Majortom71
Newly Registered
Posts: 7
Joined: Sun May 03, 2015 2:17 pm

Whiteflies found on pepper plants

I just discovered them today. I took of the leaves that had them and discarded.
What should I do to prevent this? Should I bring plant inside? or just go with a pesticide?

Please help the plant was looking great now it may be doomed -wall- -wall-

Thanks for any advice!

Here are the pictures:
https://postimg.org/image/eeb4mb2i5/
https://postimg.org/image/xltdej6tr/

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rainbowgardener
Super Green Thumb
Posts: 25279
Joined: Sun Feb 15, 2009 6:04 pm
Location: TN/GA 7b

Do not bring the plant inside. Pepper plants are full sun plants and do not do well indoors. And if you have any indoor / house plants, the whiteflies will just spread to those, very bad.

And please don't use poison pesticides on them. Besides being very bad for the environment and for any beneficial insects in your garden, they don't work very well, since the whiteflies have already developed a lot of resistances. (If you are interested, this thread https://www.helpfulgardener.com/forum/vi ... 11&t=57653 has a lot of information about the effects/ impacts of various commonly used garden poisons.)

Natural predators of them include ladybugs and lacewings. There is also a tiny non-stinging wasp which parasitizes them and kills them. In the short term, you can buy all these things commercially for release in your garden. In the long term, it is good to be growing flowers in your garden that attract beneficial insects. Insecticidal soap (or a homemade soapy water solution) and Neem oil work against them. You can also reduce the population, with just a strong blast of water.



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