Get Rid of White Flies & Eggs?

[R.K. Castillo]

I hit my plants and a puff of white flies will fly around.  

Reading in the forum it seems like spraying with worm tea will help as well as a yellow paper trap with Vaseline on it.  

But how do you get rid of all the eggs that are on the underside of the leaves?  

[Daniel Rosado Rodriguez]

Soapy water. Mix water with dish washing liquid, One that is biodegradable. Spray every 4 days. They normally hatch every five so you will be treating before they do hatch. If you put the yellow paper with Vaseline under a light at night it will attract them. I use a tables spoon for 2 litters  of water. If you see them just plug the leave and drop it on the same solution. Any little help will do. Worm castings tend to give the plants a "flavor" they don't like. Is a great fertilizer too!

[R.K. Castillo]

OK...thanks

[Derek Miner, EarthSpring BioChar]

When you flood, does the water come up to the top of your media?  I've heard that keeping the very top of your system dry will greatly reduce the number of flies/aphids/unwanted pests.  I imagine you could add more media or lower your flood valve.  I'm not sure what type of system your running, but I hope this suggestion helps.

[R.K. Castillo]

top is dry

[Purpleighstuff]

I use molasses and water mixed with water and a drop of dish soap... Dish soap makes the solution stick to the leaves, molasses tricks the flies into thinking the plants are much older and not suitable for laying on and second to that, it attracts ants, their natural enemy. (Most) Ants aren't interested in eating your plants and to get rid of them from your system, just stop spraying :) good luck

[Purpleighstuff]

Oops! Didn't proof read my post...

[R.K. Castillo]

The problem has just been getting worse and worse. I spray with worm tea about once a week. I also spray with Spinosad to deal with thrips about once a month. Here's a picture just one leaf of kale. It's really bad. Any idea how to eliminate these?

[Converse]

Greetings,

 Be sure that the worm castings you are using to make your worm casting tea are fresh, and have not been stored in an air tight container and have not been allowed to dry out.

  To use worm casting tea to control insects and plant a maladies, it needs to be concentrated and aerated.  The ratio of 2/3 cup castings to 1 gallon non-chlorinated water.  Add sugar (not honey) at a rate of about 2 tablespoons. We use molasses.  Aerate for 12 -24 hours.  If you are in a warmer climate (in the 80 - 90's degrees F) it will take less time to brew the tea (closer to the 12 hour side, but longer is okay).  Keep in on the aeration source and use it right away  Be sure to coat all surfaces of the plants. 

     I hope this is helpful.

  I am sure that there is a lot of other helpful info people can offer too.  My best to you in this!

 - Converse 

[R.K. Castillo]

How many times a week?

[Converse]

Wow!  I feel for you....

   Let's back up a bit...  Yup, I did leave out some important info that may be of some help

  Depending on the species of whitefly, the clusters of 50- 400 eggs can hatch on the underside of leaves in about 7 - 10 days...So my recommendation is to spray for a while every 7 - 10 days.

    Additionally, you can sprinkle worm castings at the base of your plants in your growbeds.  The idea here is that the plants will take up the chitinase systemically and present it to the whitefly which will then be repelled by the plant contents...To be honest, I have not been able to find research that substantiates the claim of the plants actually taking-up this enzyme, but it may be true (I read it in an article online that was not associated with a confirmed research group). Worm castings DO make your plants healthier and healthy plants make poor targets for insect pests, so this would not be a wasted effort. 

  The spraying of the plant surfaces with brewed worm casting tea to control whitefly is  substantiated though.

Hope this additional info is helpful. Again, I wish you the best in this battle!

- Converse

[Arvind Venkataraman]

turmeric !! turmeric!! turmeric!!

add liberally to water and spray on...

you are better off just removing infected leaves

[Josette Portelli]

How much tumeric please?

Arvind Venkataraman said:

turmeric !! turmeric!! turmeric!!

add liberally to water and spray on...

you are better off just removing infected leaves