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wliu57

Help!!! Tough White fly infection on Hibiscus

wliu57
17 years ago

I am fighting with white flies on my four Hibiscus almost a year. I tried earthworms and garlic fermented water (all the info. from this forum). I used two bags of the earthworms for the treatment. At begining, it seems effective. And later, it seems not so effective. The white fly not only damage my hibiscus, but also damage my Michelia ALBA, which is very precious tropical plants.

I am really tired on fighting with this bug.

Are there any other effective ways to deal with white fly?

Thank you all!!!

Comments (14)

  • taitai
    17 years ago

    I can not tell from "My Page" where you live, and if these plants are indoors or out. Hibiscus and Fuchsias are two favorites of Whiteflies. To get rid of White Flies you must somehow break the life cycle. The fly itself does not cause as much damages as the hundreds of larvae they produce. Its the nymphs on the leaves that are Sap Suckers and cause the damage to the plants. In the north, cold temps control Whiteflies outdoors. The problem is when you bring tropicals indoors.
    Whiteflies are attracted to yellow and white. Most garden centers sell yellow sticky cards to catch some of the adult Whiteflies. These have never ended an infestation for me, but do help to control it. You need to attack the nymphs on the leaves.
    Looking at the methods you have tried, it looks like you are trying "Organic" or "Naturally-Derived" methods. If this is what you want to use, sabadilla, neem, pyrethum or rotenone are naturally-derived. Remember "Naturally-occuring" does not always mean "safer". Rotenone is more toxic to humans than Sevin. I use an Insecticidal Soap outdoors with great success. "AS ALWAYS, READ AND FOLLOW LABEL INSTRUCTIONS"
    Another great "Natural" method to control damaging insects in your garden is the attract native parasitic wasps and predatory beetles to your garden. Not all insects are bad. It might be something you would want to research.
    This info is mostly from memory and hopefully mostly correct. I hope it gives you some ideas. Its what works for me. GOOD-LUCK!!!!

  • wliu57
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Just a correction for the last post.

    What I used is earthworm castings plus strong hose water.

  • jean001
    17 years ago

    And if you're in FL, CA, or TX, the problem may be giant whitefly. If so, it's tough whitefly to manage.

    So, tell us -- where do you live?

  • wliu57
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Thank you all.

    I am in CA, Orange County.

    The hibiscuses are outside. Yes it may be gaint whitefly, since when I use hose water I sometime can see the adult whitefly, about 1 X 1 cm size or larger. There are lots of small whiteflies about 2 mm long on the surface of the leaves. I always tried to kill the gaint whiteflies. On the back of the leaves, there are lots of larvaes which makes the leaves yellow, or black, and drop.

    I am really really tired to fight with the whitefly.

    Thanks for any advices.

  • jean_1940
    17 years ago

    I live in SE North Carolina and have huge holes eaten in the leaves of my 2 hibiscus bushes. There are tiny little "WORMS" on the leaves I have seen very few white flies around the bushes. I have treated with a soap based spray but only helps a litte. Plesase Help!

  • watergal
    17 years ago

    I don't like using chemical poisons, but imidacloprid will really eradicate whitefly. You can buy it as a systemic or a spray. For a tough infestation, I would go for the systemic (I winter mine indoors in Maryland and that is the only thing that worked for any length of time).

    Imidacloprid is the chemical that poisons whiteflies and a bunch of other nasty pests (does not work on spider mites - some people find it actually encourages spider mite infestation but I have not had that happen to me). Bayer has several products you can use - there is a tree and shrub drench that is a liquid you pour on the soil that lasts for about a year (!). There is a rose & flower spray but you must reapply more frequently.

    Merit or Marathon is another brand name you can use. I bought some Marathon granules to use indoors (Bayer products are not labelled for indoor use but Marathon granules are.) These are harder to find as they are primarily sold wholesale.

    None of these products are cheap but THEY WORK. Yellow sticky traps will help, regular spraying with neem oil will help too, if you don't want to go the chemical pesticide route.

  • jenny_in_se_pa
    17 years ago

    I was also going to suggest yellow sticky traps. If you can put them on stakes around the plant to capture the adults, that would begin to reduce the egg-laying population. However if many other plants are infested, it might be a difficult battle.

  • tsmith2579
    17 years ago

    I don't advocate bringing back DDT, but why is everyone so dead set against using chemical insecticides? Bayer makes a Multi Insect Spray which doesn't smell, isn't too hash to the plant and works well. Since this is an ornamental and not a food source, I highly recommend it.

  • soxxyfox_yahoo_com
    13 years ago

    I found a solution to the white flies...I use the mosquito zapper "shaped like a tennis racket" to kill them

  • gamittasaA_lasd_org
    12 years ago

    i have a lovely hibuscus bush outside my door it produces lovely pink flowers almost year round. but this year half o the bush from the bottom to middle is invested in a white moss from flies. my friend sprayed malathian the other night. it stinks bad, but on the third day the bush is starting to look better. but there still are yellow leaves, just hate looking at yellow leaves. i hope this strong spray works.

  • Rubi471
    12 years ago

    I just bought potted hibiscus plants from Lows and put them on my porch (Dayton, OH)Long behold, I noticed that 2 hibiscus bushes do not bloom. Upon further inspection I found that they have all kinds of white and black color little worms, spotted leaves, and white little particles around their buds. I looked carefully at other hibiscus plants (2 trees, 3 small pots) and ALL of them have infestation! Should I try to treat them or just return to the store? Thanks in advance for any good advice!

  • rosco_p
    12 years ago

    Enjoyed the novella and will be awaiting the sequel.Glad to hear that victory is yours.

  • Georg Rauh
    8 years ago
    last modified: 8 years ago

    My journey:

    Day 1 where I discovered a massive whitefly infestation on my peppers:

    Rushed to the grow store, got a Neem oil product (Azadirachtin 3.2%)

    Hosed all my plants off w/ water as a first step to remove bugs, larvae, eggs.

    Sprayed the Neem oil as per instructions

    Day 2: Made a DIY insecticidal soap, sprayed plants WELL, have it sit for an hour.

    Hosed plants off even more thoroughly on the sunroof.

    Sprayed & cleaned greenhouse with the soap.

    At night/early morning, sprayed them newly with Neem oil product again, this time with adjusted ph (4.5ish) for the water and a tbsp of olive oil.

    I still see some few jumping and flying.

    NOT DONE YET...

    Ordered actual, real Insecticidal soap. (The one I made might not have been the exact kind I wanted, it's not a potassium based soap like "real" insecticidal soaps)

    Will get yellow sticky traps too.

    I already put up two ant-traps up in the greenhouse, there is still ants crawling, they're entirely un-impressed by the traps. As you might know, the ants are actually helping the whiteflies...

    Really, NASTY bug infection.

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