These tiny pests are a scourge that have more and more gardeners looking for ways to get rid of whiteflies. It’s a world-wide problem, and the use of insecticides has created a whitefly monster. Now immune to the most common pesticides, they are becoming more immune every year. There will be a point where insecticides may no longer work.
But whiteflies do not have to be the death of your garden! Insecticidal soap is becoming the most accepted form of control. Because pesticides are now known to go more than skin deep on fruits and veggies, you should be looking for safer alternatives. Insecticidal soap is safe to use, gets fast results and is a solution that whiteflies cannot become immune to.
Whiteflies Destroy Plants and Transmit Plant Disease – Ugh!
They’re tiny. BUT they work in huge numbers to devastate your house plants, greenhouse plants, vegetable plants and the world’s food supply. Most of you will be the victim of the greenhouse whitefly. Named because it is frequently seen in greenhouses. It’s a major pest that attacks numerous fruit, vegetable and ornamental, both inside and outside. In fact, these thirsty pests not only feed on just about everything, they transmit any number of plant diseases. Tomato yellow leaf-curl begomovirus, or TYLCV, is considered the worst. But they can spread 60 different viral plant diseases.
Fruits and Vegetables Whiteflies are Attracted To
Besides ornamental, palms, weeds, poinsettias and countless other plants, the fruits and vegetables most affected are: Avocado, Cantaloupe, Carrot, Citrus, Cucumber, Eggplant, Gourds, Drapes, Lettuce, Peas, Pepper, Potato, Sage, Squash, Strawberry, Sweet potato, Tomato & Watermelon
Silverleaf Whitefly
In addition to the Greenhouse whitefly, the Silverleaf whitefly is becoming more prevalent. Your plants are likely to be attacked by either one of these species. And though the physical differences may seem minute, the damage they are both capable of causing can be catastrophic. They often go unnoticed for a while because they attack the undersides of the leaves. This keeps them out of the direct sun and out of sight. Meaning the first preventative measure is to check the undersides of random leaves throughout your garden. Focus especially on your tomatoes, squash and watermelons.
How the Whitefly Damages Plants
An adult female Greenhouse whitefly will lay an average of 50 to 150 eggs. Though the Silverleaf whitefly is smaller, she can lay up to 7 times that number of eggs.. The life cycle of both is also similar. They grow from eggs, which hatch in 5 to 10 days, depending upon the temperatures. When they hatch a crawler emerges, travels a short distance and then starts feeding. THIS is when they start damaging your plants.
From crawler to nymph to pupa takes about two weeks. The adult female will emerge from the pupa about a week later and will start laying eggs almost immediately. Her average life span is only 6 days, so she makes the most of it. She feeds with sucking mouth parts that extract the sap from the phloem of your plants. The phloem is the living tissue of your plants that carries nutrients throughout the plant. Without it, plant death can be quick to occur.
Signs that You Have Whiteflies
Yellowing leaves, yellow-spotted leaves and curling leaves can all be symptoms
Eggs will normally be laid in a circular pattern. They’ll either be opaque or slightly yellow, depending upon whether it is a Greenhouse or Silverleaf whitefly. The eggs will be laid on the undersides of your plants’ leaves.
The nymph and pre-pupa stage will see the emergence of tiny white legs or fibers all around the small oval in the Greenhouse whitefly and not so much in the Silverleaf whitefly.
As they reach pupa stage, they may look like fish scales on the backs of your plants’ leaves.
The most obvious sign is if you are enveloped in a white cloud as you bend down to inspect your garden. By that time, your infestation is probably quite advanced and at least partial plant death may be occurring. (Silverleaf whiteflies will be smaller and more yellow than white)
Adults secrete honeydew as they suck the life out of your plants, and this will attract ants in droves; which is another sign to watch for.
The honeydew secreted is the perfect growing medium for sooty mold. This is a black sticky mess that is impossible not to notice, but even more difficult to deal with than the whiteflies.
Get Rid of Whiteflies, the Natural Way
As stated above, there are pesticides to combat the problem for now. Just remember that every time you use a pesticide, you are contributing to a future generation of whiteflies that will be immune to the pesticide you use today.
So how to get rid of whiteflies without creating more immunity?
We recommend organic means to control this stubborn and adaptable pest. There are, of course, natural enemies of the whitefly, such as green lacewings, ladybirds (ladybugs), minute pirate bugs, big-eyed bugs and damsel bugs. You can either buy them in egg form or as adult insects from commercial enterprises. Or you can plant plants that will attract them. Lacewings and ladybugs are both attracted to fern-leaf and common yarrow (also known as achillea), fennel, dill and cilantro/coriander. Read more about how to attract beneficial insects to your yard.
But if you have a whitefly infestation to deal with now you don’t have the time or the luxury to wait for plants to grow. Even if you buy plants already close to adult size it will take too long for the word to get out to the whitefly brigade of insect assassins to gather for the whitefly buffet in your garden. You need something now and you need something fast acting (remember, it only takes them about 3 weeks to go from egg to egg-laying adult).
Need Help ASAP? Try Insecticidal Soap
The most common and safest organic method to get rid of whiteflies fast is an insecticidal soap. Simply spray Safer Insecticidal Soap on the undersides of the infected plants’ leaves. Do it either in the very early morning or in the late evening when the temperatures are below 85°F and when the whiteflies are not actively flying. It kills by penetrating the outer shells of these soft bodied insect pests, smothering, dehydrating and causing death in just a few hours. Insecticidal soap is non-lethal to beneficial insects and can be used indoors or out. A 32-ounce ready-to-use bottle will treat about a 1000 square foot garden plot. It is gentle on your most prized ornamentals but lethal for whiteflies and it has no unpleasant odor. Win win!
Garden tip: always check for whitefly infestation prior to bringing home new plants. It will save you a world of heartache. And since whiteflies can attack at any time, we also recommend having insecticidal soap on hand. That way you’ll be ready to get rid of whiteflies before they have a chance to become a real problem for you.
Happy growing!
1 Comment
John
October 11, 2011 at 10:23 amWhite Flies can seem to come from everywhere and they do. they just get out of hand sometimes. One thing that can cause and outbreak is too much nitrogen in the soil. This can be caused by over fertilizing and the use of synthetic high nitrogen fertilizers like Miracle Grow etc. Large green house operations like soluble synthetics because they can mix up big tanks of the stuff all at once and let it sit there for days at a time for an automated watering system to apply on a schedule every few hours. you can’t do this with most liquid organic fertilizers because they can start to rot and stink in a very short time. you have to mix only what you are going to use at any one time and use it all. There are some organic and natural liquid fertilizers that have come out in the past few years that solve this problem but most green house operations stick with what they know and change comes slowly when you living depends on staying with what you think works and you don’t know if change is going to be good or bad for your wallet. These synthetic fertilizers juice the plants up and make them look nice for retail but once you bring them home you have a problem. the plants have developed a root system and circulatory system made to deliver the stuff they’re used to getting and the soil in the pot is mostly devoid of biological action so what you have is a heroin addict for a plant that if transitioned to an organic program too quickly can look really sick or die so you have to take it slow. some should be repotted right away into organic potting soil. The other problem they come with is, they are like snickers bars for insects and fungus. White flies are one of these pests that just love greenhouse plants. Another way to treat the problem is to, leave them outside if the weather allows for a while so natural predators and the weather can work for you. Change the soil they come in and place the old soil far away from the plants. don’t fertilize right away so the plant can a climate to it’s new soil and start producing heart roots and stems based on a healthy home life. Expect some die off. after all the poor thing has been on a steady diet of cheetos and now it’s getting good food. That change in chemistry can be traumatic for a little while! Just take off the dead and dieing leaves as they develop. It will stop. so, if you did all that and you still have this whitefly problem, make up some worm tea. not only does it make for a great, mild foliar and soil soil drench fertilizer, white flies can’t stand it. Spray it on the plants outside at first because the white flies will fly up and try to get away as fast as they can. Drench the whole plant. As always, do this on cloudy, mild days or the early morning or evening, not when it’s really hot and sunny. Be careful when you reach for a pesticide to kill white flies, even if it’s organic. sometimes the problem is just so bad you have to but lab tests have shown that there are times when treating white flies with insecticides of any kind can actually make the problem worse. It’s the old, those that survive have the genetic material to resist what you did and the spiral down into more and more powerful chemicals to kill future generations begins. The best way to get started if you’re buying new plants to bring home is look them over really well for signs of pest problems and if you’re buying from a greenhouse, check out the overall condition of the green house, grounds and other plants they have. If you see bugs all over other plants you can be sure there are some on the ones you want too sadly. If the green house is really hot that can be a problem too. too much heat and humidity can be a breeding ground for bugs and bad fungus so take in the whole experience when you shop and you can avoid some real problems and lots of work later on.