My Serious Whitefly Problem, Part 2

Whitefly damage on a tomato leaf
(From http://ncsupdicblog.blogspot.com/2012/01/sample-of-week-tomato-triple-whammy.html)

After my last post, I went looking for causes and solutions to my incredible whitefly problem. A few things popped up immediately in my Google search. 

One man suggested via YouTube (see his video link below) using an insecticidal soap-like solution containing merely dishwashing liquid and water. I already had that and have been using it to stop cabbage moth larvae from eating up my brassicas (at this time I have kale and collards in my garden). My soap of choice is original, non-scented, intense blue Dawn liquid. This stuff is great. It is used to clean up birds who get caught in major oil spills. I use it with water for all of my cleaning needs around the house, including  washing my windows. My windows come out gleaming and crystal clear.

I took my spray bottle of Dawn liquid solution and I went out and sprayed all of my vegetables. The main idea is to make sure that you spray under the leaves - the location where the bugs hang out. As I went from plant to plant, I  shook each plant and whiteflies flew out from each one. I have to say that I was alarmed and shocked. I found a suggestion that you should remove all of the leaves from your plants that appear to be dead or infected and remove them from your garden completely. Why? Because whiteflies and their eggs can still be hanging on for dear life. To me this means do not even think of composting this kind of debris. After I tossed into a garbage can all of the poppies that were a whitefly breeding factory mentioned in Part One, I went back to that can and removed the top to additional debris. A swarm of whiteflies flew out into my face. It was like something out of a horror movie. That lid was slammed down so fast to make your head swim. Whitefly zombies?!!! The Flying Dead! What does it take to kill these things?

My research also indicated that too many nearby weeds may be causing and contributing to the problem. And, boy, do I have lots of weeds around! In the space between my neighbor's  garage and the retaining walls that enclose my garden, there are weeds growing so out of control with no water, that you would think I was living next to a reverse Amazon jungle. I got one of my 32 gallon plastic green trash cans and filled it within a matter of minutes. I am going to work to get this under control ASAP!

Here are several links I found helpful to help understand and eradicate whiteflies in your garden:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whitefly

2. http://www.almanac.com/content/whiteflies

3. http://ucipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7401.html

4. http://ucanr.edu/sites/VCMG/Controlling_Whiteflies_in_Your_Garden/

5. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wvDYxIu8m2g

My Serious Whitefly Problem!

I was out in my garden this afternoon and I finally realized that I have a major whitefly problem. When I nudged some red flowering poppies near my front gate to cut off some dead leaves, I could not believe the swarm that flew out. I also have pots of marigolds nearby and swarms flew out from them too. I decided to do a quick check of everything in the garden. All you have to do is go to each plant and gently shake the leaves. My strawberries were infected. Each one of my six tomatoes had small infestations too. I already have a those yellow sticky traps on the side of all of my tomato cages and those traps have caught quite a few bugs but not that many white flies.

What on Earth is going on here?

First of all, I am using the sticky yellow traps sold by Seabright Laboratories, located in Emeryville, CA. Only about 80 miles or so from my front door here in Guerneville, CA. They do work and I used them last year by tying one on each my tomato cages. Siince I knew they caught bugs I put them up on the cages as soon as I planted my tomatoes this year. These cages are not too far away from the other plants I mentioned above. I simply do not understand how all of those whiteflies took up residence in my garden. Also, I do not understand  why or how they infested most of my tomatoes? Did they slip in under cover of night like insect versions of Navy Seals or some Black OPS group right out of a Tom Clancy novel? Aren’t they supposed to make a beeline directly to those sticky traps as soon as they see the color yellow? 

Well, I took immediate action to halt my infestation and I installed a new trap within inches of the poppies. After shaking the poppies, a Luftwaffe squad of those little white critters dive-bombed that sticky trap. YES!!!  I also decided to pulled up the poppies and they were tossed into the yard waste bin. Two of my tomato cages got additional traps. And one trap was placed near my cucumbers. Now I have 10 traps that are in an area that is probably less than 100 square feet. Since my garden is in my front yard, the neighbors must be thinking that I am signaling to alien spacecraft. They are probably also waiting for me to start wearing an aluminum garden hat to stop the government from hearing my thoughts and transferring information to those pesky Navy Seal, Black OPS whiteflies that have invaded my garden.