut.
What is eating my brussels sprout leaves reddit?
Grey aphids, pigeons, slugs and snails and cabbage white caterpillars. You can see a big green one climbing out of the centre of the plant at the back! Best prevented by covering brassicas with netting on a frame so the butterflies can’t lay their eggs on the leaves.