Davastation by Cabbage White

Last year we built a large raised bed potager out of old bricks, I garden organically, so do not use pesticides or insecticides, all of my brassicas were devastated by cabbage white caterpillars, so this year I would like to build some framework that sits on top of my raised beds that is covered in something that will keep out the pests.

As I would like to give some frost protection to my early plants, would it be sensible to cover my frames with fleece instead of mesh and if so, will I be able to leave the fleece frames over my plants throughout the season ?

I would like to be able to have both a fleece covered frame and a mesh covered one, but fear the cost of the mesh will make this impossible - My beds are all 1.2m wide and total 72m length.

Any advise will be gratefully received.

Many thanks

Lyn

We have come up with 3 main suggestions for covering your potager, and they are as follows; 

Vegetable Protection hoops (product code GDN-370/375)  

These hoops have a span of 1.13m so would fit inside your raised beds, and can be covered with the 2m wide fleece (GDN-030) or the 2.1m wide enviromesh (GDN-018) as appropriate. 

Build-a-Ball System (GDN-925)  

This ingenious system allows you to construct an aluminium framework over the beds which can be dismantled, added to and reduced at will. The uprights can be inserted into the soil and simply pulled further out of the soil to increase the height. The 4m wide fleece (GDN-035) is a suitable covering but the enviromesh would need to be joined to span the bed, but this is possible. 

Freestanding Vegetable Cage   (GDN-130)

We can supply a cage which would stand on the edge of the bed and cover the growing area. This cage is constructed from Heavy Duty Galvanised Steel which is finished in black powder coating and can be covered with the fleece or enviromesh as desired, and although the initial cost is likely to be high, it would last for a long period of time 

As you can see, there are various options for you to consider, and if you would be so kind as to contact us with the exact internal and external dimensions of your bed and the thickness of the edge of the bed, along with any of the above systems you would like further details on. 

Hopefully we have given you some food for thought and we hope to be of service to you in the future!   

Martin