Hi, All,

Have discovered (and had verified by the Terminix guy) white fly in the grow
area. My husband has some veggie plants in the area, and it started there.
Very little evidence of infestation on the orchids thus far, and I want to
keep it that way.

On the veggies we used Sunspray Ultrafine Pesticidal Oil (98.8% paraffinic
oil + an emulsifier). The label says okay for orchids, and recommends a
solution of 2 1/2 tablespoons to a gallon of water. That seems pretty
heavy. Anyone used this or a similar preparation? Any other tips on
control of white fly?

Meanwhile, I'm on my way to the archives.

Diana

Hi Diana, I used Neem Oil a few times on my Fuschias. White Fly love
Hibiscus & soft leaves like Zygopetalums.
If you look on the undersides of the leaves you will probably see eggs in a
circle formation.
The garden man at the nursery told me that you have to spray every 3rd day
as these guys hatch frequently!
Cheers Wendy
"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
rthlink.net...
Hi, All,

Have discovered (and had verified by the Terminix guy) white fly in the
grow
area. My husband has some veggie plants in the area, and it started
there.
Very little evidence of infestation on the orchids thus far, and I want to
keep it that way.

On the veggies we used Sunspray Ultrafine Pesticidal Oil (98.8% paraffinic
oil + an emulsifier). The label says okay for orchids, and recommends a
solution of 2 1/2 tablespoons to a gallon of water. That seems pretty
heavy. Anyone used this or a similar preparation? Any other tips on
control of white fly?

Meanwhile, I'm on my way to the archives.

Diana

Hey All
For White fly you can buy (here Anyway) Yellow bits of card about 10 x
4 inches very sticky.They are attracted to the yellow and well thats as far
as they get.
You can make your own easily with a piece of timber or balsa wood ,
painted yellow and smeared with a light oil.
Stuart
Sydney Australia
"Wendy" wrote in message
news:g0Cta.22745$MJ5.13326@fed1read03...
Hi Diana, I used Neem Oil a few times on my Fuschias. White Fly love
Hibiscus & soft leaves like Zygopetalums.
If you look on the undersides of the leaves you will probably see eggs in
a
circle formation.
The garden man at the nursery told me that you have to spray every 3rd day
as these guys hatch frequently!
Cheers Wendy
"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
rthlink.net...
Hi, All,

Have discovered (and had verified by the Terminix guy) white fly in the
grow
area. My husband has some veggie plants in the area, and it started
there.
Very little evidence of infestation on the orchids thus far, and I want
to
keep it that way.

On the veggies we used Sunspray Ultrafine Pesticidal Oil (98.8%
paraffinic
oil + an emulsifier). The label says okay for orchids, and recommends a
solution of 2 1/2 tablespoons to a gallon of water. That seems pretty
heavy. Anyone used this or a similar preparation? Any other tips on
control of white fly?

Meanwhile, I'm on my way to the archives.

Diana

Wouldn't you know......after I posted, I picked up the latest issue of
Orchids, which came right after I got off line, and in the Q & A section
Andy Easton recommended Ultra Fine. Talk about timing!

Diana

"Diana Kulaga" queried thusly:

On the veggies we used Sunspray Ultrafine Pesticidal Oil (98.8%
paraffinic oil + an emulsifier). The label says okay for orchids, and
recommends a solution of 2 1/2 tablespoons to a gallon of water. That
seems pretty heavy. Anyone used this or a similar preparation? Any
other tips on control of white fly?

Control tips for whitefly? Sure! Arson.

Depending upon the host crop, whitefly can be miserable to get rid
of. Trying to rout it out from tomatoes and potatoes has been a certain...
pasttime for me. Since we weren't feeding them to animals or humans, I was
able to use Marathon, a systemic pesticide that really did a number on
them. I haven't seen a whitefly for two months now, which is a bit of a
miracle, all factors considered. I don't think it's labeled for use on
orchids.

-AJHicks
Chandler, AZ

Aarrgh! Arson??

Think I'll stick to Ultra Fine or alcohol..........

;oD

Diana

"Diana Kulaga" wrote in
rthlink.net:

Aarrgh! Arson??

Think I'll stick to Ultra Fine or alcohol..........

;oD

Diana




Here's my 2 cents worth, green lacewings (Chrysopa rufilabris) ( I think
that's right) Anyway lacewings love to eat white fly eggs,larva and aphids
also.
Dusty

Sunspray works great, seems to kill just about anything including scale.
Works by smothering the buggers Someone in my local OS suggested using
mineral oil (buy it for 50 cents or so a bottle at your local drug store)
instead of Sunspray (it's expensive and a bit stinky) which I've been using
lately w/o any adverse effects that I can see yet and it still seems to kill
scale at least. I do mix it at the 2.5 TBSP per gallon rate and I throw in
some safer soap (usually at 1/2 the label rate just because I'm cheap)
mostly as a spreader / sticker.

The only problem I've seen is if you spray it on such that it doesn't dry
before the leaves get hot, you'll get some leaf burn especially on the thin
leaved species (Lycaste's, etc). I try to spray on cloudy days, in the
evening or very early in the AM (ha, right).

The lacewing suggestion should work as well but you'll have to be patient...

"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
rthlink.net...
Hi, All,

Have discovered (and had verified by the Terminix guy) white fly in the
grow
area. My husband has some veggie plants in the area, and it started
there.
Very little evidence of infestation on the orchids thus far, and I want to
keep it that way.

On the veggies we used Sunspray Ultrafine Pesticidal Oil (98.8% paraffinic
oil + an emulsifier). The label says okay for orchids, and recommends a
solution of 2 1/2 tablespoons to a gallon of water. That seems pretty
heavy. Anyone used this or a similar preparation? Any other tips on
control of white fly?

Meanwhile, I'm on my way to the archives.

Diana

Cooking oil works well, too. I like it because of the vegetable nature of
it and its simpler degradability.

Jerry's comment about the oil damaging plants if they're too hot is a good
one. I believe it helps intensify the sun's rays or something. Remember
using baby oil as a teenager to make yourself tan faster?

The warning is applicable to the use of all oils, whether mineral, neem or
other vegetable-based, or even the solvents in insecticides like Orthenex.

--

Ray Barkalow First Rays Orchids
http://www.firstrays.com
Secure Online Ordering & Lots of Free Info!


"Jerry Hoffmeister" wrote in message
news:bomva.806495$L1.230070@sccrnsc02...
Sunspray works great, seems to kill just about anything including scale.
Works by smothering the buggers Someone in my local OS suggested using
mineral oil (buy it for 50 cents or so a bottle at your local drug store)
instead of Sunspray (it's expensive and a bit stinky) which I've been
using
lately w/o any adverse effects that I can see yet and it still seems to
kill
scale at least. I do mix it at the 2.5 TBSP per gallon rate and I throw
in
some safer soap (usually at 1/2 the label rate just because I'm cheap)
mostly as a spreader / sticker.

The only problem I've seen is if you spray it on such that it doesn't dry
before the leaves get hot, you'll get some leaf burn especially on the
thin
leaved species (Lycaste's, etc). I try to spray on cloudy days, in the
evening or very early in the AM (ha, right).

The lacewing suggestion should work as well but you'll have to be
patient...

"Diana Kulaga" wrote in message
rthlink.net...
Hi, All,

Have discovered (and had verified by the Terminix guy) white fly in the
grow
area. My husband has some veggie plants in the area, and it started
there.
Very little evidence of infestation on the orchids thus far, and I want
to
keep it that way.

On the veggies we used Sunspray Ultrafine Pesticidal Oil (98.8%
paraffinic
oil + an emulsifier). The label says okay for orchids, and recommends a
solution of 2 1/2 tablespoons to a gallon of water. That seems pretty
heavy. Anyone used this or a similar preparation? Any other tips on
control of white fly?

Meanwhile, I'm on my way to the archives.

Diana

Spraying oil when it's cool or shady just makes sense to me. What happens
when you heat oil in a pan? Yup, it sizzles. I know some people think of
orchids as food, but personally I'd rather not cook 'em. In any event, the
white fly problem seems to have confined itself to my husband's veggies
(whew, wipe sweat off brow!) and Ultra Fine seems to be handling it.

;oD

Diana