Whiteflies! I'm an organic gardener in zone 7. I've been gardening for many years, but the last dozen or so I've gotten a lot more serious (and had a lot more challenges, and fun.) At the beginning of June this year, I discovered whiteflies (for the first time ever) in three distinct garden areas of our property, each area separated by a good deal of lawn (well, the yard has SOME grass, but it's mostly weeds & clover.) One area was very active with whiteflies, the other two somewhat less so, but it was clear they were dispersed throughout the property. I read and read and read and came up with this protocol, which I hope will help anyone else who runs into the same pest. First, I suspended my weekly spray of a gentle foliar feeding solution (spray n grow & bills perfect fertilizer) to slow down the plant growth that whiteflies find so appealing. Then, every evening for a full week, I sprayed every plant and shrub in my gardens with the following blend: 1 gallon Ivory soap water 1 gallon water 8 tsps take down concentrate 2 cups commercial concentrated deer repellent (primarily garlic/clove/mint/egg centric) (We live in a VERY high deer pressure area so I was already spraying my .66 acres of gardens & shrubs with a rotation of deer repellents every evening, two gallons a night.) For perspective, I used three batches of this whitefly action brew (so six gallons total) every night. The Ivory water wasn't carefully measured. I took a large bar of Ivory soap, left it in a gallon of water overnight, and used that. Then I used the same bar in successive gallons. That one bar lasted the whole time I sprayed. I sprayed the outsides of everything, of course, but also shoved the sprayer nozzle into the middle of each plant/shrub, doing my best to get to the undersides of the leaves & stems, too. Five evenings into my spraying, I noticed no more whitefly activity. Interestingly, the pollinators remained abundant, active, & happy throughout the entire spray period. This may be because it was relatively early in the season. This may also be because I sprayed in the evening, after most of pollinators had gone to sleep. And lastly, this may be because I used the mildest but still effective takedown solution -- just 1%. (And maybe all the clover in the yard helped too, by giving them a consistent alternative food source.) After the week of whitefly brew spraying ended, I did nothing (other than my nightly rotation of deer repellent spraying) for about 10 days. I still saw no evidence of whiteflies. Then I released beneficial insects: Ladybugs, which start eating right away; Lacewing eggs, which take a few days to a week to hatch & start eating; And, praying mantis eggs, which take weeks to hatch & start eating. I purchased enough beneficials to populate our entire yard and followed the directions for timing, conditions, etc for their release. A couple of notes: I opted not to use neem oil on the property because I had previously used it and it does not like begonias, bleeding hearts, fuscia and other somewhat delicate plants, all of which were liberally interspersed amidst my perennial beds and containers. I was VERY reluctant about using the takedown given my love of pollinators but I realized I had to make a tough call and decided the best course was to save my garden for the pollinators who would come by later in the season. I truly didn't expect so little impact on them during my spray period. I was very relieved to see them thriving the entire time! In addition, everything I read suggested it was best to use multiple beneficial insects so I opted to include praying mantis in the mix, despite the risk to some pollinators, concluding, again, that saving my garden overall was the better course. I also bought a bug blaster nozzle (Amazon has it) and a watering wand. The bug blaster delivers a 360 degree forceful spray of water. I'm not going to use it now, but it's here for next time. I want to see if alternating washing the plants during the day and spraying the plants in the evening will let me solve the problem using even less takedown. Stopping whiteflies takes real diligence, but it's doable! Good luck!

mcrean: I don't see why they wouldn't work in a greenhouse. As you probably know, a larger space would require more devices. Eric: Studies have been done re ridding spiders and flies from homes. I don't know of any regarding plants; I haven't researched it. But I figured that spider mites are arachnids not mites---and if it worked on spiders, there was a good chance it would work on spider "mites". The disappearance of my white flies was just a big added bonus. I do have yellow sticky traps all around my basement planting areas, which would probably throw off any claim to mine being a scientific experiment (although, now, there doesn't seem to be any thing for them to trap).

If they are tiny gnats. It's more likely that they are fungus gnats. Too much water in the soil causes the right conditions for these things to thrive, let the soil dry out. Also do a search for fungus gnats on GW for treatment options. Also as Kevin stated identify then treat. Mark This post was edited by habjolokia on Sat, Nov 16, 13 at 12:56

I've never bought ladybugs or lacewings. I've heard the I-bought-them-and-they-all-disappeared story a few times; have you read up on what keeps them happy? This article talks about plants which are attractive to ladybugs: http://oldfashionedliving.com/ladybugs.html This article talks about how different varieties of ladybugs are attracted by different things: http://www.ehow.com/list_6001841_plants-attract-lady-bugs.html Mint and garlic are supposed to repel ladybugs; are you growing those nearby? Likewise lemon (and I assume lemon verbena). Before buying the good bugs, had you sprayed with an insecticide which might have remained longer than you expected? Do any of your near neighbors use insecticides? If someone in the neighborhood has had a problem with ladybugs trying to overwinter inside their house or garage, they might have sprayed something long-lasting. Does your city or county fog for mosquitoes? Has anyone in the neighborhood sprayed for ticks? Diatomaceous earth will kill them -- have you dusted your plants with DE to combat slugs, ants, earwigs, or other bad guys? And, unfortunately, both Neem and insecticidal soap sprays will kill a few of the good bugs as well as the aphids and whiteflies. 8-(