Why is it that when my Hibiscus Plants begin to be doing great they come down with White Flies. I had a plant that I kept outside all summer & it done real well; I brought it inside and in less then a week White Flies were all over it. I am realy losing it when it comes to this battle & last year I lost 3 real great plants due to the W F's. Whats a person to do & what am I doing wrong ?
Hibiscus & White Flies
I spray mine every day to every other day with Neem oil. It irritates them enough to find something else to pick on, and it's organic. I don't have mine indoors though,
living in the zone I am in. Perhaps others here can give advice on if it is OK to spray Neem indoors, (It smells good and is organic, so maybe?) or has
a better solution.
There are systemics you can feed the plants through their roots system too. I have one hibiscus that I have done this with, and I never have any
pests on it. I used Bayer 3 in 1 granules for roses. I cut the amount to use in half of what the bottle says because it is potted, and added the second half a month later.
This may also work for you, as long as you don't have to worry about kids or pets eating any granules of the stuff that may lie on the surface of your indoor pot.
i had the same problem and gave up on tropical hibiscus because the cost is so high for just one season.. I loved on to hardy hibiscus and this year was my first ever hardy to come down with w f's, thankfully it was the end of the season so i just cut it down for the winter.. I hope you have better luck then i have had in the past
jen
Hibiscus do tend to be whitefly magnets unfortunately. I haven't had problems myself, but some people posted on here a year or two ago that they had some luck top-dressing the soil with worm castings so you might try that too.
After trying several chemical controls for whiteflies, I now use Bayer’s Imidacloprid exclusively on both inside and outside Hibiscus plants. I have found that a number of Hibiscus species, both hardy and tropical, tolerate Imidacloprid well but have never used it with Hibiscus rosa-sinensis. I found that if you can kill an inside population of whiteflies during the winter, the problem will not reoccur until the spring but you have to treat every plant in the house.
Imidacloprid is a neonicotinoid, which is a class of neuro-active insecticides modeled after nicotine. A patented chemical, Imidacloprid is manufactured by Bayer Cropscience (part of Bayer AG) and sold under trade names Kohinor, Admire, Advantage, Gaucho, Merit, Confidor, Hachikusan, Premise, Prothor, and Winner. It is marketed as pest control, seed treatment, an insecticide spray, termite control, flea control, and a systemic insecticide.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imidacloprid
Under the Bayer trademark Imidacloprid (Advantage®), Imidacloprid is used as a once-a-month topical insecticide on cats and dogs to kill fleas. It is mixed with an oil carrier and the drug collects in the hair follicles from which it is slowly released.
Bayer markets a product “Tree & Shrub Insect Control” where the only active ingredient is Imidacloprid. This is a slow acting insecticide which is intended for one application yearly in the spring before insects become a problem. Imidacloprid is absorbed by the plant and provides systemic protection throughout the growing season but only if the leaves have absorbed the Imidacloprid. It is not approved for indoor use but I have successfully used it to treat Hibiscus seedlings which I was starting indoors. As “Tree & Shrub Insect Control” is only sold in large packaging sizes its use is not cost effective for small indoor problems. This product in various package sizes is sold at Lowes year-round. I now keep a large bottle of the liquid formulation on-hand for year-round use. Imidacloprid is available in a granular formulation which is useful for outdoor applications where slow release of the active chemical is desired. Many of the Bayor Rose and Flower formulations also contain Imidacloprid; read the product label.
Tree & Shrub Insect Control
http://www.bayeradvanced.com/tree-shrub-care/products/12-month-tree-shrub-insect-control-landscape-formula
During the summer months, I have found that I have to use Imidacloprid monthly otherwise the new Hibiscus leaves will not be protected. I could not keep Hibiscus mutabilis in New Jersey without Imidacloprid.
Mike