whiteflies

Does anyone know a resource/book/website that has a list of plants that whiteflies don't bother---or is that wishful thinking? Seems like they don't mess with succulents? Any others? Thanks for your help.

We have had terrible whitefly problems with our indoor hibiscus plants, but they don't seem to bother the other houseplants. Sorry, don't know about resources. But do know about fighting them. Are you interested in fighting them? What are they on?

LAS

Las there on my hibiscus out side what are you using in them

Ah.... Herein lies a tale. We fought whiteflies for two years on our 6 foot high hibiscus (indoor plant). Three times I pulled off all of the leaves. The plant survived that sort of treatment quite well. I finally conquered them by applications of insecticidal soap whenever I saw one flying, hand picking leaves with eggs on them (underside) and then regular applications of Neem (every couple of weeks) after the soap and hand picking got them down to just a few now and then. If you have a very, very bad infestation, I recommend starting with stripping all the leaves. Don't use neem on the tiny new leaves. Just the soap until they are mature.

We've been whitefly free for over a year, but now spider mites have gotten a hold. I didn't know what they were.... thought the were dead whitefly eggs or something.

Good luck!!
LAS

Thanks for the answer last year I cut it to the ground and burned it Knew it would come back but this year just as bad as last year. This morning I threw soapy dish detergent on it have to see what I have stronger

Several years ago I read a research paper where they were testing different products on white flies. They found the very best was horticultural oil. It suffocated the eggs, larvae and pupae, and when the adults would come back to the plant (they fly off when you disturb them) they would get stuck in the oil. This was more effective than malathion or any of the pesticides. You have to get up under the leaves, as that is where they live. Be particularly careful to get under the leaves at the bottom of the plant too.

For the spider mites, first try to remove as much as you can by hand, webbing and mites. You can use a cotton ball with rubbing alcohol. Then start spraying/misting the plant with water. Repeat often -daily if you can. Spider mites hate water and humidity; they like it hot and dry.

Soap and neem didn't work for me.Plus it was a pain messing with my plants that much in a loosing battle.
Regular ladybugs don't eat white flies but their very expensive relatives do.

http://www.tiptopbio.com/delphastus_pusillus.html

http://gardeningzone.com/product_info.php?products_id=72

Thanks for all the helpful answers--kind of slow getting back. They were in the greenhouse--I ended up just emptying it out and throwing a lot of stuff away, then fogging the greenhouse and keeping it closed up. I had read you could probably kill them with heat and no foliage for them to munch on. I did find something that works systemically (spelled wrong?) to combat them. They were on Lantana, crapemyrtle (these were outside) and yes hibiscus. My thinking was instead of fighting/feeding them I would try to find plants that they weren't fond of. Thanks again for all the help.

Imidacloprid?

Acephate is the active ingredient in the product I used to get the little nasties to leave my hibiscus alone.

D

Unfortunately, acephate is taken into the flower, where it is poisonous to butterflies and hummingbirds.

When I found that my DH had sprayed some flowering verbena with Orthene, I cut off all the flower heads to keep them out of the food supply.

Acephate is also extremely short lived. My hibiscus is indoors; however, I use it on my peonies for thrips and I have hummingbirds and butterflies all over the place. Last year three different hummer visited by flowers for weeks.

In addition, acephate works on BITERS. Humminbirds and butterflies don't bite - they sip nectar.

And it transports into the nectar, which they sip. The Cockrell Butterfly Center here in Houston uses imidacloprid for their insect problems. It doesn't cross that barrier and so doesn't affect the butterflies. The director even told me that the larvae of butterflies feeding on the leaves (even though it is systemic) weren't affected.
Unfortunately, it doesn't work on armored scale.

Fortunately for me, my climate is a cool one (COLD!) and sippers are not around during the period of time when I need acephate, which is in April when the thrips and aphids arrive. They show up in July. I live in a conservation community, so these things are important to me. I can imagine that in your climate the issues of insects persiting and breeding all year must be tough.

Glad to hear about imidacloprid. In desperation I used it to combat Japanese beetles last year - the devastation was awful. Also used milky spore. Worked well.

For armored scale, I'll bet you use all season oil the way I do.

Donna

Yep.

Earthworm castings...straight, not included in a 'mix'. Cover the soil of affected plants to a depth of 1 inch with the castings...and yes, they love hibiscus.....I did this 4 years ago with outside plants that were badly infested and the whiteflies disappeared, havenot returned.....

I have used $2 fly tape to help control them before. This caught at least 90% of the ones that were flying around.