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Whitefly
Whiteflies are an aphid. They are approximately 1/8" (3mm)
long and are small winged insects found mainly on the undersides of leaves. The first indication of their presence is if the plant is touched or brushed up
against, the insects fly up from the plant. Young whiteflies are almost
transparent and are wingless. The young whiteflies, known as nymphs, excrete
honeydew as they feed and this honeydew attracts ants. Here in Cambria
California, whiteflies are usually
present in large numbers during the summer growing months. Whiteflies belong to
the Aleyrodidae family of insects. Aleyrodidae means
flourlike and the wings of the adult whitefly are covered in white flour like
powder.
Suggested solution
There are a number of methods to control whitefly. They can be
blasted with water and this blast will remove them from the plant. It is
important when blasting the plant with water to ensure you spray the underside
of the leaves and unfold curled leaves. However, for
a longer-term solution a spray of Neem oil can be applied to the plant every 3
to 5 days for a period of 4 weeks. It is important to continue the treatment
over the 4-week period in order to cover all stages of the whitefly development
stage. It is crucial when either blasting the leaves with water or spraying with
a solution of Neem oil, to thoroughly spray the undersides of the leaves. Another method is to use
yellow sticky whitefly traps around your garden. These traps
attract the whiteflies which stick to them. Whiteflies have some natural enemies including lacewing larvae.
How to prevent whitefly
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Whiteflies are difficult to prevent and control as they have
5 stages of development and each stage may be resistant to a particular
insecticide. We have found the most successful way to eliminate and control
whitefly here in Cambria California is to spray with Neem oil as we have described above.
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Ladybugs will eat the larvae, so you can either purchase
ladybugs or attract ladybugs with your plant choice.
Products we sell at Cambria Nursery & Florist to control whitefly
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