The Great Bacillus Thuringiensis Story, no more Woms, non Chemical Pest Killer

“When I realized I could grow broccoli without ever worrying about worms again, I wanted to get up and dance!

No More Worms!

For a long time I didn’t eat much broccoli. I planted a lot of it but each spring when my broccoli was starting to head, a flockof small white butterflies appeared over the rows of broccoli and the other cabbage family crops. I knew they were hunting ” for places to lay eggs, which would later hatch and produce a horde of small, very hungry cabbage worms. Boy, do those cabbage worms love to eat! They can devour leaves, stems, and broccoli heads, too. The worst feeling in the world is finding^, them in a dish of cooked broccoli.

As upsetting as it was to discover worms on my plate, I hated to spray my broccoli crop with anything toxic because when you spray broccoli you cover the entire harvest. It’s not like cabbage where the spray stays on the outside leaves. With broccoli, bits of spray penetrate all through the tightly packed buds. So I didn’t spray.

Some years we were lucky and didn’t get many worms; most years we had to soak the harvest in heavily salted water before cooking it. And I kept my fingers crossed during the meal. When a new non-chemical spray to fight cabbage worms was introduced to home gardeners some years ago, I tried it right away on my broccoli. I was amazed at how well it worked. The white butterflies visited the garden as usual, but the worms which hatched died quickly and did no damage. When I realized I could grow broccoli without ever worrying about worms again, I wanted to get up and dance!

The safe, natural non-chemical worm killer

The spray is a naturally occurring bacterium. Its official name is Bacillus thuringiensis; it causes a fatal disease in the worms but does not hurt plants, people, or other animals. You can use it on crops right up to the day of harvest. Unlike other sprays, there is no waiting time before harvesting.

The bacteria are sold under several trade names. Dipel, Thuricide, and BT are the most common ones. It’s available as a dust as well as a spray. It releases disease-causing spores which the worms ingest. Within a couple of hours the worms stop feeding; they get sick and are unable to digest food; their stomach wall collapses and within a couple of days they die.

I start using it on my garden as soon as I see those white butterflies. I spray all my cabbage family crops and repeat the spray every 7 to 10 days until the harvest is over. This safe regular coverage guarantees that I’ll never see a worm in my broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, mustard, collards, and all other cabbage family crops.

As you can see from the chart below, this non-toxic substance can end your worries about cabbage loopers, the big tomato hornworm, corn earworms, and many other common pests. I’ll put it this way: anyone who grows a garden should have some Dipel, Thuricide, or BT on hand. Even in a small garden with just a few cabbage family crops, it’s worth it. You can mix the spray in an old Windex bottle or plant mister and apply it in just minutes.

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