Within two days of planting out the young cabbage plants they have been damaged by leatherjackets (Latin name Tipula species).

The leatherjackets are the larval stage of the crane fly or daddy-long-legs.

The leather jackets eat the leaf off just below the surface of the soil. The photo below shows a cabbage plant with one leaf missing & the leatherjacket is in front of the plant.

The cabbages were planted up to the first true leaves, but the leatherjacket works slightly below the surface. If the soil is moved about 1″ deep when the damage is first noticed, the leatherjacket will probably be found.

The photo below shows the cabbage plant with all the leaves completely chewed off.

The photo below shows a cabbage plant with one true leaf missing, but the growing centre is still unharmed. This cabbage plant will survive, as long as-no more leaves are eaten off.

TopVeg always keeps a few plants in reserve in the seed bed in case of disasters. So the cabbage row will be replanted using the plants left in the seedbed.

Leatherjackets are:

• about 2.5cm / 1″ long (and up to 45mm long when fully grown)
• greyish black in colour
• legless
• with no obvious head
• with a tough, leathery outer skin

The daddy long legs lay their eggs in late August and the leatherjackets hatch within 2 weeks. Mild winters allow the leatherjacket grubs to develop overwinter and sometimes cause damage in late winter or early spring on cabbage or other young vegetable plants.