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PaperclipPerfector  2mo ago (text post)   2904 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for September 15, 2024

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

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A bunch of people here probably have NVGs or thermal optics of some kind. I was hunting caterpillars the other day and got curious if they're as well-camouflaged outside the visual spectrum.

Can anyone check? I would literally comb through my cabbage patches decked out like a rainbow 6 character if it helped kill these bastards.

Thermals don’t pick up bugs. Plant radishes around your cabbage and run chickens through.

I gave up keeping chickens years ago, but that might actually work for the slugs and some of the caterpillars. On the other hand a lot of my other brassicas are 3ft tall and still have eggs planted on the young center leaves.

It's a lot of manual work picking through them, especially the very dense test patch (8" spacing vs my usual 18")

Cheaper option: try a handheld Uv light? https://nightsea.com/galleries/caterpillar-fluorescence/

I would not expect much thermal signature. Bugs are small and don’t retain much heat. A casual online search suggests using FLIR for finding nests, not individuals.

Get ducks

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