Cabbage Moth Decoy

To be honest I never thought this would work. Untill I physically saw several cabbage moths enter the garden, see the competition, and fly off (to the neighbours)! It's very cool to watch! 

Last year, we had a problem with cabbage moths invading the vegtable patch in the backyard. But, after doing some research, apparently, cabbage moths are quite territorial - they don't like competition! A decoy in the garden will keep them away.

We did manage to find a small pack of decoys, which we deplyed too late for last year, but they ended up being just a paper thing that didn;t last the winter. And I knew i could do better… So after a couple of failed design attempts (detachable wings, anyone?) the final solution is far simpler than you would give credit for.

Print them flat.

Yes, you'll need reasonable bed adhesion to make sure the spots come out. Wash your plate, or use a extra sticky one. But not too sticky, because then they're a right **** to get off. I use a BIQU CryoGrip Glacier, and it works a treat.

But, i hear you asking, they're not flat in the pictures. Yes. It's probably the coolest thing of the project. Here's the solution:
1. Print them flat.
2. Insert a piece of florist stem wire in the shaft.
3. Dunk them in a cup of boiling water for a couple of seconds. 
4. Pull them out, and hey presto, they're ready to go!

I've included a set of 7 sizes so you can find the one that fits your wire best. I've had two different batches of wire with significant variance in thickness - so print the sizing guid first. The smallest shaft on the sizing guid is the 1.8mm, the largest is the 2.4mm (sorry to the friends from the state, you'll have to do this conversion yourself!).