I really wish i could get rid of whitefly

[holliewould]

I am just going to give up on gardening until I relocate I guess! I've tried everything on this planet to get rid of them for the past year. Name it, I've tried it. This whole island is infested with it I think. Uggh. My plants are my passion but I have been defeated. Whitefly prevailed.

 

[Greensage45]

I am sure if I searched I could find out what Island you are referring to. Have you considered adding your location to your Signature?

At any rate, if you do not mind, please tell us where you are.

Can you also tell us what the whitefly is going after. Can you describe what is happening. Is it potted plants, or in the ground. Is it specific plants?

I know the whitefly develops as a larvae in the soil itself. Knowing this, oftentimes the soil is the culprit, and possibly the solution. Too often we reuse our soil by amending it, especially with potted plants, and this can perpetuate a problem.

I would suggest at this point, until we know more details is to find a way to rid them of your soil. If this is a potted plant, and a plant that can be rescued, then simply remove the plant (because it will die anyways with the whitefly) and shake out as much soil as possible. Then place the plants rootball into a bucket of diluted Clorox bleach (not on the leaves or plant stem). This will not be harmful to your plants any more than what is happening, but it is a bit like chemotherapy if you think about it. This should knock out the eggs, the larva, and such; then either you can invest in new soil or you can begin to sterilize the soil you have. I have heard of folks baking cookie trays of soil at about 250 degrees for 20 minutes or so. This should bake out and kill any bad things in it. It will also kill nutritional things as well, but that can come back naturally. You might want to consider purchasing a bottle of 'enzyme' based stimulator. This should replenish your soil once it is brought to the 'inert' status.

There is the risk of loss with the above method, and then you might still find that if you have a neighbor that harbors whitefly then a re-infestation can occur. (I love blaming the neighbors LOL )

I do hope you come back with more details. I hate to think that a tiny white fly can break a gardener from the very thing that sets us apart from the rest of the world around us.

Wishing you the Best of Luck,

Ron

 

[holliewould]

I'm in Islamorada. Where do I start? It's on every plant that I care about growing the most. It's on my Marigolds, tomatoes, peppers of all sorts, hibiscus, and okra. It's not on my beans, dill, or basil though. I've changed soil all year, I've changed seeds out, I've tried chemical warfare, I've even tried sneaking up on them at night and blasting them out with water.

Are you saying I can bleach the soil I already have? If that's the case, do I just fill up 5 gal buckets of bleach water and pour my soil into it until it's dried out? Can i spray bleach around my yard as well? This is ONE thing I've not heard of or tried, but I'm willing to give it a try.

 

[Greensage45]

no no no !!!!!

Please reread my post. The bleach will be used only for the remainder of the rootball that is left on the plant. Do not bleach any part of the plant above the root.....and please do not use bleach on the ground. The bleach will suspend and prevent anything from growing there for quite some time.

The dilution of bleach should be at around 10%..this means 1 part bleach to 9 parts water. Do this in a tub or a bucket and dip the rootball into the solution. Let it soak in and then drain and rinse. Never allow the bleach to remain; it is only to kill off the eggs and larva not the adult flies.

As for baking the soil to cause it to go inert. This is just soil only...no plant parts.

Gosh, now I am not feeling too confident here. Please consult some more avenues before you try any bleach solutions. Typically I use this method when removing plants for others when I am worried about transferring bad bugs and bacteria. Maybe this is a bit too volatile for you to be using.

I really am sorry you have this problem, but if, like you say, the entire island is being subjected to them, then might I suggest that you request your town's elders or councilmembers to please consider a mandatory 'discussion and review' of this problem.

Again, please do not do anything yet....wait to review other avenues, because I just visualize a dead garden because of what I said.

Sincerely,

Ron

 

[holliewould]

Oh OK I thought that was strange. I just read too fast I think. I reread the reply and understand exactly what you are saying now. We have discussed among neighbors about the whitefly problem. What you suggested about going to our county to resolve it would be like a kitty cat trying to bury a turd on a tile floor I'm afraid. I've just invested a lot of money and time trying to rid this problem to no avail. It was a complete waste. I've moved a lot of gardening indoors but I just haven't quite mastered that style of gardening yet. Thank you for all your suggestions and I appreciate your help

 

[patandchickens]

Disclaimer: I've never heard of nor dealt with a neighborhood-wide or county-wide type outbreak of whitefly, so I do not know how well the following pertains.

However, IME (and I have seen and participated in some pretty severe *personal* outbreaks of whitefly) the problem is usually about 70% that the plants are not real healthy to begin with, that there is something wrong with their growing conditions that predisposes them to letting whitefly take over. This can include a wide range of problems, from growing plants too dry, growing them too wet, growing sun-lovers in too much shade or shade-lovers in too much sun, poor soil, overfertilizing basically lousy soil, etc etc.

So at least part of the solution is probably to review your cultural practices and see what you can do to make the plants happier and give them as ideal growing conditions as possible.

Good luck,

Pat

 

[possumqueen]

I moved into my neighborhood three years ago, and the whiteflies are like a snowstorm everywhere you walk here. I know I would never be able to get rid of them since they ARE all over the neighborhood, but maybe if I could just get a handle on them somehow I could live with them???

I do know one thing: A couple of years ago we had a really hard freeze in late spring. It stopped the spring bloom season in its tracks. It also stopped the whiteflies that year!

So what is their life cycle? Is there something I could do with that? I'm very reluctant to put something on the ground that would hurt the fireflies. And then there are the bees, too. . . .

 

[Greensage45]

Ohhhh, I miss Fireflies

I wish you could just order them and put them in the garden and have them come back year after year. I think it has been nearly 22 years since I saw a real life firefly.

Ron

 

[possumqueen]

Fireflies are one of the reasons I love the South! They don't have them in the Pacific Northwest. When I saw them for the first time here I was completely hooked!

 

[possumqueen]

So does ANYONE know what to do with the whiteflies? Besides curse them?