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Arizona Gardening

White Flies - UGH!

10 years ago

Hi Everyone, so with this awesome weather I have been out in the yard a lot more. Last weekend I noticed my hibiscus is covered with white flies. Sprayed neem oil all over it and it doesn't seem to be helping much at all other than turning the leaves yellow. I know this topic has come up before, but wanted to see if anyone has had any good updates on how to get rid of these darn things before they attach the rest of my yard. I have read planting mint, garlic, marigold, nasturtium etc - do any of these really work? Any suggestions would be much appreciated!!

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Comments (10)

tomatofreak
10 years ago
Let's not forget aphids; those nasty little things are next! I hate 'em. Is there something that will knock 'em both out?
aztreelvr
10 years ago
White flies LOVE the color yellow which is why whitefly traps are that color and are coated with ultra sticky stuff. When the whiteflies land on the traps they get stuck. Voila! End of whiteflies.

Seriously, this prevents the adults from laying eggs. Its the nymphs that do the damage with their piercing mouthparts. The adults don't harm plants, but they do produce the young that do. Break the cycle and your whitefly problem will vanish.

You can make your own traps by using a yellow plastic plate stapled onto a stake. An old paint stir stick works well. Coat the plate with something sticky like petroleum jelly or Tanglefoot, a sticky pigeon control product you can get at the home improvement store. Place the plate next to plants that whiteflies love like hibiscus and lantana.

Good luck.

Here is a link that might be useful: whitefly management from UC Davis
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This cannot be a new thing. I too have a one year old vine, no fruit, lots of vine and millions of those very, very small flying insects. Shake the plant and these things swam out like some kind of plague -- but try to find them on the underside of the leaves -- they are not impossible to see but if they do not move you can miss them, unless they fly, then they are truly evident. Also, the leaves now have brown blotches all over them and some are skeletal -- not sure these flies or whatever, are the cause but there are so many that they cannot be beneficial. But, no one seems to have and answer, like this is something unusual. Strange, no one seems to have a solid answer?
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We put in a hedge of white wing hibiscus along the front of our house when we bought it20 years ago. They were beautiful and the past few years they'd been plagued with giant white fly. Tried everything from water spray, hand picking organic and chemical pest controls, including hiring a service and they kept coming back. Didn't hurt the plant, but so unsightly with all that cotton candy looking stuff hanging off them which would get sooty mold and turn black. And expensive. Finally gave up and had them removed a few weeks ago. Looks naked and ugly out there, and no clue what to plant instead, but at least I'm done with the white flies and chemicals...until they find something else to go after. Didn't know they liked cannas. Was going to put them in my back yard, but no way. I'm interested to hear if anyone else has a solution. I have a red hibiscus in my back yard and am afraid they'll find it!
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@floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK No I have it in the far end of the backyard so it's out in the open, no shade until the evening when the sun moves completely to the front of the house. I hosed it down the other day and shimmied my hands through it when I first saw a web, which was larger than the one in the photo above that I took today, but I used a softer more rain like setting because I was afraid of damaging the plant. I originally thought "oh no not spidermites again!" Because I've had them in the past when I had a planter with basil inside over the winter but I wasn't able to get rid of the pests and my plant died. But I read that spidermites don't fly and when I brushed my hand through the thyme all these little flies that look like whiteflies came swirling out. I hope the two pests aren't partnering up now plotting their plant domination on me, I'm afraid they're going to win if I don't do something quick.
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User
10 years ago
I ignore them.

The natural predators will show up.
campv 8b AZ
10 years ago
In California we sprayed melathion(not sure of the spelling HD has it) on the Hibiscus and it takes care of the aphids too. We also use it on the citrus which can get white fly bad. Don't use it when bees are active.
tracydr
10 years ago
Malathion,yikes!
I usually ignore white flies and the predators do take care of them.
The aphids on my artichokes every spring, they have to be taken care of. I use an organic spray with not so great results. I also spray with water frequently, which seems to work better than the spray.
campv 8b AZ
10 years ago
Tracy -Nothing was mentioned about putting malathion on vegetables. People don't eat Hibiscus bushes.
aztreelvr
10 years ago
People may not eat hibiscus flowers but hummingbirds and other pollinators as well as beneficial insects visit them. Just a thought........
davep75
10 years ago
Hibiscus tea, national drink of Mexico!
Hey, just saying.......
greendesert
10 years ago
just FYI davep75, the hibiscus that they make drinks out of, is NOT the same as the hibiscus we grow here for ornamental purposes. The ornamental hibiscus is not used in tea. Hibiscus Sabdarifa, is a tropical plant that does well here, but doesn't survive winters. My guess the OP is talking about ornamental hibiscus.
davep75
10 years ago
Sounds all correct to me, but I'm working on Hibiscus Sabdarifa, hoping to find a natural way to help with high bp. Next year about this time I'll let you know how it handles winter. If its like this one, I'm betting (literally) that it comes thru ok. I hope the white flies don't bother it. The only plants that I had a serious problem with was white and purple lantana, they didn't bother the yellow and red so much.

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