I agree with Al. I believe that you have fungus gnats. The adults are harmless, but they lay eggs into the soil mix. Upon hatching, the little whitish, worm-like larvae eats roots as well as organic matter. Fungus gnats are often a result of overly moist conditions, as well as a potting mix that doesn't drain rapidly and/or is not porous enough. As a matter of fact, these pesky critters MUST have moist conditions in order to survive. Cutting back on the watering can help, as will applications of Gnatrol or other Bacillus thuringiensis-Israelensis containing treatment. This product is applied when you water normally. The larvae ingest the Bt-i as they feed, and die. Those adults live only for a few days, and with no further young adults emerging from the soil, your population of gnats will soon disappear. In the future, adding a hefty percentage of perlite to your potting mix will help prevent fungus gnats, as well as being very careful about your watering. Fungus gnat attacks are one hundred percent preventable. ;-)

mgpaquin According to this site, the tomato yellow leaf curl virus does not survive in soil. I'd do some more research to make sure that's what all the research says. I also found the site linked below that describes an odiferous "invention" to repel whiteflies using fermented eggshells and eggwhites as the ingredients. It sounds pretty smelly, if you know what rotten eggs smell like! Here's the process described in the link. I don't know if it could be reproduced by home gardeners or not, since the information given appears to comprise some sort of formula that someone wants to take commercial. I'm also not sure if you're supposed to spray the plants with the resulting smelly mess or water the soil with it. The author says the plants themselves begin to smell of sulfur and thereby whiteflies are repelled, so I concluded the soil around the plants should be watered with it. Yet, in another place the author mentions "placing" it on leaf surfaces. If the plants smell like sulfur, I suppose any fruit would taste like sulfur, and nobody wants tomatoes to taste like that, but who knows? Maybe one tomato plant in a container could be sacrificed as a test! ===== There are many parts of an egg including the albumen or egg white. Typically, the albumen accounts for about sixty-seven percent of an egg's weight. The albumen contains more than half of the egg's total protein, minerals and vitamins. The albumen contains protein, niacin, riboflavin, chlorine, magnesium, potassium, sodium and sulfur. The pest repellant is produced by fermenting eggshells with a portion of the albumen attached thereto. Fermentation is the chemical process that breaks down organic materials. The process is carried out by bacteria, molds and yeasts that are present in the air. It is believed that the fermentation process liberates sulfur from sulfates and sulfides present in the amino acids of the eggshells and albumen. A chemical analysis of chicken eggs was undertaken and the following results were yielded. One-hundred grams of fresh chicken eggs contains approximately 70.83 g of water, 12.14 g of protein and 11.15 g of lipids. Minerals present in the eggs were as follows: 56 mg of C, 2.09 mg of Fe, 12 mg of Mg, 180 mg of P, 130 mg of K, 138 mg of Na and 1.44 mg of Zn. Vitamins included in the fresh eggs were as follows 0.087 mg of Thiamin, 0.301 mg of Riboflavin, 0.062 mg of Niacin, 0.120 mg of B6, 1.547 mg of B12 and 520 IU of A. The chicken eggs also included amino acids in the approximate quantities: 0.820 g of Lysine, 0.392 g of Methionine, 0.289 g of Cystine, 0.596 g of Threonine, 0.759 g of Isoleucine and 0.686 g of Phenylalanine. Methionine and Cystine both include sulfur. Methionine is represented by the following structural formula. ##STR2## Cystine is represented by the following structural formula. ##STR3## Since the eggshells and albumen contain amino acids that comprise sulfur, sulfur dioxide is created during the fermentation process. Sulfur dioxide is a colorless gas with a distinctive odor. The sulfur dioxide contributes to repelling the pests as it is placed on the leaf surfaces of the plant. The plants also absorb the sulfur present in the mixture of eggshells and albumen and give off a sulfur smell that repels pests. Another important element in the pest repellent is sulfide. Sulfide is a chemical compound that contains sulfur and another element. All sulfides contain the sulfide ion, a single sulfur atom with an electrical charge of -2. Sulfide ions are present in some proteins which make up living things. Since eggs are high in proteins, sulfide is present in them. During the manufacturing process of the pest repellent sulfur from the sulfide is liberated by the fermentation process. The best contemplated process for producing the pest repellant, involves collecting eggshells with part of the albumen attached thereto. The eggshells are placed into a metal or plastic container with warm or hot water. Over a period of time, the water coupled with bacteria and other fermenting agents dissolve the eggshells and cause them to decompose and liquefy. The mixture of water, eggshells and albumen are allowed to ferment for a period of time. Typically, the mixture ferments for at least twelve days. Heat may be introduced into the curing time to increase the fermentation process and cause chemical bonds to be broken thereby more quickly liberating sulfur. Likewise, the mixture may be stirred occasionally to increase the fermentation process. Typically, the mixture is tested using a hydrogen sulfide test kit to determine whether it is ready to be applied to plants. The mixture is ready for use as a pest repellant when the hydrogen sulfide is present in at least an amount of 0.424 mg/I. The mixture is then strained to remove visible or non-liquid particles. Silt sized particles may remain in the mixture due to the calcium in the shells. Typically, the calcium carbonate of the egg shells does not breakdown entirely leaving silt sized particles which may be filtered from the mixture. In the preferred embodiment, the silt sized particles are left in the mixture and are applied at the base of the plant adding nutritional value to the mixture. The preferable ratios of chemical compounds in the mixture are 250 ml of H2 O to 24.3 g of CaCO3 to 1.060-5 g of H2 S. The following is the structural formula for the pest repellant. ##STR4## The following are examples of the effectiveness of the pest repellant mixture. EXAMPLE 1 A mixture of hydrogen sulfide and calcium suspended in water, as mentioned above, was applied to a poinsettia plant. The poinsettia plant was placed near a gardenia bush that was infested with white flies. The poinsettia plant was monitored and visually inspected bi-weekly for approximately five months during warm weather. Visual inspections of the poinsettia plant revealed no white flies, larvae or white fly eggs present on the leaves of the poinsettia plant. The plant remained healthy and productive with blossoms and leaves of deep color. EXAMPLE 2 A gardenia bush that was infested with white flies operated as a control. White flies were visibly present on the leave surface of the gardenia bush. A second gardenia bush was placed within approximately a foot of the control. The second gardenia bush was treated twice a month with a mixture containing 0.424 mg/l of H2 S as mentioned above. Visual inspections of the gardenia bushes were conducted over a four-month period of time. While the control remained infested with white flies, no white flies were present during the visual inspections on the second gardenia bush. Further, neither larvae nor white fly eggs were found on the underside surface of the leaf. The second gardenia bush remained healthy and did not become infested with the white flies. It is to be understood that the invention is not limited to the exact construction illustrated and described above, but that various changes and modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention as defined in the following claims. Here is a link that might be useful: Patent application

Maybe this is out in left field but is it possible you are seeing a spider mite infestation. They certainly take over plants with a webbing that just gets bigger and bigger as you mentioned. There is both a red variety which I'm more used to but there are other varieties that appear whiter. See this link: http://www.inra.fr/Internet/Produits/HYPPZ/RAVAGEUR/6teturt.htm#ima and this image: http://www.inra.fr/Internet/Produits/HYPPZ/IMAGES/7033192.jpg Best of luck

I moved about a month ago, and started keeping the basil on the porch. I don't remember at what point I started noticing damage, it was slight at first and got progressively worse. About 4 days ago, I brought most of the basil back indoors in a weak attempt. Didn't help, it was still being chewed up. About the day before I brought it indoors was when I started spraying with the soap and cayenne pepper spray. A couple days later I added the D.E. Yesterday I flooded the pots to try and kill any insects living in the soil (I placed them in a big cooking pot, and filled them up as much as possible, pouring the water into the pots until it had drained out so much the line was up to the top of the pot. Left it alone 5-10 minutes, then pulled them out to drain). I hoped that would do it. But instead, today, the basil has been even more ravaged than any other 24 hour period. I live in Indianapolis IN. These photos are some of the damage from yesterday to today. http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e103/Lin_171/20150610_145303_zpsqi6mr6ng.jpg http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e103/Lin_171/20150610_145336_zpsczdq6vol.jpg http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e103/Lin_171/20150610_145410_zpswj2xh367.jpg Everything was thriving before at my previous place, but i don't have the indoor sun I had there. I bought another small basil plant a couple days ago because of the damage to mine (including leaves at the bottom being weak and yellow) and I'm also terrified that will go the same way. I've got 3 basil plants in pots (around 12" tall, not very busy) that are being badly attacked. I've got some clones that are thriving, and were being left alone but now starting to be eaten since I left them outside and brought the big plants in. So i think they prefer the more mature leaves (I do notice most of the damage higher up) I put many months and tons of work into this basil :(