seeds Whiteflies and Seedlings

Flamecycle · Sep 18, 2011

So yesterday I noticed whiteflies on my chile's, and today they have spread to my seedlings (ie 6-10 leaves per plant size)...

Reading through the archives, it seems these bastards are difficult to get rid of. The most common suggestion is to spray the leaves some sort of insecticidal soap/detergent (uncertain results using predators such as ladybugs and lacewings). I have already added some coffee grounds to the top of the soil, though I don't think it is doing anything.

My little chile's are young and have so few leaves I am afraid that spraying them with soap may kill them. Add to the problem the fact that I am still getting 100+ degree days where I live, which is already on the verge of burning my poor little seedlings which have only recently been hardened off to the outdoors.

Does anybody have experience using this type of detergent treatment on young plants? Will it burn their leaves? Are there any other methods to get rid of these stupid whiteflies?

SuperHot · Sep 18, 2011

I never had to deal with those yet, but "Burning Colon" will know.

HawaiiAl · Sep 19, 2011

First off DO NOT USE DETERGENT it will kill and burn plants. I use 11/2 teaspoons of ivory dish SOAP or Murphy's SOAP to 11/2 teaspoons of neem to 1 QT of warm water spray every day for three days then every 4 days for a month white flies will be gone. if you only spray once or twice you will not kill the eggs. if you want extra protection place about 1/2 " of mix in the bottom of 2 liter coke bottles place four or five around your plants the little bastards try to drink more than they can fly with and drown. The neem will not hirt the plants. Have been using it for the last 5 years , Have never lost a plant Works for me

Flamecycle · Sep 19, 2011

Awesome Al, I will try that. Thanks for the advice!

kauaidundee · Sep 19, 2011

Like Braddah Al said, gotta hit em hard at first. Try and spray plants in the morning or in the evening. And don't forget to spray very well on the underside of ALL the leaves.

mikeinsc · Sep 19, 2011

Soaps work by stripping away a soft bodied insects cuticle. It can do the same thing to your plants and could also plug the stomates of the leaves. For the young seedlings, I would advise against using soaps of any kind as they might not do well witth such harsh treatment. It is not suggested to use soaps in temperatures above 90 degrees. If you do use them, use them in the evening or early in the morning so that it has a chance to dry before the sun bakes down on it.

Integrated Pest Management may be something to look into. Ladybug larvae would like the snack. Or, you could do a passive method of yellow sticky traps. They aren't a pest control method but the cards do hold the flies if they land on it. There is some research to suggest that the color yellow, and to some extent blue, attracts white flies.

Phildeez · Sep 19, 2011

I had much better luck with diluted alcohol sprays than soap. I found soap to be slower acting, less effective and more wear and tear on the plants over time. Luckily whiteflies are relatively harmless, they may cause some distorted growth but what will really harm your plants is mold growing on the honeydew they excrete, which should not happen without an immense amount of them on your plants for along period. You need to be careful using insecticidal soaps because you are killing the bugs that eat whiteflies and the whiteflies will recolonize and reproduce much faster than the beneficials. Your best bet for a long term solution is native beneficial bugs, otherwise you will be spraying all season and that is not easy or fun when the plants get larger.

Also, yellow traps are VERY effective and will not get too many beneficials or harm your plants at all. You can buy them or make your own with yellow plastic and petroleum jelly.

Flamecycle · Sep 19, 2011

Thanks Mike and Phil, though now I'm torn. Can you give a little more info about what you mean by diluted alcohol spray Phil? Like vodka water? What percent?

Edgie · Sep 23, 2011

HawaiiAl said:
First off DO NOT USE DETERGENT it will kill and burn plants. I use 11/2 teaspoons of ivory dish SOAP or Murphy's SOAP to 11/2 teaspoons of neem to 1 QT of warm water spray every day for three days then every 4 days for a month white flies will be gone. if you only spray once or twice you will not kill the eggs. if you want extra protection place about 1/2 " of mix in the bottom of 2 liter coke bottles place four or five around your plants the little bastards try to drink more than they can fly with and drown. The neem will not hirt the plants. Have been using it for the last 5 years , Have never lost a plant Works for me

Can I use the soap/neem mixture in a hydroponic grow (ebb &flow or dwc)? Would this lower the PH of my reservoir? I already tried the DETERGENT (before this thread was started) and it burnt a few seedling. I've been using the sticky traps now and they seem to be working, but I still have a bunch of whiteflies and a few other ugly little bugs. Thanks.

Edgie · Oct 11, 2011

Here is what happened when I used the insecticidal soap on one of my seedlings (before I read this topic, of course):

Before the soap, he was a beautiful green and had his first true leaves. The soap turned him yellow and two of the leaves fell off.

I waited a week then turned the nutrients up to 100%. He has made a full recovery!!

Thanks again, THP!!