White fly
I have got a serious white fly infestation in my front yard container garden. I have tried insecticidal soaps to no avail and live lady bugs. My aphids are gone but the white flies seem to multiply. This is an organic garden so I do not want to use serious pesticides. Any suggestions?
Whitefly are tiny, white mothlike insects (adult stage) that fly when the plant is shaken. The winged form of whitefly can be found on the underside of leaves along with barely visible yellowish bumps which resemble scale but are the nymph (wingless) stage of the whitefly . The obvious symptoms of whitefly is the white cloud of tiny flies that emerges when the plant is distrubed as well as the sticky residue called honeydew on the leaves. Their sucking mouthparts feed on plants causing the leaves to turn yellow and die. In severe infestation, a sooty black mold may also be present from the honeydew. The general health of the plant is compromised, becomes weak, produces pale, stunted and distorted growth, which eventually leads to death.
Control
Whitefly are difficult to control because they reproduce rapidly especially in warm weather. The average life cycle is 30-34 days. They quickly build up a resistance to pesticides making them ineffective; therefore you need to be vigilant when it comes to treatment.
Try repeated sprayings of insecticidal soap every 5-7 days for at least two weeks. Make sure you thoroughly cover the undersides of the leaves. Do not spray drought stressed plants and when temperatures are above 80F.
Traps
Hang vapona strips, yellow or blue sticky fly tape, ( a color that they are attracted to) above the plants. Traps should be facing the plants but away from direct sun. Using traps will help reduce the adult whitefly population.
Natural treatment
A natural spray solution recommended by Rodale consists of 1 cup isopropyl alcohol mixed with 1/2 TB of insecticidal soap in 1 quart of water. Apply once a week for two weeks. Don’t use on hairy or waxy plants.
Some have tried vacuuming white flies off the leaves or spraying the plants vigorously with water to knock them off.
Botanical poisons
As a last resort use botanical poisons that are plant derived like Neem or a pyrethroid spray Pyrethrum that paralyzes whiteflies on contact. Ryania is a mild alkaline contact insecticide that will not harm beneficial insects and leaves no residue.
To use Neem oil -mix 1 ounce (2tBsp) of Neem oil and 1 1/2 tsp. of diswashing detergent to 1 gal. of water. It works on the crawler stage, smothers the eggs and regulates insect growth. Several applications every 5 days may be required. Some plants can be sensitive to Neem oil and develop phytotoxicity. Follow safety precautions and manufacturers recommendations when using any chemicals.
please somebody help! I have a Rio Dipladenia plant with beautiful red flowers, but i just discover this black bugs on the stem close to the flowers.There are also some white bugs but mostly black also some sticky film on the leaves. I have this plant outside in my balcony i was so proud of how beautiful the red flowers looked but now the flowers are turning white. Please somebody help!
Ana,
I am commenting about your comment, because your comment is so recent 8/2014.
Trying to find information about ‘Ryania’
” Ryania is a mild alkaline contact insecticide that will not harm beneficial insects and leaves no residue.”;
but it does not say what ‘Ryania’ is Or Where top get it!
Article mentions ‘NeemOil’ and ‘Pyrethrum’.
Lovely Lantana, but Whiteflies do their part to destroy it’s health.
I hope you, someone can help in finding a source for obtaining/describing ‘Ryania’.
Roy J Stewart,
Phoenix AZ
P.S. please reply so I Know this ‘Comment’ has been read!
Rjs
OMG now I finally know what these buggers are! I took my gerbera daisy inside the house over the winter and noticed tons of these white monthy flies all over the underside if the leaves…. They weren’t there before. But I’ve been mixing dish soap and water together to rince the leaves and wAter the plant itself. But they continue 🙁 now my son brought me another gerbera daisy and it’s absolutely beautiful, but I had it close to my other one which was outdoors in my deck and now they both have the problem. The bright orange yellow flowers the new one has on it are wilting because of this and I want to save them 🙁
I know that they are definitely the white flies… I noticed on my first gerbera that the leaves had developed a sticky substance that was very hard to remove from my skin. Just horrible
I have whiteflies on my collards…have been spraying with garlic infused water…will keep you posted
I have the same problem with my indoor plants and vegetables.
Has anyone tried a strong mixture of water and white vinegar? (1 part vinegar to 10 parts water).
Out of desperation I just sprayed all of my plants with this mixture and will post the results here.
Plant tip
When I used worm castings which is a terrific fertilizer I had no white fly problem for 2 years. Previously I had them every summer on my hibibcus in the front yard but never the plant in the backyard. I’m going to get more worm castings.
My friend got a composting type of bin and is raising her own worms by putting her vegies waste and leaves in it. You can actually get a liquid from this arrangement and just use as fertilizer. I don’t know how it works but it does.
Hi Patti
Thanks for the info!
I have a bad whitefly infestation on my windowbox plants which is spreading down to my rhododendrons underneath. Should I just spray with soapy insecticide mixture, soapy water, or should I pull out the plants & discard? Also, should I remove & replace the windowbox soil with new soil? I am a desperate gardner-I’ve never had this problem before & my window box looks so pretty now. The plants in the windowbox are small hanging petunias & orange marigolds. Please give me some advice. Thank you!
Whitefly is difficult to control. You need a stronger spray. see http://hortchat.com/info/white-fly
I actually didn’t know about whiteflies until reading this page and doing mu assignment on it.
And lots of pplz commented and i read them
I learned a lot
we had whiteflies this summer in our greenhouse. the season is over & we have removed all the plants.
would it be good to remove all the soil from the beds because of eggs, just the top few inches or not at all? will eggs winter over in the soil?
Thanks Steve & Deb in Alaska.
Whitefly on crepe myrtle
We have about 30 crepe myrtle trees that are infected with whitefly. What would you suggest in treating them?
Whitefly indoors
White fly has infested my place too. MY problem is that I do have a large yard, but I have NO indoor plants at all, and it is in my house that I have the problem. HOW do you eradicate them indoors when there is no normal place for them to congregate (like a house plant)? To be sure these are white fly, they land on your skin and “meld themselves” flatly. Once they adhere, to try to peel them off results in peeling off skin.
I had a poinsettia that got white flies. I wrapped the plant in a heft bag and threw the entire plant in the garbage! Will the white flies disappear/die on their own now that there is no plant for it to feed off, or do I still need to apply some kind of formula? Also, are these white flies be attracted to human hair, or upholstered furniture like lice is?
I have whiteflies and I am wondering if it is okay to eat the leafy veggies if I wash them first?
For what it is worth…
I have a Confederate Rose that I started from a single leaf clipping given to me by the gift shop lady from a gorgeous specimen at Fort McCallister state park in Richmond Hill Georgia.
From that single leaf, 2 more have been grown. Aphids and white-flys have been the bane of their existence. The most effective insect deterrent I have found is French marigolds. Period.
Plant them and enjoy the healthiest, most insect-free Confederate roses you have ever seen.
Thanks for that helpfull tip!
great advice on the spraying/white fly cycle. I’m about to do this on my vege whitefly infestation. One question: is it safe to harvest & eat vege leaves (spinach, lettuce etc) within that 12 day spraying period?
I have a Mandevella Plant, I have household flies all over it, them seem to be attaching to leaves and dying. Do you know why and if they are laying eggs. I will be wintering this plant shortly.
Thanks
White fly has a breeding cycle of 3 days. You must spray every third day three times. That’s 3 sprays in 7 days and you must spray under and over every leaf. I de-loused a 1000 hibiscus plants using imidacloprid (Admire, Condifor, Gaucho, Premier, Premise, Provado). We have it as Confidor.
First I mixed 250 mL of Canola Oil with 150 mL of concentrated washing up liquid, added a little water, shook to make “white oil” and made the mixture up to 1 litre. I used 250 mL of this and 25 mL of Confidor in my 100 L tank and it took four tanks to do the job. After the twelfth tank on day seven, I’ve never seen a white fly since out in our isolated location.
I might add that we got the pest on bought abutilons. I tried to get it identified everywhere and when I did, six months later, the fly had spread badly. I’ve since used the same technique to clean up a nursery that was much more heavily infested than we were and they had only to re-spray a small pocket that escaped.
Hope that helps. I’ll add that imidacloprid is not very toxic – it’s the main chemical used on dogs and cats to eradicate fleas.
I have a very huge old (10 years?) Christmas Cactus that has had something eating SLOWLY at a few select leaves. I’ve tried a number of insecticides without success. It now has white flies I can’t get rid of. It appears to be loosing leaves and did not bloom this year. I replant it regularly as necessary. HELP! I love this plant
What are the white, flying bugs that look kind of like aphids? Are they aphids and how do I get rid of them? Also, what kind of dammage do they do to Mandevillas? Thank you, Christa
If you use sticky strips then you may end up catching lizards. I put up yellow sticky fly paper & ended up with 4 lizards that got stuck to the paper. I will not use sticky paper any more as the liiizards eat the bugs naturally.
Lobelia is one of my favorite flowers, its blue/purple color makes a stunning addition to any flowerbed or planter. In hotter climates care must be taken to keep it away from the sun in the heat of the day. It can stand full sun but must be watered daily. Lobelia prefers cooler climates. I remember seeing a huge, cascading basket in Alaska. When the weather gets too hot it will stop blooming but will resume when temperatures cool off. If it gets too leggy simply cut it back and it will regrow.