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Post by lesley on Jul 15, 2014 17:53:58 GMT
I've just found my tomatoes covered in whitefly, does anyone know how to treat this please  |
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Post by daitheplant on Jul 15, 2014 19:20:57 GMT
The only thing I can think of Lesley is a suitable insecticide. Are they in the greenhouse? Next year, as a deterrent, I would plant Marigolds amongst the Tomatoes, the smell from them tends to "hide" the smell of the Tomato plants.
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Post by sweetpea on Jul 15, 2014 22:06:16 GMT
I've just found my tomatoes covered in whitefly, does anyone know how to treat this please as dai says, a few French marigolds alongside the tomato plants does act as a deterrent. You can also hang sticky yellow traps among the toms but the downside of them is that any insect good or bad gets stuck to them so I no longer use them. I have also in the past used Tagetes Minuta which apart from deterring whitefly can also be used to control bindweed when planted nearby and also supposed to help control root nematodes.. These things don't always work for everuone but they worked for me. |
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Post by Cherry on Jul 16, 2014 5:57:02 GMT
I used yellow sticky things one year and I was not happy with them either. I was only troubled with whitefly for one year. I think you may have to resort to a safe insecticide especially for crops like tomatoes. There are organic ones.
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Post by lesley on Jul 16, 2014 15:29:34 GMT
Thank you all I went and brought some sticky strips this morning and it seems to have worked, never again I've never had this problem before.  |
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Post by steve on Jul 16, 2014 16:39:10 GMT
I've never tried this as I haven't had a bad infestation but a tip I heard If there are a lot of the adults that fly up in the air when you tap the stem, tap the stem and hoover em up  |
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Post by sweetpea on Jul 16, 2014 17:13:55 GMT
I've never tried this as I haven't had a bad infestation but a tip I heard If there are a lot of the adults that fly up in the air when you tap the stem, tap the stem and hoover em up Do you think it would work with a Dyson? |
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Post by daitheplant on Jul 16, 2014 18:13:16 GMT
I've never tried this as I haven't had a bad infestation but a tip I heard If there are a lot of the adults that fly up in the air when you tap the stem, tap the stem and hoover em up Surely that only works with hooverflies, Steve?  |
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Post by steve on Jul 16, 2014 19:31:26 GMT
I expected that from you pair! It's also a quick way to pick cherry tomatoes |
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Post by daitheplant on Jul 16, 2014 20:00:01 GMT
AND for cleaning the carpets. |
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Post by derekbrooks on Jul 16, 2014 21:59:44 GMT
If you do need to use a spray, Sprayday is the best but you need to apply it every week or so because it only kills the adults, not the eggs and they keep hatching .
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Post by sweetpea on Jul 17, 2014 12:11:30 GMT
If you do need to use a spray, Sprayday is the best but you need to apply it every week or so because it only kills the adults, not the eggs and they keep hatching . I seem to remember using that years ago and it was effective but haven't seen it advertised lately. I think all the trendy garden writers prefer to use the so called biological methods like encarsia. What I never quite understood about thes methods was that once the whitefly or other pest had been eliminated the predator would die out from lack of food and the whole business would start again. |
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Post by steve on Jul 17, 2014 15:48:52 GMT
They would be out of business otherwise |
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Post by daitheplant on Jul 17, 2014 19:13:10 GMT
As you suggest sweetpea. Using nematodes is not cost effective. As with all living things, if they wipe out their food supply, they die also. To survive, the prey needs to be sustainable.
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Post by sweetpea on Jul 17, 2014 19:27:53 GMT
Which is why I try to encourage ladybirds, lacewings, hoverflies, wasps etc. etc. They won't eliminate all the aphids and such but do keep them within bounds.
Even the birds and frogs help out and i help them as and when I can.
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Sept 6, 2018 17:58:08 GMT
Sept 6, 2018 17:58:08 GMT
Aug 10, 2019 9:01:47 GMT