Battle against whiteflies

[Plantinyum]

I have a not so bad yet infestation of those mdfkrs , have sprayed several times every time with a different insecticide and they just dont die....I have them in bigger numbers on my tropical guavas, tomatoes and physalis plants .
How do I get rid of them, any organic ways ?
Thanks and have a nice day !! ☺

[CTMIAMI]

Good topic.
I'm not sure the type of white fly that you have in Bulgaria. In Florida we have at least two one that I call the original and an ultra small one.
my experience is that they are very resistant to insecticides. Specially the small. In the shade house they are nearly impossible to control imidacloprid helps but usually in larger than label dose.  Sprayable "legal" insecticides offer no relieve as the more you apply the more resistance they become. A local entomologist told me after two applications of the same insecticide they surviving are resistant to it. Great quality of the little mdfkrs to evolve so quickly.

The possible solution: Grow as much as you can in full sun. I notice that they don't like the full sun, but love a 30-40% shade. What has worked for me in the shade house is moderate drenched application of imidacloprid, and some forms of contact insecticides that do not create resistance like ultrafine oil, horticultural soaps and AzaMax or similar product with azadirachtin. Warning. Oils, soap and neem based oils sometimes cause young leaves to burn , wilt etc.  With the oils make sure is ultra fine that can be applied in high temperatures like Pure oil and Ultra Fine oil etc. Don't expect to eradicate them, they will win, hope to manage and keep under control.

Good luck friend.

[Timbogrow]

I had some on the tomatoes  also and were infested the most. I got rid of them and sprayed all my fruit plants with an organic mint castile soap and pure cold pressed need oil. It worked really well but I burnt up 2 small guava seedlings and burnt the leaves on the caimito but didn't lose them. They seem to be in check though. Oh and Also used sticky yellow traps work well to cat h the adults. Plus the family of small lizards that do miracles out there.

[TropicalFruitHunters]

Whiteflies can drive you mad.  I've battled them for years in the garden and inside my greenhouse.  Their waxy bodies make them nearly impervious to insecticides.  Regular sprays of Horticultural oil does help and can eventually disrupt the life cycle...to a point.  It is just difficult to get a 100% complete coverage on everything they are on.  My garden?  Forget it.  A large and powerful flame thrower may help!  If you can keep the population somewhat manageable, consider it a win. 

[Plantinyum]

Thanks for the replies!! I may end up cleaning the leaves of the most infested plants, from their eggs and such. I will also try to manually kill what I can, at least in the greenhouse where my tropicals are.I may end up ordering an atomic bomb or something and start over😂😂😂the country hahah.
I have noticed also that my guavas are having some kind of discoloration on their leaves, which is new and I guess it was triggered by the pesticide sprays ...
The think that is curious to me thought is that the whiteflies were present inside my home over winter, on my plants ,but have never been a big problem like they are now, I have heard that they were worse inside homes compared to outdoors , yet this did not happen to me ....wish me luck ,I thought aphids were hard to eradicate but lo and behold ......

[Sunrisefruit]

use a vacuum cleaner.. that has been the best solution so far for me

[sapote]

Thumbs and fingers, big man. Crush them against the under side of the leaves with fingers on top and bottom.
Yes, try to plant them in full sun.

[Plantinyum]

use a vacuum cleaner.. that has been the best solution so far for me

thanks I will try this ,I have an old not so powerful device which will do the trick I think ....just imagined myself with a vacuum cleaner in the greenhouse, u wouldn't be able to see me cleaning the house ,yet in the greenhouse I am ....😂

Thumbs and fingers, big man. Crush them against the under side of the leaves with fingers on top and bottom.
Yes, try to plant them in full sun.

I will try my best at this. The thing is I may unintentionally worsened the problem since I added a shade cloth over my gh a few days away, I just felt that the plants needed some shade and a few degrees cooler temps.

[Mark in Texas]

Forbid 4F

[Plantinyum]

Forbid 4F

will try to source it somewhere ...thanks !

[TropicalFruitHunters]

Yes...thank you Sunrisefruit!  I forgot about using a vacuum.  This does work...as long as you are careful not to destroy leaves, suck up mulch, dirt, and rock!

[achetadomestica]

I had some on the tomatoes  also and were infested the most. I got rid of them and sprayed all my fruit plants with an organic mint castile soap and pure cold pressed need oil. It worked really well but I burnt up 2 small guava seedlings and burnt the leaves on the caimito but didn't lose them. They seem to be in check though. Oh and Also used sticky yellow traps work well to cat h the adults. Plus the family of small lizards that do miracles out there.

I used unscented Castile soap I got from Wal Mart. I used it once and it took care of
them for a while but I saw a You tube video and they suggested 3 treatments 2 weeks apart
I had a thai pepper plant and after the one treatment it put out new growth and had more
peppers and it was in real bad shape

[Plantinyum]

I had some on the tomatoes  also and were infested the most. I got rid of them and sprayed all my fruit plants with an organic mint castile soap and pure cold pressed need oil. It worked really well but I burnt up 2 small guava seedlings and burnt the leaves on the caimito but didn't lose them. They seem to be in check though. Oh and Also used sticky yellow traps work well to cat h the adults. Plus the family of small lizards that do miracles out there.

I used unscented Castile soap I got from Wal Mart. I used it once and it took care of
them for a while but I saw a You tube video and they suggested 3 treatments 2 weeks apart
I had a thai pepper plant and after the one treatment it put out new growth and had more
peppers and it was in real bad shape

thats interesting, can u tell me the brand of it? I found it under the brand name Dr.Bronner's , was yours the same ?
I am also wondering if u can tell me on what plants have u used it on and did any of them had problems with with it ? Thank u !

[Timbogrow]

Yes, Dr Broners pure castile soap. The bugs seemed to like tomatoe leaves, mint plant, basil, caimito, guava, pineapple guava and passionfruit but don't mess with the ingas, chiramoya, Eugenia, soursop, mulberry cuttings or banana suckers I have in the shade house. Also it may help to apply the spray and then rinse off after soaking so you don't burn up the leaves on any tender foliage. Hope that helps in some way.

[Plantinyum]

O

Yes, Dr Broners pure castile soap. The bugs seemed to like tomatoe leaves, mint plant, basil, caimito, guava, pineapple guava and passionfruit but don't mess with the ingas, chiramoya, Eugenia, soursop, mulberry cuttings or banana suckers I have in the shade house. Also it may help to apply the spray and then rinse off after soaking so you don't burn up the leaves on any tender foliage. Hope that helps in some way.

ok, thanks for this, I was going to try the vacuum cleaner idea today but its very windy and my gh doesn't have doors right now. I am thinking of vacuuming first and then spraying for the ones that are left...
Also whats the amount of soap I need to add to a liter of water?? The package is like 100 ml ,will this suffice for around 10 liters of water ? I am also thinking of making the solution a little weaker that recommended ,to not be so harsh on my plants . 

[achetadomestica]

This is what I use


https://www.walmart.com/ip/Dr-Bronner-s-Pure-Castile-Liquid-Soap-Unscented-32oz/436012005


It wont hurt to let it dry and stay on as long as you spray in the morning or evening
or on plants not in direct sun.
I also used it on jaboticabas along with pepper plants. Like someone else said the fly
seems to only go on plants in indirect sunlight. I think the label said use a teaspoon for
a pint.

[Plantinyum]

This is what I use


https://www.walmart.com/ip/Dr-Bronner-s-Pure-Castile-Liquid-Soap-Unscented-32oz/436012005


It wont hurt to let it dry and stay on as long as you spray in the morning or evening
or on plants not in direct sun.
I also used it on jaboticabas along with pepper plants. Like someone else said the fly
seems to only go on plants in indirect sunlight. I think the label said use a teaspoon for
a pint.

Thanks, yes I always spray in the evening , heres the product I found ,compared the labels and I think its the same ...
Yours has hemp in its label, the one I found doesnt but I checked the ingredients and it does have hemp extract ...

[Plantinyum]

One interesting thing i did past week, my pepino plants were getting raped by white flies so i submerged the foiliage of the plants in two barrels of plain water, runnof collected from the gutters. Only the foliage was submerged, i left them for a evening and one night and took them out the next morning, the whiteflies had all drowned, the foliage thought was somewhat damaged, 50 percent of it died . The plants are now resprouting and new growth is lacking whiteflies, thought i havent looked that carefully so there may be a few left.
Some plants may be more tolerable to submerging this way, than my pepino were....

[CarolinaZone]

Neem  and insectidal soap mixed with pyrethrin. They can't stand it!!!

[nattyfroootz]

I move my plants with white fly outdoors from my hoop house and that seems to resolve my issue most of the time.

[Julie]

I've been told to spray with dish liquid soap mixed with water to coconut palms.  I really need to start doing this because my sprouts have whitefly.  I can update with exact instructions if anyone is interested.

[kittycatus]

If you only have a few small plants in pots, you can try doing a hot water bath. Dip the plant in 120F water for 5 to 15 minutes. This should only be attempted as a last resort if you don't know if it will survive the treatment, better than the dumpster. This is actually the only method that works against root mealy bugs for 100% elimination.

[JCorte]

Plantinyum, 

I have been focusing on nutrition management (specifically micronutrients) and plant health to limit insect damage.  There is a good podcast with John Kempf and Dr. Thomas Dykstra, an entomologist, if you are interested in the science of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnNOvA3diDU&t=4227s

Here is a podcast on spider mites, but the idea is the same with all insects.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8dk4l97Q30

It has been my experience over the years that trying to control insects is a constant battle, and I have found that growing the healthiest plants I can
has been the most effective strategy. 

Janet

[Plantinyum]

Neem  and insectidal soap mixed with pyrethrin. They can't stand it!!!

Ive seen neem oil for sale here at a nursery so i may have to buy some finally, so many people have shared a positive experience with neem oil....

 

I move my plants with white fly outdoors from my hoop house and that seems to resolve my issue most of the time.

last year i had a bad infestation on several autdoor tomato plants, for me they survive just fine outdoors and anywhere actually....
 
 

I've been told to spray with dish liquid soap mixed with water to coconut palms.  I really need to start doing this because my sprouts have whitefly.  I can update with exact instructions if anyone is interested.

yes ,shine some light on this, ive read u can use alot of stuff on them, but u have to be sure to eradicate them the first time, if they survive the next generation is now resilient to the chemical u used on the previous....last year when i sparyed them with what not, it also hapenned to me .

 

If you only have a few small plants in pots, you can try doing a hot water bath. Dip the plant in 120F water for 5 to 15 minutes. This should only be attempted as a last resort if you don't know if it will survive the treatment, better than the dumpster. This is actually the only method that works against root mealy bugs for 100% elimination.

well i would be hesitant to try this on any plant, seems the hot temp might just kill the plant. I would awlays choose some other not as agresive method. I see this may work for plants that have verry thick and resilient leaves probably, but whitefly seems to target more tender leaved plants so i dunno..

   

Plantinyum, 

I have been focusing on nutrition management (specifically micronutrients) and plant health to limit insect damage.  There is a good podcast with John Kempf and Dr. Thomas Dykstra, an entomologist, if you are interested in the science of it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bnNOvA3diDU&t=4227s

Here is a podcast on spider mites, but the idea is the same with all insects.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i8dk4l97Q30

It has been my experience over the years that trying to control insects is a constant battle, and I have found that growing the healthiest plants I can
has been the most effective strategy. 

Janet

yes , having my plants all well fed and perfectly cared for is a goal i have yet to achieve, ive also had the observation that a sickly plant invites desease and harmfull insects. Ive started to fertilize more regularly lately and i kinda see some bennefits from this, i have some plants which are clearly lacking something, mineral, water- too much or too little ,light.,u name it.
Thanks for links to videos, i'll check them out !