Crap! White flies are back

[Carbo]

I've been pretty fortunate with the white fly problem here in central Broward County.  Haven't seen much of them for over a year.  But I've noticed these past few days my mango tree has become quite popular with them.  It's loaded down with golf ball size mangoes right now.  How best to get the situation under control?

[FRUITBOXHERO]

you can spray them with soapy water & peroxide, I have the same problem and it seems to be working for me

[savemejebus]

We had a big issue with whitefly in our Kent mango tree last year. By the time I noticed the problem, they were firmly entrenched and not interested in going anywhere. We probably noticed it when the mangoes were a bit smaller than yours are now.

I wanted to avoid chemicals so I diligently (ok... somewhat diligently) sprayed the tree with Dr. Bonner's soap every 3 - 7 days or so. Spray - they're all gone. Two days later, there's even more. Did that for about a month and finally gave up. I used the Bayer citrus soil drench insecticide, which is supposedly safe for the fruit if it's not going to mature for 45 days, and that did the trick. The damage was done though and we only got 1 mango off the tree for the whole season.

[bsbullie]

You can spray with soapy water but...I will not go any further as you would be best to use the site's search feature to read about it.

One problem with whitefly is that while you can control your yard, you have no control over your neighbors.  It can be a back and forth battle if you are fighting to keep your yard rid of them if your neighbor's yard is infested.

[fruitlovers]

Have you tried the sticky yellow card traps for whiteflies?

[Carbo]

You can spray with soapy water but...I will not go any further as you would be best to use the site's search feature to read about it.

One problem with whitefly is that while you can control your yard, you have no control over your neighbors.  It can be a back and forth battle if you are fighting to keep your yard rid of them if your neighbor's yard is infested.

That is indeed the problem.  My neighbor's palm trees and tropical almond tree are infested with white flies and weevils.  I've mentioned this to him, but he scratches himself and goes back in his house. 

[Carbo]

Have you tried the sticky yellow card traps for whiteflies?

I wasn't aware there was such a thing.  Has anyone had any success with these?

[fruitlovers]

Have you tried the sticky yellow card traps for whiteflies?

I wasn't aware there was such a thing.  Has anyone had any success with these?

I think that is the usual control inside of greenhouses. Not sure how well they work outdoors?

[bsbullie]

Oscar - what we are dealing with here is an infestation of multiple varieties of whitefly.   Until a predator is recognized to control them, there will be continual problems.  As I stated, ridding completely is basically impossible at this time.  I dont think a manufacturer could make enough traps even if they would be a viable option,  to control them.

[Viking Guy]

I got rid of my white flies doing the following:

Hose them off first.  Then spray plant with soapy water.  The soapy water doesn't really get rid of them once they are there, but helps repel them if they've been sprayed off first.

This only works for about 24 hrs--less if you have a rain or heavy humidity.

So the next few steps must follow:  place some yellow sticky traps and they'll flock to them while their normal tree is on soap down.  Then add ladybugs to the tree before they come back.  The ladybugs will scatter over your whole property but some will remain.

For low lying plants in your garden beds, add french marigolds.  The scent not only helps repel them it also covers the scent of the plants they and other pests want to eat and they are never found in the first place.

Now my white flies are in the neighbors plants and mine are pest free.

Also, cedar mulch will repel them as well.  I put cedar mulch on my plants and trees that don't need insect pollination and cypress on the rest.

[bsbullie]

Viking guy - what species of whitefly do you have in Alabama?

Unfortunately what we are dealing with is an infestation of multiple species of whitefly.   I dont mean to beat a dead horse but there is no easy cure for the problem at this time.  Granted there has always been whitefly but the problem we have now goes well beyond that.  I dont think there will be any real control until natural predators are recognized and is able to naturally control them.  Until then, it will be no better then a constant battle of here today, gone tomorrow and back again next week.  It is not that simple when you have infestations of fig whitefly (ficus whitefly), spiraling whitefly,  nesting whitefly,  Cardins Whitefly (Duranta Whitefly) just to name a few...

[Viking Guy]

Alabama has many species, but I'm on the coast so have the same troubles that Florida has since we're virtually the same conditions on the Gulf.

Our primary ones however are the Dialeurodes citri and the Dialeurodes (Morgan), cloudywinged whitefly.

They can devastate fruit trees/crops in a hurry if not controlled quickly.

[bsbullie]

We have the citrus whitefly also but its not considered one of the more serious citrus pest anymore.

[Viking Guy]

Yeah their threat has been reduced a lot over the past decade.

[Dangermouse01]

Big whitefly pest for central & South Florida is the gumbo limbo spiraling whitefly.
http://miami-dade.ifas.ufl.edu/documents/Thegumbolimbospiralingwhiteflyfactsheet.pdf

DM

[Guanabanus]

Use M-Pede plus Trilogy.

[murahilin]

If I remember correctly, CookerMonster had success dealing with his whitefly by using beneficial insects. I think he used the product on the following link or one similar to it. http://www.arbico-organics.com/category/pest-solver-guide-whitefly

[bsbullie]

If I remember correctly, CookerMonster had success dealing with his whitefly by using beneficial insects. I think he used the product on the following link or one similar to it. http://www.arbico-organics.com/category/pest-solver-guide-whitefly

I would be curious if they worked and how well they worked.  They insects in the link do not say that they work on the species that are causing the most serious issues here in SFla however that may be an oversight.

[savemejebus]

Ladybugs were fun for the kids to play with, but were ultimately useless at the task of attacking our whitefly infestation. One of our friends in Coral Springs said that green lacewings worked in his yard. I've never tried them myself.

[murahilin]

If I remember correctly, CookerMonster had success dealing with his whitefly by using beneficial insects. I think he used the product on the following link or one similar to it. http://www.arbico-organics.com/category/pest-solver-guide-whitefly

I would be curious if they worked and how well they worked.  They insects in the link do not say that they work on the species that are causing the most serious issues here in SFla however that may be an oversight.

I just did some more searching and the original link I posted was not the genus of the insect that Jeff used. He uses a species of Encarsia that works with spiraling white fly.

Read the section in the link regarding management. http://www.daff.qld.gov.au/plants/health-pests-diseases/a-z-significant/spiralling-whitefly

[bsbullie]

If I remember correctly, CookerMonster had success dealing with his whitefly by using beneficial insects. I think he used the product on the following link or one similar to it. http://www.arbico-organics.com/category/pest-solver-guide-whitefly

I would be curious if they worked and how well they worked.  They insects in the link do not say that they work on the species that are causing the most serious issues here in SFla however that may be an oversight.

I just did some more searching and the original link I posted was not the genus of the insect that Jeff used. He uses a species of Encarsia that works with spiraling white fly.

Read the section in the link regarding management. http://www.daff.qld.gov.au/plants/health-pests-diseases/a-z-significant/spiralling-whitefly

Thanks...do you know if Jeff bought the "predator"?

Cookie Man - if you read this, did you buy the "killer" and if so, did it work?  and if so, where did you get it?

[Carbo]

Just finished spraying the tree with Neem oil.  I was surprised at the number of whiteflies that were scattering during the process.  Don't know how effective this will be but I've got to do something.  Checked out the landscapes of two neighbors and their various trees are black with sooty mold.  Looks like I'm in the middle of a white fly resort area.

[Viking Guy]

I tried lacewing but the city keeps spraying and killing them.  Ladybugs seem unaffected by the pesticide.   However, as stated they won't get all species of whitefly.

[murahilin]

From the link I posted earlier:
"A biological control agent (Encarsia dispersa) was originally established in Torres Strait in 1992 by entomologists from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF). This agent is a microscopic, orange-coloured wasp that is host-specific to spiralling whitefly nymphs and has already successfully managed pest populations in Torres Strait and mainland Queensland.

Controlling the pest using insecticides is not recommended. Overseas experience indicates that spraying with insecticides has little long-term impact on the pest and usually exacerbates the problem by destroying the biological control agents and increasing insecticide resistance in whitefly populations."

So for all those recommending pesticides, please reconsider and try something safer for the environment. We should be growing fruit trees with and not against the environment.

[gunnar429]

I agree, Sheehan.  pesticides only have one goal: kill the pest.  Unfortunately, all problems, especially in nature, are not monolithic.  There are lots of horrible things anyone could think of to kill pests, but we wouldn't put them on our yards....but if the label is from a company and we buy it in the store, and they have ads on the radio where pests are taunting you cocky voices, it just seems safe.