Hi! I am visiting my parents here in Greenville, NC. I am helping my mom with some gardening and cleanup. Her two gardenias out by the deck steps have become infested with whiteflies. I live in MA and whiteflies are an indoor pest. I am not sure what to do for these shrubberies. What can you folks suggest? I will be here for a week and able to get out to get stuff for this purpose. Thanks in advance for any help.
Martha
whiteflies in the gardenias
Spray with an oil spray, used to be called dormant oil but now they have an "improved oil ".
Diatomaceous earth can totally knock out a whitefly infestation in less than 2 days. It's totally inorganic and safe .. farmers use the food grade for worming cattle. The only downside is that it's a dust and has to be reapplied after rains and you want to be upwind of the dust cloud - not good to breathe the dust into your lungs.. You can get DE and a small duster at Ace Hardware.
A thick mulch of worm castings has always worked for me but that is a slow process, the "flavor" of the castings has to be taken up into the plant like a systemic. I think the DE and/or the oil would be a good quick remedy.
Thanks. I tried spraying with a regular insecticide, but it seemed to have only limited effect. Will try this.
Martha