Killing white flies

[Auxin]

I've got a serious white fly infestation in my greenhouse. How can I kill them without spraying insecticides? I have tried most fly strips, and some work but won't kill 'em as fast as they breed. I have tried soap solutions too, but many of my plants are too sensitive to use a vast quantity of soap on. How about insect killing plants?

Insect repelling incense?

Candles?

Anything?

Help!

[Guest mandragora]

l

Edited April 17, 2007 by mandragora

[spikey]

well insecticides are nessacrly that dangrous, how about nicotine, take a bunch of n. rustica, boil em down and spray the fuckers.... that should kill them, also in garden centers around here ( i live in a diffrent country than u) they have torches filled with scented stuff to repell kinds of insects...

i would use the nicotine on most of the bugs

and then put a torch or somthing like that

[Guest mandragora]

l

Edited April 17, 2007 by mandragora

[Tree]

Hi

I too have a white fly infestation . Have just got a new glasshouse and want to start with a clean slate ie: only putting in bug free plants if possible. Has anybody had good success with getting rid of them??

Also would plant foliage be ok to consume if it had been attacked by the white flies??

Thanks

[ 17. June 2003, 17:32: Message edited by: Tree ]

[Slarty Fart Blaster]

Bright yellow sticky traps.

[Auxin]

"Bright yellow sticky traps."

LOTS of them.

[Tree]

Thanks for your replies now to get those traps.

Take care

[Slarty Fart Blaster]

Just thought i'd add... companion planting with basil or/and Nasturtiums.

[mescalito]

-Or Marigolds I believe!

Mix up some chopped garlick & pyrethrin flowers(most daisy family's),and steep in hot water,leave for a few days, and spray the buggers with that .

[Guest d0tb0y]

And remember guys, do NOT spray on something completely unless you know it's safe.

I think i just lost a salvia to pyrethrum and Confidor[tm] (imidacloprid] (after spraying, the lady shed about 5 leaves, and continued to loose 1-2 an hr. she'll be bare by morning) so try before you spray your whole plants!!

[Slarty Fart Blaster]

Once you have learnt the hard way you wont forget too quick.

Seedlings and cuttings are also sensitive to some sprays.

[mescalito]

Try a couple of baccy plants as companions,they seem to stick to EVERYTHING

[Torsten]

dotboy - don't fret. your salvia will most likely recover in spring. I have used a lot of pyrethrum on salvia and many other plants and except for with yohimbe babies have never encountered any problems.

I use pure pyrethrum syrup and make up my own solution though, so I know there is nothing else in it. often it is the surfactants or other additives that cause the burns.

The positive aspect of your defoliation is that the bugs have lst their home, so when new leaves appear they get a good headstart.

Sticky traps are good for whitefly and sciarid fly, but you need LOTS of them.

Soapy water seems good for spidermite.

I used to use a lot of nicotine spray, but it kills too many goodies and stays in the soil for too long.

[Stonehenge]

The only thing I've found that works with bad whitefly infestations is a bacteria called baccilus thurigensis. It's sold under various trade names. It doesn't kill the adults, it kills one stage of the fly. Whitefly have several stages. There is the egg, crawler, several stages like a scale insect, pupa and adult. The pupa are what many people think are the eggs. The eggs themselves are almost impossible to see without a magnifying glass. BT works on the crawler stage which is a tiny worm like stage. It's best to use BT at the first sign of an insfestation. Once it gets heavy, it's hard to wipe out and will take a while. The bacteria takes some time to work because the stages after the crawler will not be affected nor will the adults. Use a solution of BT along with safer's soap or some other insecticidal soap. Spray at least once a week paying particular attention to the undersides of the leaves. The soap kills the adults and the BT stops the eggs from progressing to adult stage.

This strategy will bring them under control but it doesn't work overnight. If it's in an enclosed space you could try an aerosol insecticide. You can only do that once because they develop a resistance very quickly. Yellow sticky traps will catch lots of them but have little effect on the infestation. You will never get rid of them with traps. If you have just a few small plants you may be able to stop them by spraying every day or two.

Stoney

[Torsten]

In Australia BT is sold as "Dipel". It is an excellent organic method os getting rid of caterpillars. I had often wondered if it would work on other caterpillar type insect lifecycle stages. Tried it on fungus gnats without any success.

This is interesting news!!