The piracibaba broccoli plants, which are quite big at this point, have been pushing up against the netting, i.e. making direct contact with the netting. Well, today on lunch break while having a meander, I saw the moth land on top of the tulled broccoli and lo and behold lay an egg. Then another in another spot. And when I started closely looking throughout, there were multiple teeny tiny eggs laid where the plant was in contact with the netting. I had seen the moth hover around there before but never saw her lay, and figured she wouldn't since she can't curl her behind under the lay the egg on the underside of the leaves.
Sigh.
So -- massively hacked all of the piracicaba plants wayyyy down in size, so that there's a buffer of space between them and the tulle. I have a feeling they'll rebound and continue producing in a few weeks. In the meantime, I plan to place new higher hoops, and will need to sow two pieces of tulle together to have a big enough piece.
While hacking the plants down, I took a final-for-now harvest, and did the "soak in warm water with salt and vinegar" thing. Sure enough, found ~4 tiny caterpillars in the water. Sigh.
What a bummer. But, live and learn; I'll do better next time.
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