What could be eating my leaves (bugs, butterfly, blackberries, insect)

[Walthree]

[SIZE=2]Something is eating my leaves on my Broccoli, Blackberry and Raspberry bushes. I checked underneath the leaves but I didn't see anything. I caught a couple of slugs but they have been on the soil. I have not seen any bugs anywhere in my garden so far. If its nothing I should worry about great but if it is, would love recommendations.[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=2]Raspberry leaf[/SIZE]
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[SIZE=2]Brocolli Leaf[/SIZE]
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[Phawk57]

Check the broccoli really close for a cabbage looper. When they are small they are hard to spot because they are the color of the leaf. As for the blackberry and raspberry, I don't know if they go for them or not.

[netwit]

Cabbage moths do what you describe. They completely decimate cabbage leaves, broccoli, brussel sprouts, cauliflower - anything in the cabbage family. They lay eggs or something that is the same shade of green as the leaves and when you soak vegetables affected by the moths, the green larvae/worms will drown and float to the surface.

I don't know if that is what the other poster meant when he said 'cabbage loopers' but we called them cabbage moths.

I use a commercial insecticide dust for them available in almost any store. It needs to be regularly applied, and reapplied after rain but that's the only way my cabbage-related vegetables survive. There are organic solutions as well which you can find by Googling, but I don't know how well they work.

I didn't think they went after blackberries and raspberries. It's possible you have two different problems. It seems to me that aphids would be more likely to infest the blackberry and raspberry canes.

[Phawk57]

I use bacillus thuriengis(sp) to kill the loopers, moths or whatever else someone wants to call them. They are also easy enough to pick by hand.

[netwit]

Originally Posted by Phawk57

I use bacillus thuriengis(sp) to kill the loopers, moths or whatever else someone wants to call them. They are also easy enough to pick by hand.

I'm curious as to how do you pick them by hand? I assume we are talking about white, flying butterfly/moth things. I suppose I could get a butterfly net but I'd be chasing them all day and there's a lot that come around. It just seems like it would be like trying to solve the problem of flies by catching them.

Is that bacillus thing something organic? Available in stores? I really don't like using pesticides but haven't found a reasonable alternative.

**edited to say I just looked up cabbage loopers and they are not the same thing as cabbage moths so obviously I no longer need to know how you catch them. I have seen cabbage loopers but rarely (they are a caterpillar). In my area cabbage moths - as in flying white butterfly-like things which you can't easily pick off are the problem.

[Phawk57]

The loopers are the offspring of those white moths. Bacillus Thuriengis also known as Bt can be found at plant nurseries, seed catalogs, or online. It is a bacteria that get in the guts of the caterpillars and makes them sick. They stop eating and die. It is very effective and safe if used properly.