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| 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:
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Sunday, June 29, 2014
My Serious Whitefly Problem, Part 2
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