What is a natural was to protect plants like broccoli from being eaten by bugs?

My broccoli plants have been near devastated by bugs till the leaves are like swiss cheese and half fallen over. I have been spraying with soapy water but that has not been seeming to help. What other things can I do to protect my plants. If I don't do something soon my plants will die and it will be a total bust



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Any help would be appreciated.

What is a natural was to protect plants like broccoli from being eaten by bugs?
The main pest on broccoli is the cabbage looper, the larva of the white cabbage moth.



three things are very effective against this pest

1)hand picking. Go out daily and look for these worms and pick them off the plants and kill them



2) Bt spray. This is a bacterium that is harmless to mammals, birds and fish but deadly to caterpillars. It is sold under the name Dipel



3) Row cover on hoops. Put this on immediately after transplanting your plants into the garden



you also need to make sure your soil is healthy by putting down compost spring and fall. broccoli is avery very heavy feeder and if it is not in tip top condition it becomes even more attractive to pests and disease.



I grow hundreds of broccoli plants in my market garden every year and this is what i do to keep my crops clean and healthy
Reply:i just look very closley under each leaf , you will find tiny little yellow sacs like the size of pin heads sqish them also look where the leafs first start to get eaten there will be little tiny green worms there squish them its alot of work and needs to be done every day or just use seven dust i put the seven powder in a old pair of nylons and just tap it litely and it dust the plant very nicely do this either in the morning or early eavining when the wind dies down all the cold veggies get this cabbage , broclli, califlower,brussel sprots. hope this helps
Reply:An avid gardener gave me a recipe, I can remember the ingredients but not the amounts! It was dish liquid, cooking oil, Metholated Spirit %26amp; a few cups of water all mixed thoroughly together. I guess you could use your own judgement on the amount except for the metho, which would be very small I should imagine.
Reply:I used a solution of red pepper and garlic which worked really well. Also to keep ants away try turmeric. They hate it and will turn in a 90 degree angle to avoid it. .
Reply:A Pyrethrum spray may help, or one of the caterpiller sprays if it is bugs.

Have you checked it's not birds, some birds just love the fresh new leaves. I had to put netting over my beans to keep them off!
Reply:Try some white oil you can get it in small spray bottle you can use it on any vegetables, fruit, roses and good for shinning indoor plants.
Reply:you can try using some ant away spray or you can try covering the plants at night and take them put the morning

lol
Reply:I used to plant onions (especially scallions/spring onions) around my veggie garden to keep pests away.
Reply:Seven dust.