Whitefly 🤬

[Ger-annie-um]

My brassicas, even the ones under environmesh, are totally infested. I've tried blasting them, tried neem oil, soap and water but to no avail. Desperate to save the Xmas sprouts I'm asking for help. So grapes, what's your top tip, organic or not, to destroying the blimming whitefly before my brassicas are destroyed?

[Nicos]

yuk….sorry to hear that.

I’ve heard of people using gaffa tape and gently pressing it onto areas of the plants to reduce their numbers before using other methods. Never tried it myself tbh.

[Bren In Pots]

The only things I can think of is a garlic spray or those sticky traps.

[Snoop Puss]

Pyrethrum powder has worked well for me.

[Ger-annie-um]

Pyrethrum powder has worked well for me.

How do you use it? Just shake it on?

[Snoop Puss]

How do you use it? Just shake it on?

Yes. It's very fine, like talc. You need to lift the leaves and give a dusting on the underside too. I buy mine in a box and so made some holes in the lid of a container that I then part filled with the powder. It helps to have a few very small stones in there, as the vibration and knocking stops the holes in the top from blocking up.

Not sure what the rules in the UK are, but where I live, it's deemed as OK for organic gardening. This means it's not very effective over the long run, so you will need to keep applying it till the problem disappears. I use it on mealy aphids as well and it works a total treat on those.

[rary]

As Bren said a garlic spray, I usually break up a garlic bulb, put it into a 2lt. milk bottle and leave it for a couple of weeks, but if you need it urgently, boil the garlic and transfer the liquid into a spray bottle, if it looks a bit thick add some water to it, also add a small amount of liquid soap, which helps to solution stick to the leaves, but be aware if boiling garlic it smells terrible, I have been hunted out the house when have done it

[Ger-annie-um]

Thanks for all the advice so far. I've 'jet washed (yet again!) and put some sticky yellow traps up too. My next step is the garlic spray but I'm wondering. I use garlic granules/powder on my veg beds to deter onion white rot ( works quite well). Could I use these to create a garlic spray do you think?

[Penellype]

I'm watching this thread with interest as I have encrustations of whitefly on my brassicas, in some cases so thick that you can't see the leaves. I've repeatedly sprayed with SMC oil (similar to neem oil) and it clearly kills them but they are back the next day. Mealy aphid are also moving in and have already completely destroyed one of my PSB plants.

[Bren In Pots]

Thanks for all the advice so far. I've 'jet washed (yet again!) and put some sticky yellow traps up too. My next step is the garlic spray but I'm wondering. I use garlic granules/powder on my veg beds to deter onion white rot ( works quite well). Could I use these to create a garlic spray do you think?

I've only ever used fresh garlic so not sure if powered garlic would be different. Someone's bound to know on here on the vine.

[mrsbusy]

In my village we have clouds of tiny white flying things.
I went and collected some kale for Sunday lunch. The green kale was getting some of these pests on the underneath of the leaves. The Daubentons is next to the green kale - touching in fact - but was white fly free. And was delicious.

[peanut]

They are filling the air along with a sudden infestation of Blackfly on everything! Never seen so much covered, flowers and veg. Horrible.

[Plot70]

The infestation is traveling east and north.
I have seen them coming in on the wind today.

[peanut]

Last night's rain seems to have got rid of the whitefly for now...

[Chippy Minton]

Interestingly we were at RHS Bridgewater least weekend and there were hordes of whitefly, especially on the celeriac trial beds where there were clouds of them. If they're good enough for the RHS, they're good enough for me I have to say though we also have the mealy aphids demolishing the PSB, very annoying, I'm currently trying to just squash them with a gloved hand to see what happens.