Nasturtium - Eggs, what to do?

Hi all! (This is my first post on this forum! )

I have recently got into plants. I decided to sew some seeds to start with, which is how I got my Nasturtiums. They have been doing fantastic - apart from noticing today they have two types of eggs on them! Of course, I do not want my young plants to be destroyed by millions of leaf eating caterpillars. At the same time I am a wildlife fanatic, so figuring out what to do is difficult for me. I guess the main thing at the moment is to allow my Nasturtiums to flourish and grow well, so I guess that means getting rid of the eggs. So how do I do that? I have three plants with what I believe to be Cabbage White Butterfly eggs on, and one other I believe has Cabbage Looper Moth eggs. There are also some Black Aphids on one leaf, I have tried rinsing them off but they're not budging, does anyone know how I can get rid of them?




Thanks

 

Squash em with your fingers

 

Is it possible to scrape them off? I'd feel bad using my hands to squash them!

 

Yeah, whatever way works for you, you could use gloves.

 

That's true, Thank you

 

I just let them get on with it. I have nasturtiums growing all over the place in my garden, and they are great for attracting black fly and other bugs. This tends to mean that the bugs leave the other plants alone.
By leaving them I find that other creatures use them at meal times. Using poisons in the garden tends to cure one problem and create three more.
Nasturtiums grow strongly and seed freely, so enjoy them while they look good, leave them alone, and let them seed.
Welcome to the forum by the way ....

 

What about if you actually like nasturtiums, and they are your pride and joy?

 

I have only just put these Nasturtiums into the garden, they haven't flowered yet. I grew them from seed quite late as I got the urge to grow some plants. So I don't want them to be destroyed yet, maybe in a couple years haha, just not now

 

I actually do

 

Leave them be they wont hurt them Nasturtiums grow leaves very quickly mine is covered in all sorts of bugs and flowering well.

 

So, I have left a few caterpillars (about 4 in total, very few had hatched), removed most of the eggs but I kept a few back to hatch in my home and I'll later release them once they are butterflies

 

Rather silly to be honest if you insist on keeping them leave them on the plant what are the eggs going to feed on when they hatch ?.

British butterflies suffered seventh worst year on record in 2017
British butterflies suffered seventh worst year on record in 2017