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Help! White flies on my citrus thyme

last year

last modified: last year

I have citrus thyme that has managed to do well making it through the winter outdoors. Now it is doing so well its become a little bush that is starting to grow purple flowers. Unfortunately, I have noticed a web that keeps coming back and little dots forming on the leaves. To my dismay I've realized I have white flies. I am in zone 6 and the plant is in an outdoor pot next to some basil that is just becoming acclimated next to it. I know they are white flies and not spider mites because they have adults flying around when I move the leaves. I found a spray at home depot called Captain Jacks Neem Oil ready to spray but it has a decent amount of reviews claiming it killed the plants. Maybe that is because the infestation was already too far along or the person didn't use it correctly, I dont know. This has made me nervous of causing more damage to the plant tho. How do I get rid of these pesky pests the best way?

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Comments (4)

Sara
Original Author
last year
I still don't know how to add photos to my initial question but here is my thyme.
floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
last year
last modified: last year
White flies don’t make webs. There’s more than one thing going on. My first action would to be to hose the plant down with a strong jet of water while slooshing the leaves through my fingers. Is the planter under a roof? Lack of exposure to weather often makes infestations worse.
Sara thanked floral_uk z.8/9 SW UK
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Sara
Original Author
last year
last modified: last year
@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.
andersons21
last year
I had huge problems with both white flies and spider mites. It wasn't until I found this thread on Houzz that I finally got the white flies under control by removing the white woolly patches on the soil that contain the eggs, as well as spraying multiple times with Safer Insecticidal Soap, every 5-7 days. I spray the soap only in the evenings when the wind dies down and the bees are not active. I also misted with water once or twice a day in between the soap applications, using a hose nozzle that makes a high-pressure mist.

Removing the white woolly patches of eggs was like a miracle to my calibrachoa, which shot out lots of growth and blooms after the infestation was under control. I guess those tiny white flies can really suck the life out of some plants.

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