arrgh whitefly!

If you would like advice from the Kitchen Garden editorial team, ask here. Steve, Emma or Tony will pop in with their best advice.

Moderators: KG Steve, Chantal, Tigger, peter

paulw60
KG Regular
Posts: 56
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2018 1:32 pm
Location: pevensey bay ,east sussex

Our hydroponic system in the greenhouse is going great guns this year, but with one problem, it is overrun with whitefly! I have tried sticky tapes hung across the system, sprayed with bug clear, also a fine hose. It takes forever to rinse /wash the produce through before
tucking into it . Has anybody ideas on how to clear it or at least cut it down to a manageble level/
thanks everyone
thought there was light at the end of the tunnel, but it was somebody with a torch bring more work!!
Diarmuid
KG Regular
Posts: 39
Joined: Fri Dec 11, 2020 3:10 pm
Location: County Cork.

Hi Paul, I presume that you are tapping, on a fairly regulary basis, the plants to disturb the white fly, which leads to more being trapped on your sticky tapes.
Alternatively I think that you can buy Ladybirds to release in the greenhouse. I'm not sure if they are available at this time of the year, nor if they only eat greenfly.
Regards, Diarmuid.
Don't wait until it's gone, before you appreciate what you have.
paulw60
KG Regular
Posts: 56
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2018 1:32 pm
Location: pevensey bay ,east sussex

Thanks Diarmuid,
no I never thought of tapping them, will give it a try, I might try and buy some ladybirds as well
thought there was light at the end of the tunnel, but it was somebody with a torch bring more work!!
User avatar
Primrose
KG Regular
Posts: 8054
Joined: Tue Aug 29, 2006 8:50 pm
Location: Bucks.
Has thanked: 37 times
Been thanked: 281 times

Tapping should certainly get some of them moving. Try tapping one plant at a time and holding the sticky tape near it so you onky dislodge a few at a time. If you brush them all I. Quick succession yiu simply risk spreading them more quickly to other plants not so badly infected. Tap the plants when dry. If you try and tap immediately after spraying with water you won,t catch so many moving around.

They're surprisingly hard to eradicate once they,ve arrived en masse. They infested my curly kale last year and tapping them hard produced such a cloud of white it would have made a good advert for Head and Shoukdefs Anti Dandruff shampoo!
sally wright
KG Regular
Posts: 722
Joined: Tue Nov 29, 2005 7:32 pm
Location: Cambridge

Dear Paul,
what you need is Encarsia formosa, the biological control. The parasitized whitefly scales arrive attached to little cards which you hang amongst the plants. Quite a lot of places stock them and as the little cards all look as though they come from the same manufacturer go with price and delivery rather than expecting better things from upmarket suppliers.
You will know they are working when you look underneath the leaves of your plants and find matching black scales.
Regards Sally Wright.
paulw60
KG Regular
Posts: 56
Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2018 1:32 pm
Location: pevensey bay ,east sussex

thank you Sally, will give that atry.
thought there was light at the end of the tunnel, but it was somebody with a torch bring more work!!
Post Reply Previous topicNext topic