Yes, I think they are very good pollinators. We have huge population of them, way more than could be supported by my little brassica patches so they have to have other food sources, but I don’t know what it is. I’ve never seen them on any other garden plants or anywhere else for that matter.
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Fascinating! Well, I’m glad they’ve always been abundant in my garden, then!
As for other food sources, can they eat other plants in the Brassiceae family? We have plenty of wild hoary cress in our ecosystem, which is a Brassiceae. Maybe they’re eating it, and other wild Brassiceaes.
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Well, Wikipedia says it lays eggs on wild members of the cabbage family!
And one of the species it lists as a host is Cardaria draba, which is hoary cress.
There we go! That’s why it’s so common in my neighborhood!
You know, that makes hoary cress even more interesting as a weed to encourage in my yard. It tastes good. If it can also work as a place for cabbage moths to lay their eggs while I try to select for brassicas it’s less likely to lay its eggs on, that would work well for everybody!
Just like the way Joseph Lofthouse leaves the weed nightshades alone in his garden, and teaches the tomato hornworms to exclusively eat them instead of his tomato plants. That seems like an excellent way for everybody to win.
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Hi @angelinahomestead , I’m not sure. It might flower if it got cut down, but I think cabbage generally needs some cool weather to induce flowering. Do you get any cooler weather at all at your location?
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I’ve also heard anise hyssop can function as a trap crop for cabbage worms, though I’ve been unable to locate my source. I planted some near my kale and am waiting in it coming up. It’s a lovely native perennial if you don’t already have it at your place
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My fall cabbage crop are growing in their soil bricks. Some of the older varieties I had on hand failed to germinate, but the Winter King, January King, Golden Acre, Red Express, and the grex from Peace Seedlings are all growing well, along with a couple of sprouts from the other varieties.
These varieties should have time to mature, or nearly mature, before cold weather stops their growth. I will make another planting in a few weeks that will produce immature plants that might overwinter more easily.
Is anyone else planting their fall cabbages?
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I’ve tried, but they died. 
I started with transplants in the shade, carefully got them used to the sun, got them nice and big, and transplanted them. Every single one died within a day.
I’m now trying direct sowing in the shade. A full shade spot under a fruit true in summer should be a full sun spot in the winter, so I’m thinking that’s ideal for direct sowing brassicas in summer. I dunno if it will work, but I hope it’ll be better than transplanting!
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Who has cabbages in the ground for overwintering? I’ve mulched mine with leaves and woodchips.
Got some kales and cabbages, cabbages at first year cultivation to create a grex, kales at f1 or f2 stage. They don’t look too good due to were I planted them: there has been too much competition with tree roots, which were much much longer than I thought: Cherry tree 1 - Cabbage 0… But still that will produce some viable seeds so that is OK for me, at this stage… as long as my friends market gardeners do the real work ;-)… haha …
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If you want to keep the kales and cabbages from crossing, you can do as I am planning to do; cut back one group until the other is done crossing. I’m going to cut back (and eat) the flowering stems of my broccoli/kale population, while letting the cabbage go to seed first.
I’m thinking about doing something similar this year!