White flys in the hoop house in February! I'm not a synthetic control guy, poisons on my plants and food kinds turns me off you know?
Anyways, tell me if this is gonna work. Dilutes a mix of a couple drops of Dawn dish soap and a teaspoon of canola oil. Diluted in water and sprayed. Is the oil going to clog leaf stomata? Hope not. Anyways, will this put a dent in the flies? Trimmed the tomato plants and infested foliage off and chunked it. Whats the next step up in sprays? I used Captain Jacks dead bug in thrips and it whooped them, will it get white fly? Thanks!
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HoopHouseHydroGuyGA
- Full Member
- Posts: 24
- Joined: Tue Feb 23, 2016 12:22 am
You can try the soap. Tomatoes aren't as fussy. Peppers really don't like soap on for long, it has to be washed off in minutes or it will make the leaves curl.
Whiteflies are hard to kill with pesticides, they have become resistant to many of them. It is hard to kill the adults that will just flit away and the eggs won't be killed.
I have just used a jet of water under the leaves to clean off the eggs and larvae. I have to do that everyday.
Purple Ladybugs and there is a whitefly parasite that will kill whiteflies if you want to release some in the hoop house.
Some people use a dust buster to vacuum up the flies early in the morning when they are sitting on the leaves and not as active.
You can use a yellow or blue sticky trap. Different pests are attracted to different colors. You can make a sticky trap from plastic folders and spread tangle foot on them. I have also put a yellow piece of paper inside of a sheet of laminate and put the tangle foot on that when I could not find the yellow plastic folder. You will have to clean the sticky trap and reapply tanglefoot.
You can buy sticky traps here and wash them off and apply tanglefoot to reuse.
https://www.amazon.com/Yellow-Sticky-Aph ... B000I6K3JY
I don't have too much of a whitefly problem. It is a cyclical problem every two years. This year it is not too bad. I have a trap plant (hibiscus), I usually check that first and control them there since it is a preferred host. My plants are outside and I have enough purple ladybugs to keep them in check. I control the rest with just blasting water under the leaves especially of peppers and cutting back the hibiscus if it gets too infested.
Whiteflies are hard to kill with pesticides, they have become resistant to many of them. It is hard to kill the adults that will just flit away and the eggs won't be killed.
I have just used a jet of water under the leaves to clean off the eggs and larvae. I have to do that everyday.
Purple Ladybugs and there is a whitefly parasite that will kill whiteflies if you want to release some in the hoop house.
Some people use a dust buster to vacuum up the flies early in the morning when they are sitting on the leaves and not as active.
You can use a yellow or blue sticky trap. Different pests are attracted to different colors. You can make a sticky trap from plastic folders and spread tangle foot on them. I have also put a yellow piece of paper inside of a sheet of laminate and put the tangle foot on that when I could not find the yellow plastic folder. You will have to clean the sticky trap and reapply tanglefoot.
You can buy sticky traps here and wash them off and apply tanglefoot to reuse.
https://www.amazon.com/Yellow-Sticky-Aph ... B000I6K3JY
I don't have too much of a whitefly problem. It is a cyclical problem every two years. This year it is not too bad. I have a trap plant (hibiscus), I usually check that first and control them there since it is a preferred host. My plants are outside and I have enough purple ladybugs to keep them in check. I control the rest with just blasting water under the leaves especially of peppers and cutting back the hibiscus if it gets too infested.
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rainbowgardener
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 25279
- Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
- Location: TN/GA 7b
Good answer from imfan. Along with ladybugs and the whitefly parasite, lacewings are also a predator for whitefly larvae and eggs. You can buy any of these on-line, but they won't stay in your garden long if you don't have the other things they need. Ladybugs for example eat pollen as well as pest insects and need to have it. Flowers and herbs like cilantro, dill, fennel, caraway, yarrow, tansy, angelica, scented geraniums, coreopsis and cosmos help attract them and keep them in your garden. The soap solution or Neem oil should be effective against them.
True, you can release them in the hoop house but they need host plants to live longer. It also helps to mist plants in the morning or provide a shallow tray with pebbles and water to provide the insects with a water source. I usually water in the morning so the insects can get water that collects on the leaves. You want plants in bloom like achilea, alyssum, coriander, dill, fennel, and Queen Anne's lace. While I like fennel but, alyssum and achilea might work better in the hoop house. Alyssum will be in bloom 6 weeks from seed and the blooms last a long time. fennel blooms also last a long time but fennel will also stunt plants within 10 ft so it works better planted somewhere outside.
It is better to control insects early in the infestation. Inside a greenhouse, problems will multiply as predators will most likely be excluded or limited. When infestations get particularly bad, the only solution is to destroy, sanitize and start over. Have your host plants in the greenhouse ahead of the plants so they will be in flower when you have succulent growth attracting the pests.
You have to be strict about sanitaion. Most commercial greenhouses have a double door entry to try to limit bugs getting into the house, but you have to remember to keep the doors closed and only open one door at a time. Inspect plants before you bring them in the house and treat them with soap or an oil anyway, just in case you missed something.
You have to have zero tolerance for pests in the house. They will always go after the sick plants first so it is better to get rid of the plants before the pests can spread or have a separate hospital area somewhere else if it is a plant you really want to keep. Monoculture inside greenhouses causes other problem because the greenhouse should be a barrier to pests but it only works if the pests are prevented from getting in. Once inside, the pests are usually protected from their predators. Releasing predators works but it is hard to keep them alive inside a greenhouse if there is no diversity or pollen plants to host them and the structure prevents predators from coming in naturally. That is why most green houses are heavily sprayed for pest control.
It is better to control insects early in the infestation. Inside a greenhouse, problems will multiply as predators will most likely be excluded or limited. When infestations get particularly bad, the only solution is to destroy, sanitize and start over. Have your host plants in the greenhouse ahead of the plants so they will be in flower when you have succulent growth attracting the pests.
You have to be strict about sanitaion. Most commercial greenhouses have a double door entry to try to limit bugs getting into the house, but you have to remember to keep the doors closed and only open one door at a time. Inspect plants before you bring them in the house and treat them with soap or an oil anyway, just in case you missed something.
You have to have zero tolerance for pests in the house. They will always go after the sick plants first so it is better to get rid of the plants before the pests can spread or have a separate hospital area somewhere else if it is a plant you really want to keep. Monoculture inside greenhouses causes other problem because the greenhouse should be a barrier to pests but it only works if the pests are prevented from getting in. Once inside, the pests are usually protected from their predators. Releasing predators works but it is hard to keep them alive inside a greenhouse if there is no diversity or pollen plants to host them and the structure prevents predators from coming in naturally. That is why most green houses are heavily sprayed for pest control.