For the last two years (I'm not bothering this year) all my brassicas have been covered in whitefly. I always thought this was a greenhouse pest, not outdoors. Does anyone have a basically organic method of prevention/cure. The whitefly are persisting even after fairly sharp frosts.

"Peltigera" wrote in message
...
|
| For the last two years (I'm not bothering this year) all my brassicas
| have been covered in whitefly. I always thought this was a greenhouse
| pest, not outdoors. Does anyone have a basically organic method of
| prevention/cure. The whitefly are persisting even after fairly sharp
| frosts.
|

"The least toxic material that can be sprayed for
white flies is INSECTICIDAL SOAP. This material works
several ways. First, it prevents adults from flying
so they are not able to migrate to neighboring plants.
Secondly, it stops the colonies from laying more eggs.
Thirdly, it will suffocate some members of the colony
immediately decreasing activity following treatments.

Since it's so safe, you can spray any plant - including
fruits and vegetables - without any hazard to people or
pets that may be eating the harvest. However, treatments
won't last long and should be done at least once a
week when activity is present - sometimes more."

Source:
http://www.bugspray.com/article/whiteflies.html

--
TQ

"Peltigera" wrote in message
...
|
| For the last two years (I'm not bothering this year) all my brassicas
| have been covered in whitefly. I always thought this was a greenhouse
| pest, not outdoors. Does anyone have a basically organic method of
| prevention/cure. The whitefly are persisting even after fairly sharp
| frosts.
|

"The least toxic material that can be sprayed for
white flies is INSECTICIDAL SOAP. This material works
several ways. First, it prevents adults from flying
so they are not able to migrate to neighboring plants.
Secondly, it stops the colonies from laying more eggs.
Thirdly, it will suffocate some members of the colony
immediately decreasing activity following treatments.

Since it's so safe, you can spray any plant - including
fruits and vegetables - without any hazard to people or
pets that may be eating the harvest. However, treatments
won't last long and should be done at least once a
week when activity is present - sometimes more."

Source:
http://www.bugspray.com/article/whiteflies.html

--
TQ

Thank you, TQ.

On Sat, 24 Jul 2004 04:27:19 +0200 in
, Peltigera
graced the world with this
thought:


For the last two years (I'm not bothering this year) all my brassicas
have been covered in whitefly. I always thought this was a greenhouse
pest, not outdoors. Does anyone have a basically organic method of
prevention/cure. The whitefly are persisting even after fairly sharp
frosts.

Take pieces of cardboard, paint them yellow. When they dry, mop on a
coat of cooking oil with a paper towel or sponge. Set them out in the
garden, the whiteflies will be attracted to them and stick.

In article ,
TQ wrote:

"The least toxic material that can be sprayed for
white flies is INSECTICIDAL SOAP.

It doesn't work.

wrote in message
...
| In article ,
| TQ wrote:
|
| "The least toxic material that can be sprayed for
| white flies is INSECTICIDAL SOAP.
|
| It doesn't work.
|

Works just fine for me, however it can take more than one application and
it/s best to get them under control when they first appear and not wait for
an infestation to develop.

--
TQ

In article ,
TQ wrote:

Works just fine for me, however it can take more than one
application and it/s best to get them under control when they
first appear and not wait for an infestation to develop.

If it actually is working for you, you must not have much of a
whitefly infestation. A couple of summers ago I was applying it
daily with little success.

wrote in message
...
| In article ,
| TQ wrote:
|
| Works just fine for me, however it can take more than one
| application and it/s best to get them under control when they
| first appear and not wait for an infestation to develop.
|
| If it actually is working for you, you must not have much of a
| whitefly infestation. A couple of summers ago I was applying it
| daily with little success.
|

WF can be tough to control, especially if you don/t want to use harsh chems.

Like I said, I-soap works best if you apply the treatment before an
infestation develops. At the first sign of WF, I spray, then spray again in
a few days, and again a few days later.

It might help to slightly increase the concentration of the I-soap so as to
get a better coating. The spray must coat the upper and lower surfaces of
the leaves and stems. It also has to be put on 'thick' to the point where
it drips from the leaves.

--
TQ

"Peltigera" wrote in
message ...

For the last two years (I'm not bothering this year) all my
brassicas
have been covered in whitefly. I always thought this was a
greenhouse
pest, not outdoors. Does anyone have a basically organic method of
prevention/cure. The whitefly are persisting even after fairly
sharp
frosts.

Consider biological controls. A wasp called Encarsia formosa is
parasitic on white flies. You can also get a beetle, Delphastus
pusillus. I have used Encarsia, but not Delphastus. These predators
are quite specific, so there is no danger to humans, pets or other
beneficial insects. They are easy to use, just release and stand back.
However, they will never completely eliminate the pest. In the case of
whiteflies, that isn't necessary, just reduce the population and your
crop won't be bothered too much. The downside is these are expensive.
I include a link to one company from whom I have bought Encarsia.

Guy Bradley
Chesterfield MO
zone 6

http://www.biconet.com/index.html

In article ,
TQ wrote:

"The least toxic material that can be sprayed for
white flies is INSECTICIDAL SOAP.

It doesn't work.

wrote in message
...
| In article ,
| TQ wrote:
|
| "The least toxic material that can be sprayed for
| white flies is INSECTICIDAL SOAP.
|
| It doesn't work.
|

Works just fine for me, however it can take more than one application and
it/s best to get them under control when they first appear and not wait for
an infestation to develop.

--
TQ

Has anyone tried one of those ultrasonic noise makers ?
I just set one out today and am giving it a whirl. Immediately,
the misquito problem went away. I didn't see any flies around
either and it's supposed to get rid of fleas and mice as well.

I don't have a mice problem, but there are a ton of squirrels
around that are eating corn I think. I never seen them eating
the corn, so it could be birds. But only one cob is being
eaten each day, so I'm thinking it's a squirrel or two. The
neighbor feeds peanuts to the squirrels but it looks like one
really likes corn. :-) Whatever it is that's eating the corn,
starts by poking a hole into the side. Then starts nibbling on
the kernels. One cob was shreaded today.

I'm hoping that it is a squirrel doing it and that the ultrasonic
thing will work. It is definitely getting rid of misquitoes and
flies, and if the flies are going, I'm sure the frogs will probably
move next door as well. Them tree frogs sure are cute little
fellers. They show up in pots where there are flies and they
scare the bejoobies out of me.

If it works on whiteflies as well, I'll be the happiest person
in the world! They only cost $10.00 at Walgreens.

--
Jim Carlock
http://www.microcosmotalk.com/
Post replies to the newsgroup.

wrote:
In article TQ wrote:

Works just fine for me, however it can take more than one
application and it/s best to get them under control when they
first appear and not wait for an infestation to develop.

If it actually is working for you, you must not have much of a
whitefly infestation. A couple of summers ago I was applying it
daily with little success.

Has anyone tried one of those ultrasonic noise makers ?
I just set one out today and am giving it a whirl. Immediately,
the misquito problem went away. I didn't see any flies around
either and it's supposed to get rid of fleas and mice as well.

I don't have a mice problem, but there are a ton of squirrels
around that are eating corn I think. I never seen them eating
the corn, so it could be birds. But only one cob is being
eaten each day, so I'm thinking it's a squirrel or two. The
neighbor feeds peanuts to the squirrels but it looks like one
really likes corn. :-) Whatever it is that's eating the corn,
starts by poking a hole into the side. Then starts nibbling on
the kernels. One cob was shreaded today.

I'm hoping that it is a squirrel doing it and that the ultrasonic
thing will work. It is definitely getting rid of misquitoes and
flies, and if the flies are going, I'm sure the frogs will probably
move next door as well. Them tree frogs sure are cute little
fellers. They show up in pots where there are flies and they
scare the bejoobies out of me.

If it works on whiteflies as well, I'll be the happiest person
in the world! They only cost $10.00 at Walgreens.

--
Jim Carlock
http://www.microcosmotalk.com/
Post replies to the newsgroup.

wrote:
In article TQ wrote:

Works just fine for me, however it can take more than one
application and it/s best to get them under control when they
first appear and not wait for an infestation to develop.

If it actually is working for you, you must not have much of a
whitefly infestation. A couple of summers ago I was applying it
daily with little success.

The ultrasonic thing got rid of the following:
Flies
Misquitoes temporarily, the misquitoes came back today,
but that might be because of the rain and the standing water.

The whiteflies seemed to have almost disappeared, those
things love squash more than anything else and they end
up killing the squash. The leaves start turning white. They
are fond of cucumbers as well. They avoid basil so I'm
interspersing purple basic over a few different areas. The
purple basil adds a nice color as well.

I'm giving black pepper a try to see if that will get rid of
whatever it is that is eating the corn. :-) If someone else
has another suggestion, I'm open for other suggestions.

Whatever is eating the corn is getting the corn at night or
very early in the morning hours. I figured if it was birds, I'd
catch them at various times of the day. There used to be a
rat problem, but I don't think there are anymore rats (except
the bushy tailed rats). Are squirrels nocturnal ? I see them
running all over the place during the day, jumping between
power lines, between phone lines, cable lines and trees.
They definitely prefer climbing up trees.

One particular squirrel was sprawled out on a limb of a tree,
about 8 feet off the ground, definitely within a leaping reach.
:-) I got to about 2 feet from it before it took off. It was
sprawled out on the limb making only the squeaks that they
can make. It was behaving wierd. I was thinking it got a
hold of cayenne peppered corn.

--
Jim Carlock
http://www.microcosmotalk.com/
Post replies to the newsgroup.


"Jim Carlock" wrote in message .. .
Has anyone tried one of those ultrasonic noise makers ?
I just set one out today and am giving it a whirl. Immediately,
the misquito problem went away. I didn't see any flies around
either and it's supposed to get rid of fleas and mice as well.

I don't have a mice problem, but there are a ton of squirrels
around that are eating corn I think. I never seen them eating
the corn, so it could be birds. But only one cob is being
eaten each day, so I'm thinking it's a squirrel or two. The
neighbor feeds peanuts to the squirrels but it looks like one
really likes corn. :-) Whatever it is that's eating the corn,
starts by poking a hole into the side. Then starts nibbling on
the kernels. One cob was shreaded today.

I'm hoping that it is a squirrel doing it and that the ultrasonic
thing will work. It is definitely getting rid of misquitoes and
flies, and if the flies are going, I'm sure the frogs will probably
move next door as well. Them tree frogs sure are cute little
fellers. They show up in pots where there are flies and they
scare the bejoobies out of me.

If it works on whiteflies as well, I'll be the happiest person
in the world! They only cost $10.00 at Walgreens.

--
Jim Carlock
http://www.microcosmotalk.com/
Post replies to the newsgroup.

wrote:
In article TQ wrote:

Works just fine for me, however it can take more than one
application and it/s best to get them under control when they
first appear and not wait for an infestation to develop.

If it actually is working for you, you must not have much of a
whitefly infestation. A couple of summers ago I was applying it
daily with little success.