I've got a few broccoli plants which are under attack from caterpillars. They aren't currently netted.
I manually "weeded" all the caterpillars off the most distressed plant (and some of the other plants nearby) and figured that as long as I repeated the exercise fairly regularly I'd be able to save the crop.
So, a few days (and many squished caterpillars later) I'm not sure this is a winnable battle. There are probably slightly fewer caterpillars on each sweep but they're nothing like eradicated. And I realise I know almost nothing about my foe.
Also I'm wondering .. are the butterflies laying new eggs daily? Or are eggs laid long ago simply reaching hatching point? If the former, I should try netting (even now at this late stage). If the latter, there's no point.
Also, one plant is far and away under the most attack. The other plants much less so. How come? If hordes of butterflies are visiting my brassicas on an ongoing basis then surely they'd move onto the healthier looking plants wouldn't they?
Actually, this question is less about saving this particular crop on this occasion and more about educating myself about my enemy.