A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2006 White Flies

I am having (as I do every summer) a terrible problem with white flies. I have tried a systemic insecticide you put in soil, Isotox, and another spray pyreth??(sp). I can't ever get rid of them once I get them and this year is the same. They say spray w/soap - but they just go to other plants and then return. They say get the back of every leaf but on a huge fushia thats not even practical. HELP!

Try making some yellow sticky traps. A piece of bright yellow plastic or board, like an icecream container, coated in vaseline/petroleum jelly. They are attracted to the yellow and get stuck in their squillions. Hopefully! Worth a shot and no more chemicals. Place a number of the traps just up off the ground a few inches away from the foliage.

We're talking "clouds" of them as in "millions" but I will try your idea - Thanks!!!

LOL. Make a big trap Sherik.
I can't help but wonder though, what the core reason is for them being so numerous. There are insect predators which feed on them. IMHO using systemics and other chemicals can result in these predators being culled as well, which gives the whitefly a good start for the next season. Maybe it's a case of keeping nature out of balance that makes them so prevalent?????

Do you think I should drench the soil in the pots with a dormant spray this winter? There is such a lot of these flies that predators would eat themselves sick Otherwise I have very healthy beautiful plants!

Sherik,
Longy gave you some realllllly good advise...

And I'm not that much into having those, but usually the white flies love it when the soil is too moist?
And maybe you should let the top layer of soil dry out and then they don't have anywhere's to hang out so to speak?????

Thanks - I'm grateful for any info. Has been 85-100 most of summer so hard to let a fushia dry - The infestation gets so bad that the backs of the leaves are totally white. I'm going to try the yellow sheet of paper and vaseline - I'll let everyone know the result

SheriK,
Is this plant in the ground or a hanging basket???

Do you think I should drench the soil in the pots with a dormant spray this winter? There is such a lot of these flies that predators would eat themselves sick
+++++++++++++++++++++
I dunno the lifecycle of these insects, so i don't know if dormant oil in winter would have any effect. Buglady might give you a long term suggestion or two if she happens along. Predators will always increase in numbers if food sources allow it. It's the way it is. They don't eat themselves sick, they just eat and eat, make more predators and then eat some more. Good life for some innit!

I'll PM Buglady and see what she can help you with...

Well first of all do not drench the soil, that is a waste of money and time.

Next you can use yellow sticky cards but that will only trap part of the population and will also trap your beneficials. Yellow attracts good and bad insects. It also only traps the adults, not the immature stage, which is the white on the underside of the leaves.

About using insecticides on whitefly. People have so over used insecticides on whiteflies (WF) that there is a strain WF have developed resistance to most of the common chemical insecticides. So if you spray, it might be like spraying water on them but with still killing the beneficials that would attack the WF. This strain is called the Q biotype whitefly. You can find info about it all over the net. There has been a lot of money poured into the research on this pest, hoping to find solutions.

Now in telling you that, things like soaps and oils kill by physical means and not chemical means, so the soaps and oils will work well on the IMMATURE stage of the whitefly. That is were you need to plan your attack, on the immatures. Also you need to be targeting the undersides of your leaves when you spray (that's where the immatures are). I know you say that is "impractical" but that's just the way it is. We, as a society, have gotten spoiled over the last 50 years with all these very toxic pesticides that work fast and easy but now we are discovering the long term impact of these quick cure. We are now having to go back and learn how to grow a better plant to prevent having these problems because the hard pesticides are not available anymore.

Don't forget with soaps and oils you to have to watch for phytotoxicity, burning from soaps or oils when you use them. Homeowners tend not to read the label and if they do they mix concentrates to strong, thinking it will work better, and end up burning the plant. SO FOLLOW THE DIRECTIONS closely. Dont spray in the middle of they day, make sure the plant was watered the day before and follow all those other warning they give you about soaps and oils.

If it were me? I would toss the fushia and not ever grow it. Switch to something different. It is worth all this work and insecticide for it? This is back to right plant right place. These plants are not happy there and the WF are moving right in. Why not find something that will be problem free.

PS don't forget your pesticides kill the beneficials too

whiteflies on buglady consulting

To Weezie: It is hanging.

hope this answered your questions... seems like you all got quiet.

When you do up your hanging pot/containers...
and they are either in the sun, wind or has a large plant in them that the dirt/soil dries up so very quickly... you can take some of this....
Polymer Crystals
and mix it with water, let it swell up and get it's fullest size... and then mix up with some dirt/soil.. and ONLY put that mixture on the bottom half of the pot/container.... then put your plant into the pot and fill the rest of the way with ordinary potting soil...

These Polymer Crystals help you hold water into a container... when it's hard to keep enough water in a plant..
but by putting that stuff in the mixture only in the bottom half of the soil.. it ensures' to keep the roots at the bottom of the pot/container and keep the roots down, into the more shadey area of the pot and doesn't allow the roots to go to the top to get water, cause when it dries out, roots are at the top..

So, it'll cut down on your watering for hanging plants, but let the top half dry out a bit to eliminate those bugs finding a nice place to hang out in the moisture...

also using a wetting agent will help a lot too, dont get dry spots in the root ball.

Thanks to one and all. My BIG problem is that I LOVE fushia's and grow gorgeous ones - at least until the white fies find them. Usually they don't arrive until mid August when it finally gets warmer here. This year we were warm early thus an infestation early too. When they arrived late August I just decided to do nothing because was late in season anyway, but this year they have had the whole summer and NOTHING worked. Short of submerging the whole plant in a garbage can of "something" to get the whole leaf, we have been very careful to get rid of these little critters. Since they are soooo bad this year I wonder about how many will be back next year. They can take over a whole garden. Who eats them? I don't see any ladybugs around. The polymer crystals sound great - I presume one gets them at a garden store?? I drench all my plants every day and have mostly pots so I may try the crystals - esp if gone over a weekend. sherik

tiny wasps are parasites of whitefly pupa and they are very sensitive to pesticides. Everyone always thinks of ladybugs as beneficials but wasps do so much more then ladybugs.

So how does one promote these little guys? I don't think I've ever seen them here.

they are about the size of gnats. growing small umble shaped flower tends to bring in many parasites. queen anns lace, cilantro, and other flowers in this group.

Most of my plants are in pots but I could grow Cilantro I suppose. Queen anns lace is probably too big for pots?

Do you have an area on your land to let go
fallow??
*not mowed or touched and let some weeds grow?*

Unfortunately - no. Everything is totally landscaped. We are under many tall fir trees so have a lot of shade. That's why I do lots of pots, because they can be moved and put in sunny areas on patio.