Whitefly on indoor plants - how to deal with the pest? Whitefly on indoor plants - how to fight it at home Which indoor flowers do whiteflies attack?

Not everyone will be able to immediately recognize a formidable pest in a small insect, because the whitefly looks like an aphid. The body is up to 2 mm long and has wings, thanks to which the midge successfully flies from one plant to another. The insect has a detrimental effect on many types of garden crops, including vegetable seedlings and even indoor flowers, such as fuchsia, petunia, rose, geranium, pelargonium and others.

Adult whiteflies, as well as larvae, feed on plant sap, sucking it from the leaves and trunk. The nutrient metabolism of cells is disrupted and the plant, lacking useful material, begins to wither. If you don’t start fighting the pest in time, you can say goodbye to the bush. Another problem is sooty fungus, which develops on the excrement of larval and adult midges. Because of it, brown spots appear on the leaves, which can be used to suspect a problem. After all, the midges themselves are not visible at first during a quick inspection of the plants. They are located on inside leaves. Eggs are laid there, from which the larva emerges after 20 days. The larva looks like a small dark dot.

Signs of whiteflies on indoor plants

In order to recognize a whitefly in time, you need to know its main signs:

• On the underside of the leaf you can see translucent scales. These are larvae;
• A sticky, shiny coating on the leaf is the waste products of midges;
• Sooty fungus that appears on a sticky coating;
• Depressed appearance of indoor plants and their poor growth. It is difficult to treat such flowers.

Causes of the pest

Whiteflies reproduce well in high humidity and consistently warm air temperatures. This midge appears in the garden after heavy summer rains. And on indoor plants after watering failure. Since whitefly eggs can easily tolerate sub-zero temperatures and are stored in the ground all winter, they can be brought into the house along with soil for indoor plants. Therefore, experts recommend using only purchased soil for planting flowers.

Preventive measures

To prevent the appearance and spread of whiteflies, you must adhere to the following recommendations:

1. Do not plant bushes close to each other;
2. Plantings must be ventilated to avoid air stagnation;
3. Adjust humidity:
4. Use biostimulants that strengthen the immunity of flowers;
5. Fertilize the soil.

Methods for controlling whiteflies

Currently there is a lot of use various methods to combat whitefly. There are mechanical, chemical and folk remedies. Mechanical methods include wiping the leaves with your hands or with a sponge soaked in soapy water. It is important to remove all larvae and clutches of eggs. They also hang adhesive tapes with a sticky smelling layer that attracts insects. Fumigators are installed in greenhouses and greenhouses, but due to their harmful effects, it is not advisable to use them in residential premises.

Chemicals are a more effective and fast-acting remedy that can be used to treat indoor plants. Many people doubt the use of chemistry, because they contain toxic substances that can accumulate in plants. But this is dangerous when using drugs on vegetables. In the case of indoor plants, chemicals are the ideal means of control.

"Aktara". Treatment with this substance helps remove whiteflies for a period of up to 1 month. Treatment is repeated 3 times every 7 days to destroy midges in all life cycles of development. Vegetables can be eaten only after 60 days after the last application of Aktara. 1 sachet, containing 4 g, is diluted in 5 liters of water. This is enough for a large greenhouse area. To destroy, spray and water at the root.

Traditional methods

1. An effective method is wiping with water. But the method is only suitable for indoor plants and a small number of seedlings. Take a sponge, soak it in water and wipe the leaves with it. The method is painstaking, but you know for sure that all the larvae have been removed.
2. The composition of water and laundry soap is prepared in the proportion of 1 part soap to 6 parts water. Water the soil, but not too much, so as not to harm the roots and plant. Repeat in a week.
3. Garlic tincture is prepared from 2 large cloves of garlic and 1 liter of hot water. Leave it to sit overnight and then you can spray it on.
4. Yarrow tincture is prepared at the rate of 90 g of leaves per 1 liter of water. Let it brew for 2 days and spray the plants or seedlings. Repeat 3 times every other week.
5. Tobacco solution. Experienced gardeners recommend using Prima cigarettes. The tobacco from them is poured into a jar and filled with water. Let it brew for 5 days, strain and spray. Repeat the treatment until the midges completely disappear.
6. Dandelion tincture is prepared from 40 g of leaves, 40 g of roots, which are crushed and filled with water. Let it brew for 4 days, strain and process the plants.
7. Ammonia is diluted 35 ml per 1 bucket of water. Treatment with ammonia is carried out every 3 days.
8. Birch tar is part of tar tincture. Dilute 5 ml per 10 liters of water.
9. The vinegar solution is prepared as follows: take 5 tablespoons per 10 liters of water. vinegar essence.

It is difficult to say which varieties of petunia, home roses or fuchsias are whitefly resistant. But in order not to look for what does not exist, it is best to use preventive measures and fertilize plants with nitrogen compounds.

Video reviews

Below are video reviews of the fight against whitefly on home flowers: violets, roses, fuchsias

Marina Kaustyan

Mom and housewife. Knows all the secrets of indoor plants and loves to tell them to others

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Probably everyone seasoned gardener or just a lover of indoor plants encountered an even greater lover of flowers. This is a pest called whitefly. Outwardly, it resembles a small moth. If you don’t notice the whitefly in time, you can lose your garden, because these pests cause colossal damage, including killing seedlings.

Regardless of the stage of development of the butterfly (adult or larva), they are equally voracious and ready to drink all the juice from plants. At first they simply lose their vitality and slow down their growth, and then they die altogether.

Detecting whiteflies is very easy. It flies over plants and looks very much like a small white midge. Can also be confused with moths.

Shake the leaves and if a cloud of small moths has formed above it, the whitefly has already begun to colonize your plantings. Small scales may hang on the back side of the leaf - this is what nascent larvae look like (usually hanging in large numbers). In addition, there may be a shiny coating on the leaves (this liquid is also released by aphids during their life processes). And after this liquid appears, black spots appear, which indicates the appearance of a fungus.

The leaves turn yellow, curl, and no longer grow - this is also sign of a pest.

If a whitefly is detected, immediately take measures to destroy the pest.

Usually, they appear on plants during a very hot but humid summer - this is ideal weather for white butterflies; temperatures below 10 degrees are already deadly for them. However, do not think that winter will kill these insects; the larvae tolerate cold well, and when it warms up they are ready to begin their sabotage.

Do you have a vegetable garden?

YesNo

The biggest difficulty is that the whitefly can spread throughout all rooms of the apartment/house if there are flowers there, because for it this is not a particular problem, because it flies.

This insect is very tenacious and extremely difficult to eliminate.

Nevertheless, despite the fact that the whitefly is still a very dangerous pest, it is still possible (and even necessary) to cope with it.

In general, all methods are effective, both chemical, mechanical, and folk. However, greater preference should still be given to chemical ones, since they penetrate directly into the plant sap and poison it. After drinking the poisoned juice, the whitefly and all its offspring die. If we turn to folk methods, they act directly on the insect itself, destroying it. The larvae and eggs remain intact, the plant sap does not change.

Another way is traps, but they only act on adults, so they are suitable only in advanced cases.

Insecticides that can control whiteflies

• Aktara. A product well known to professional gardeners, as it is universal and can cope with a huge number of pests even in the initial stages of development. The cost is 8.5 thousand rubles per 1 kg, but this volume will be enough for several years, so you shouldn’t complain about the price. It is very simple to use - water the plant directly under the roots. That's all. The plant absorbs the chemical and the juice turns out to be poisonous, which kills the insect almost instantly;
• Aktellik. 3 thousand rubles per liter. Mainly fights against a colony of insects, making squads much smaller. It is not used as a single remedy; it is best to combine it with Aktara. The only drawback is that it has a high toxicity class (dangerous for humans). Therefore, when using it, you need to remember all the safety rules and thoroughly rinse the area where the treatment was carried out. In addition, it has bad smell;
• Kinmiks. Cost: 4 thousand rubles per liter. Has a detrimental effect on nervous system insect, death occurs within a day. Again, it is diluted in a large amount of water, so the consumption is very long and the cost is not so high.

How to process?

You need to be extremely careful when working with insecticides. Firstly, if the treatment is carried out in a residential area, it is necessary to ventilate it well, or better yet, leave it to ventilate for a day. If there are fruits among the treated plants, they can be eaten only after a few days (ideally, after a week and a half).

Protect any area of ​​the body where the chemical may come into contact, window sill or pores after washing thoroughly. It is best to dress in covered clothes and put gloves on your hands. Places where the insecticide may have gotten in should be thoroughly washed with plenty of warm water.

Dilute the insecticide with water exactly in the proportions specified in the instructions. Thoroughly wipe/spray the leaves and stems (pay special attention to the underside of the leaf, since this is where the larvae live until they mature).

Some insecticides need to be watered into the soil so that the solution is absorbed into the roots and poisons the sap on which these butterflies feed. Some gardeners recommend that in the initial stages make the solution 3-4 times more concentrated than what is written in the instructions (this is especially true for Aktara).

Folk remedies against whitefly

• The easiest way is water. Just wipe the leaves with a thick cloth. Careful attention must be paid to the lower area to accurately remove all the larvae. However, you need to be careful, because the larvae can fall into the ground, but they live in open ground;
• Soap and water. Proportions 1:6, thoroughly dissolve tar or laundry soap in water. The foam is applied to the leaves with a sponge and can be sprayed. However, be careful with contact with soil, because penetration into deep layers of soil is contraindicated;
• Tobacco solution. Grind up a cheap pack of cigarettes (such as Prima, Maxima) and dissolve it in water (a pack of cigarettes requires 1 liter of water). Leave to infuse for about 5-6 days in a dark place where they do not penetrate. Sun rays. Do the same manipulations as with soap solution. Within three days you need to lime the entire solution.

In general, it is recommended to rub folk remedies into the leaves, because this way you have more contact with the insect, since you cannot cause any harm to it. The sprayed solution is less concentrated, so it may not have such a detrimental effect on the whitefly.

Plant prevention

First, you still need to find out under what circumstances the whitefly appears. To do this, pay attention to the following factors:

• Warm;
• High humidity;
• Densely planted plants;
• Stale air.

When these conditions are present, whiteflies will appear on your indoor plants. These are the most favorable, one might even say favorite, conditions for the pest. As soon as it starts to get colder, the seedlings stand one at a time, the room is ventilated - the whitefly dies out.

Remember that pests will never appear in an area (even indoors) that is constantly looked after. Need to constantly inspect the plants, look under the leaves, wipe them and sometimes change the soil.

Another trick - foil. It is used to reflect sunlight into the inside of the leaf. White butterflies hate the sun, so it will cause great harm larvae.

By taking care of your pets and checking them on time, you will definitely get rid of such a scourge as pests. Whitefly is very dangerous insect, the fight against which is simply necessary.

We tell you in detail how to fight whiteflies at home - effective control methods. See how to get rid of whiteflies on indoor flowers using folk remedies and chemicals, as well as preventive measures.

How to deal with whitefly on indoor plants?

It is difficult to get rid of insects; only adult individuals can be destroyed with insecticides, and, as a rule, pests are present at different stages of development.

The larvae are very firmly attached to the leaves, and it is not possible to wash them off with any solution, and the susceptibility to the action of chemicals is very low.

• Therefore, the most best time for treating indoor plants with any means - this is when an adult has just formed.

An adult insect begins to actively feed and mate, and at this moment it is most sensitive to the effects of folk remedies or drugs.

It is also difficult to fight the pest on indoor flowers because during spraying, adult individuals often begin to fly and hide.

COMBAT MEASURES

1. If you find an insect, place the flower separately from other pets and inspect the entire collection. Wash the place where the specimen was located (window sill, window, outer sides of pots) with a soap-alcohol solution.
2. Replace in a flower pot upper layer soil.
3. Before treating with the drug, wipe the leaves of the plant from white plaque with a cotton swab (soft toothbrush) with a solution of water and methyl alcohol (1:1) or soap solution, and cut off seriously affected areas.
4. Rinse off the solution and leave it to dry. After the water has evaporated from the leaves, spray the flower, the top layer of soil, and water the soil with a systemic insecticide.
5. Ventilate the room well to remove traces of the chemical.

ADVIСE. Types of plants whose leaves cannot be washed must be sprayed, and it is better chemicals.

Treating all indoor flowers increases the chances of getting rid of whiteflies, as does washing the windowsill, pots and glass.

In addition to treatments with folk remedies or chemicals, you need to inspect your home flower daily, collect whitefly eggs and catch adults. Trim affected and yellowed leaves on home flowers in a timely manner.

It sometimes takes 40-50 days to treat home plants with whitefly repellents to completely get rid of them.

Preparations for whiteflies

Since the pest’s susceptibility to chemicals differs significantly at different stages of development, then it is necessary to combat the pest comprehensively.

Chemical preparations for whiteflies are an effective means of controlling the pest on indoor plants.

Experts advise from the very beginning to use systemic insecticides (Aktara, Konfidor, Tanrek) with a spill of soil mixture. Over time, these drugs will spread through the roots throughout the plant, and the insect will be easier to destroy.

• Systemic insecticides are recommended to be alternated with enteric-contact drugs, since they do not affect the fourth instar larva (pupa - it does not suck plant sap).

Enteric contact drugs include: Akarin, Actellik, Inta-Vir, Karbofos and Fitoverm.

Popular drugs

Next to each drug we indicated its hazard (toxicity) class: 4 – low danger to humans, safe for bees and beneficial insects, 3 – moderately dangerous substance, 2 – highly dangerous substance, 1 – extremely dangerous for humans and animals.

Non-systemic insecticides of contact-intestinal action

1. “Akarin” (old name “Agravertin”) – 4, (avertin), price: 4 ml package – 13-20 rubles.
2. "Actellik" - 2, (pirimiphos-methyl), price: 2 ml package - 30-50 rubles. In Russia, the drug for personal use is not registered as of October 1, 2016. Although sometimes the drug can still be found in small stores and on the Internet.
3. “Bankol” - 3 (bensultap), price: 10 gram package - 30-40 rubles.
4. “Vertimek” - 2, (abamectin), price: 90 dollars/liter, manual packaging - 2 ml - 25 rubles.
5. “Inta-Vir” - 3, (cypermethrin), price: 8 g package - 10-15 rubles.
6. “Karbofos” (“Malathion”, “Fufanon”, “Iskra M”) - 3, (malathion), price: 30 g package - 30-40 rubles (strong unpleasant odor).
7. “Fitoverm” - 4, (aversectin C), price: package (ampoule) 4 ml - 15-20 rubles.

Systemic insecticides of contact-intestinal action

1. "Aktara" - 3, (thiamethoxam), price: 1.2 ml ampoule - 40-50 rubles, 4 g package - 90-120 rubles.
2. “Confidor Extra” - 3, (imidacloprid), price: 1 g package – 30-40 rubles.
3. “Tanrek” - 3, (imidacloprid), price: 1 ml ampoule – 10-15 rubles.

• Prices are based on hypermarkets such as “Obi”, “Leroy Merlin” according to the exchange rate of 1 dollar = 65 rubles. These drugs are widely found in many flower shops.

Which drug is better to choose?

These products can be alternated, if necessary, with each other to completely get rid of whiteflies on indoor flowers.

In case of serious damage or a decrease in the effect of treatment with previous chemicals, move on to Actellik, Karbofos or Vertimek, as they are more toxic.

Karbofos, Vertimek and Actellik can only be used to treat indoor plants outdoors.

ATTENTION! Carefully read the instructions for use of any drug and follow the manufacturer's recommendations.

"Fitoverm" from whitefly

The drug "Fitoverm" effectively destroys whiteflies on flowers, and many experts recommend starting the fight with it. "Fitoverm" is an insectoacaricide of biological origin with minimal danger to humans and domestic animals.

Dissolve 2 ml of the drug in 200 ml of water and spray the indoor flower. Apply treatments every 5-8 days depending on the size and age of the plants, as well as the air temperature.

In most situations, 3-4 sprays of the flower are enough to completely get rid of whiteflies.

6-8 days after the last or next spraying with Fitoverm, a home flower can be treated with Epin to support it.

"Aktara" from whitefly

Many gardeners prefer to fight whitefly on indoor plants using Aktara. "Aktara" is a very strong systemic insecticide that can destroy the pest quite quickly and easily for the grower.

Often, watering the soil, without spraying, is enough to get rid of whiteflies on home flowers. According to reviews from flower growers, this method of control helps a lot: water the indoor flower with Aktara, and a second time after 6-8 days the insect will be completely destroyed.

Standard use of Aktara in pest control:

An indoor flower is sprayed with an Aktara solution of 1 gram per 1.25 liters of water (enough for 25-30 plants) and the soil mixture is spilled - 1 gram per 10 liters of water.

Treatment must be carried out 2-4 times, every 10-12 days, depending on the air temperature. In most cases, after 2-3 procedures, it is possible to get rid of whiteflies at home.

After spraying the plant with Aktaru, there is no need to rinse it off. The waiting period when spraying is 1-24 hours, and when watering is 2-4 days.

Drug for severe damage: “Actellik”

Dilute the Actellica ampoule (2 ml) in a liter of water and spray the indoor flower. Use no more than 2 treatments in a row. The waiting period is 3 days.

IMPORTANT! Actellik can only be used outdoors. Pregnant women, people suffering from asthma and allergic diseases should not work with them.

The drug "Actellik" is a powerful and toxic remedy that helps get rid of whiteflies on home flowers.

Plan for treating indoor plants with drugs

1. It is necessary to treat indoor flowers against whiteflies every 6-8 days (temperatures above 20 degrees Celsius) since the egg stage lasts 10-20 days at 17-23°C.
2. Be aware that if the air temperature at the time of spraying is below 18°, the effectiveness of the chemicals is seriously reduced.
3. After spraying, there is no need to put a plastic transparent bag on your home flower; it is more important to repeat the procedure at the right time.
4. Remember that a single treatment with any drug gives an immediate effect.

IMPORTANT! If a whitefly is detected, it is necessary to treat all home flowers in such a way that it can easily move. If you only treat part of your collection, there is a high risk that the pest will be detected again.

How to get rid of whiteflies using folk remedies?

As before, folk remedies are the main weapon in the fight against pests on vegetable crops. It is very important to fight whiteflies with them on cabbage, cucumbers, herbs, tomatoes and others.

Since treatment with chemicals leads to the accumulation hazardous substances in plant tissues, then vegetables, fruits and berries will harm the human body.

However, pest control with folk remedies on indoor plants is less successful than with chemicals. However, many gardeners were able to get rid of whiteflies on indoor flowers using folk remedies.

Therefore, using chemicals or folk remedies is a personal choice for each person.

• The editors of the Flower Festival can say from their own experience that the most effective folk remedies are garlic and onions in combination with frequent washing of the plant with a soap solution (tar, potassium or household soap).

The use of traps and a fumigator in addition will also speed up the process of extermination of the insect.

1. Soap solution

To prepare the solution, you can take laundry, tar or green potassium soap, and, in extreme cases, any soap, as well as dishwashing detergent, will do.

1. It is necessary to treat the entire houseplant with a soap solution, as well as the window sill, window frame, pot and pot tray. The more foam in the process, the better.
2. After wiping the plant, it is better to wash off the soap suds after 2-4 hours.

RECIPE. Pour a tablespoon of soap shavings into a glass of warm water. To enhance the effect, you can add a teaspoon ammonia(technical, medical, in extreme cases, vodka) and 300 grams of water.

The soap-alcohol solution must be washed off after 10-15 minutes with warm water so as not to burn your home flower.

IMPORTANT! Some experts insist that using soap solution on indoor flowers is not permissible. In their opinion, soap blocks the stomata, which leads to disruption of photosynthesis and flower development.

Plant species with delicate leaves should not be treated with alcohol.

2. Wood ash

Wood ash is often used by gardeners against pests.

Add one glass of crushed wood ash to five liters of water and leave for 3-4 hours. Then add 50 grams of soap and start spraying the plants with an infusion of aphid ash.

2ND RECIPE. Pour boiling water over 250 grams of ash, strain after cooling and spray the plant.

3. Garlic

Garlic infusion is a popular remedy for pest control.

Pour a glass of water over five crushed cloves (a teaspoon of pulp) of garlic. Infuse the mixture in a tightly sealed container for 1-2 days, and then wash the plant every 7-8 days. To spray, strain the infusion through three layers of gauze.

Recipe No. 2. A teaspoon of garlic pulp (4-5 cloves crushed) is poured into 500 ml of boiling water and left for 4-5 hours. The infusion is filtered and the affected flower is wiped.

Recipe No. 3. Place several sheets of paper around the plant in the pot and place garlic pulp on top. Then cover the indoor flower with a bag (for garbage).

The bag is left for a week, the plant is ventilated every evening. If desired, after 3-4 days you can add fresh garlic pulp.

4. Onion

A medium-sized onion is finely chopped, mashed and poured with a glass of water for 2-3 hours. Then everything is the same as with garlic.

ONION PEEKS. To prepare an infusion against aphids, pour 20 grams of husk with a liter of warm water and leave for 13-16 hours. The resulting infusion is sprayed on indoor flowers; usually 2-3 procedures are enough to kill insects.

5. Pepper infusion

Use an infusion of red hot pepper to kill whiteflies: boil 20-30 grams of crushed (finely chopped) pepper in 200 ml of water for 60 minutes. Then leave the resulting liquid for 24 hours and strain. To spray, dilute 10 ml of pepper infusion against aphids in a liter of water.

You can treat indoor plants with pepper infusion once every two weeks. Pepper tincture can be stored for a long time in its finished form, which allows it to be used immediately after detection of a pest.

PROCESSING RULES. It is better to use folk remedies every 5-6 days 3-4 times in a row with one of the infusions. For each procedure, it is necessary to prepare a fresh solution, with exceptions (pepper tincture).

ADVICE. For greater effect from spraying with a folk remedy (it will stick to the plant better), add soap to the solution - about a teaspoon of shavings per liter of infusion or solution.

There are other home and folk remedies for whiteflies, but we believe that this list of folk remedies will be sufficient for the gardener. Since the presented home remedies are easy to find and use, and they are also quite effective.

Other folk tricks

Glue traps

To make it easier to combat pests on plants, in addition to folk remedies or chemicals, glue traps can be used. They are excellent at catching adult insects.

To kill whiteflies, you can buy a glue fly trap or make one yourself.

Fungus gnats are trapped

How to make a glue trap for whiteflies with your own hands?

Paint a piece of plywood, cardboard or thick paper yellow. You can use white traps, but the yellow color attracts the attention of the pest more strongly.

Lubricate the trap with a sticky substance - castor or machine oil, Vaseline, rosin with honey.

Dichlorvos

You can fight the pest with dichlorvos, but only if there is no aquarium, children or animals in the house. To do this, spray dichlorvos in the morning and evening around the house plant.

Fumigator

If there is a separate sealed room (balcony, loggia) that no one will enter, then you can move your home flower into it for 2 days and turn on the fumigator with insect repellent plates.

You can also turn on the fumigator when you leave for work or at night and place the plant in the bathroom.

Benzyl benzoate for whitefly

Many gardeners advise using a treatment for scabies in the form of a benzyl benzoate emulsion rather than an ointment.

Dissolve a teaspoon of benzyl benzoate in 200 ml of water and spray the flower.

According to reviews - this is very effective remedy, capable of removing whiteflies in one procedure. On average, the plant is sprayed 2-3 times every 5-7 days.

Fighting whiteflies using temperature (thermal method)

Insects do not tolerate low temperatures– less than 10 degrees Celsius. To do this, place the affected houseplant in a cool place. This method is an addition to flower treatments with drugs or folk remedies and is suitable for species that can withstand cold.

2ND OPTION. Heat the plant in a confined space (glazed balcony/loggia on a hot day or greenhouse) to 40-45 degrees Celsius. At this temperature the whitefly will go into thermal shock.

Biological control methods

These control methods are ideal for greenhouses and conservatories. Therefore, to remove the whitefly, it is recommended to use its natural enemies (lacewing, ladybug, macrolophus, encarsia and others).

Biological agents effectively destroy the pest without causing harm to humans and animals.

Prevention

To prevent the appearance of whiteflies on indoor plants, it is necessary to prevent both high temperature and humidity. Ventilate the room and do not place indoor flowers too close to each other.

It is very important to properly care for your houseplant, as a strong flower will be able to resist the pest longer.

ADDITIONS TO THE ARTICLE:

We hope that you know how to deal with whitefly and can get rid of it with the help of drugs or folk remedies.

Let pests bypass your favorite plants!

There are many insects that can harm both indoor and garden plants. And the whitefly among them is one of the most dangerous pests. But you can get rid of it, the main thing is to know what methods can really destroy the insect.

What kind of insect is this

The whitefly looks like a small moth and is about 2mm long. The top of the insect is covered with white pollen. They are not easy to detect, as they usually hide on the underside of leaves. There, females lay eggs, which are attached to the plant with thin stalks. One female is capable of laying about 300 eggs per month.

Then the larvae appear, which, immediately after birth, are able to independently move around the plant and look for food for themselves. When the larvae grow up, they stop feeding. Female whiteflies spread to other plants where they continue to lay eggs. Insects live for about a month.

The whitefly, like its larvae, feeds on plant sap and is therefore capable of destroying them very quickly. The leaves quickly turn yellow as the plant loses all its strength and soon dies. In addition, insects carry many different diseases that infect flowers and plants. That is why the whitefly is considered a dangerous pest and a headache for all gardeners.

How to recognize a pest

The first sign of whitefly is the presence of white midges near the plant. Therefore, if they appear there, you must immediately check the leaves. Simply shaking the plant is enough to scatter the insects. You can identify an insect thanks to the following signs:

1. Small white scales appear on the underside of the leaves. These are larvae laid by whiteflies.
2. A sticky coating appears on the plant. This is insect waste.
3. You can see black spots on the leaves that appear as a result of the development of sooty fungus.
4. The plant stops growing, and the leaves quickly curl and turn yellow.

Where and when does the whitefly appear?

The insect affects not only indoor plants, but also garden plants. It may appear in the house in the summer during frequent rains. The fact is that whiteflies love warmth and humidity. For example, at temperatures below 10°C, adults and larvae die. But eggs can easily withstand frost.

Therefore, in cold weather, midges prefer to live in greenhouses and conservatories. Ideal conditions for whiteflies are the absence of ventilation and close proximity to plants. And in order to prevent the appearance and reproduction of insects, you need to ensure that:

• the plants were well ventilated;
• there was no excessive watering;
• the plants were fertilized frequently and were not planted too closely.

Among indoor plants, whitefly most often attacks ficus, gardenia, orchids, begonias and gerberas. They can also feed on vegetable crops, especially tomatoes, and deciduous trees such as apple, mulberry, pear, rowan and oak trees.

How to fight whitefly

There are a huge number of ways to save plants from flying pests. Chemical agents are considered the most effective. They poison the sap of the plant that whiteflies feed on. But the “chemistry” has no effect on eggs. Therefore, after the first spraying, you need to wait until the larvae hatch.

Folk remedies act on the insects themselves without poisoning the plants, and also give good results. And with the help of traps and fumigators it is easy to destroy adult individuals. It is important to know that during the period when the larvae transform into adults, all chemicals have practically no effect on them.

Traps and fumigators

As a trap, you can use special devices that are sold in specialized stores. This is cardboard impregnated with glue that is safe for humans. These cardboard traps are usually yellow in color to attract insects. Whiteflies only need to get a little close to the cardboard to stick. In addition, such traps work great against other harmful insects, for example, poutine mite or fungus gnats.

You can easily make them yourself. To do this you will need thick cardboard of bright yellow color. It is then coated with petroleum jelly, castor oil and a mixture of rosin and honey. They are mounted on a holder made of metal or wood. You can install such traps directly in a flowerpot if the plant is already infested with insects, or on a windowsill. In a greenhouse, one trap is enough for 10 square meters. m.

You can also use fumigators intended for mosquitoes and flies. They need to be plugged into outlets located as close as possible to the plants themselves. It is important to isolate the room, since the liquid in the fumigator is quite harmful to people and animals.

Folk remedies for whiteflies

The easiest way to kill pests is to wipe the leaves of the plants with a sponge and water. This method allows you to get rid of larvae and adults. But it is only suitable for indoor plants. It is enough to wipe the leaves once a week to reduce the number of whiteflies. You can kill insects by lowering the room temperature. But the eggs will not die, so this method must be repeated from time to time.

The most effective way to wipe plant leaves is with a soap solution. To prepare it, you need to take laundry soap and grate it on a fine grater. Then it must be dissolved in water in a proportion of 1 tbsp. l. soap for 6 tbsp. l. water. After this, beat the solution into foam and wipe the leaves. They can also be sprayed with this liquid, but then there is no need to whip up the foam. The main thing is that the solution does not get into the soil.

Garlic infusion works great to kill whiteflies. To do this, take 3 small cloves of garlic, chop them and immediately pour in a liter of water. You need to insist for about a day in a dark place. This liquid is then sprayed onto the affected plants. From time to time the procedure must be repeated.

You can get rid of insects using tobacco. Just crush up a pack of strong cigarettes and add a liter of hot water. Keep the infusion in a dark place for at least 5 days. Before use, the solution must be filtered. Plants need to be sprayed once every few days until the whiteflies disappear completely.

Chemicals

Among all modern chemicals, the most effective in pest control are:

1. Aktara. It is enough to water the root of the plant with this solution so that all insects die. All adults and larvae die due to the fact that the product slightly poisons the plant sap. For the first time, it is better to make this solution a little stronger than what is written in the instructions for the drug. This is absolutely safe for the flower, but the pest is guaranteed to disappear. If the flower is very damaged, you can spray it with Aktara. This must be done 3 times in a row with a break of a week.
2. Confidor. Usually one watering is enough to completely destroy pests. The product must be diluted according to the instructions and watered at the root of the plant. You can replace Confidor with such drugs as Admir, Apploud and Copfidor.
3. Akarin. This is an excellent remedy not only for whiteflies, but also for most other plant pests. They need to spray the plants, preferably only where insects accumulate. Akarin acts both through the sap of the plant and through direct contact with insects.
4. Spark. The drug is available in the form of tablets, liquid, powder and sticks. They need to water the infected plants. The advantage of Iskra is that it is effective for 20–25 days. Therefore, one spraying is quite enough.

After the plant has been treated with a chemical, it can be placed in a bag and tied. You need to keep it for at least 1-2 hours for the drug to work more effectively. Then the plant needs to be washed well under a strong stream of water and put back in place.

Some experienced gardeners It is also recommended to use a more extreme method, in which the plant is completely immersed in a chemical solution for 5 minutes. Then it also needs to be washed thoroughly. Garden plants are sprayed with these preparations 3 times in a row with a break of 7–10 days.

Prevention measures

The fight against a pest such as whitefly can last all summer. Therefore, in order to prevent the appearance of insects in the garden or vegetable garden, you need to take preventive measures. For example, when planting tomato seedlings or other vegetable crops in a greenhouse, you need to provide it with good ventilation.

The air temperature should not be more than 15–16°C. The greenhouse should be painted, and the entire area should be cleared of old grass. In winter, it is better to open the greenhouse so that it freezes well. And purchased seedlings should always be carefully checked for infection.

As for indoor plants, you need to:

• do not allow water to stagnate in the trays;
• do not place flowerpots very close to each other;
• regularly do sanitary cleaning, removing dry leaves, pruning shoots, etc.;
• frequently ventilate the room in which the plants are located;
• when buying a new indoor plant, it is necessary to quarantine it for at least a week;
• Wash the plant from time to time and wipe the leaves, if there are no contraindications to this.

And remember, if the soil for planting is mixed independently, all components must undergo mandatory sterilization!

If a whitefly infects a plant, it will not be easy to get rid of it. Insect eggs are very difficult to destroy, and insects reproduce and spread quickly. Therefore, when a whitefly is first detected, it is necessary to take urgent measures to destroy it.

Video: fighting whitefly

Lovers of indoor plants, no matter how well and correctly they care for indoor plants, sooner or later encounter pests such as whiteflies, thrips and spider mites.

Houseplants

Insects cause a lot of trouble and, if not controlled, will destroy plants. If there are whiteflies on indoor plants, how to deal with the annoying insect so as not to harm your household and cure the flowers?

How to deal with whitefly on indoor plants

Whitefly is a small insect with a body length of no more than 2-2.5 mm. The white pollen on the wings of the pest resembles flour in structure. They settle on the inside of the leaf and lay eggs there. After 8-10 days, larvae emerge from the eggs. To fight the larvae, which go through 4 stages in their development, you need to know that they are not so easy to wash off with water, because the larvae are attached to the leaf with a white sticky mixture.

Preparations for whiteflies

The fight against larvae and adults should include complex treatment, since their life cycle is different from each other. The first step is to hit the whitefly's intestinal system with chemicals. In this way, mass destruction of plants can be reduced. Weapons of mass destruction include Aktara, Admiral, and Kinmiks. All preparations are diluted strictly in accordance with the instructions and sprayed with indoor plants.

Whitefly on a houseplant

To speed up the process of getting rid of insects, you can spill the earthen ball with a solution containing drugs. You can do the same with pelargoniums. After the solution enters the soil, the root system absorbs the entire chemical composition, which subsequently feeds the vegetative parts of the plant. The whitefly feeds on the sap of “poisoned” plants and dies. It is better to use Aktara as an aggressive component.

Everyone knows that the whitefly reproduces very quickly and produces large offspring. In case of mass damage, one spraying will not be enough. You'll need to do things a little differently. When inspecting a plant for damage, it is necessary to tear off all damaged leaves, rinse the entire flower under running water and only then treat it with an insecticide. In case of mass destruction, Comfidor and Talstar are used, which are also diluted in accordance with the instructions.

Sometimes only one specific preparation is missing, since whiteflies, their larvae and laid eggs can be found on one plant at the same time. Therefore, it is recommended to carry out treatment with complex products three times with an interval of 7 days.

Depending on the type of plant, you will have to choose a specific preparation. For example, to destroy whiteflies on fuchsia, in addition to using chemicals, you will need to use mechanical means: catch insects using sticky tape, which is used to catch flies, and wash the foliage under running water from time to time.

How to get rid of whiteflies using folk remedies

If single individuals are detected, garlic tincture will come to the rescue. To prepare it, you will need to chop 100 g of garlic, boil 500 ml of water and pour in the crushed product. To make the infusion concentrated, you will need to leave it in a dark place for a week. A concentrated infusion is not suitable for spraying; it can cause leaf burns. To reduce the percentage, you will need to dilute the solution with water in a percentage of 5 g per 1 liter of water.

In case of mass infection, garlic alone is “not a warrior in the field”; dandelion will come to its aid. You will need to take fresh dandelion leaves weighing 50 g, roots - 40 g, chop and put in a container. Pour 1 liter of boiled water and let stand for 2 hours. Before use, the product must be strained. If one treatment is not enough, a second one is carried out 7 days after the first.

In addition to treating with garlic and dandelion infusion, it is important to use additional means of control. The use of laundry soap showed good results. You will need to dissolve the soap in water, after grating it, moisten a rag in the resulting solution and wipe the foliage of the plants with it.

You need to wipe the underside of the leaf, since it is from below that whitefly colonies settle.

Miracle Trap

Whiteflies, unlike other pests, love the color yellow. It is advisable to take this fact into account and direct it against the insects themselves. As additional means you need to hang traps, both for flies and those made by yourself.

To make a miracle trap, you will need to take a strip of cardboard and grease it with something sticky yellow, for example, Vaseline, rosin, resin or castor oil. The smell, of course, is unpleasant, but this way you can cope with pests.

Prevention

To reduce the likelihood of whiteflies appearing on indoor plants, it is not recommended to bring bouquets of flowers made from garden plants into the house, since summer time This is how the whitefly appears in the house.

Inspection of a flower from a store

It is clear that you cannot do without ventilating the room, but insects fly into the house and through the window, so the windows must be protected. When buying a new plant in a flower shop, it is important to carefully inspect it for unexpected guests, and place it in the house separately from other indoor flowers so that it can adapt.

How to detect thrips on houseplants

At home, you can notice thrips on indoor plants: how to deal with small insects that settle on violets, ficus, citrus fruits, begonias and roses and their population is more than 2000 species?

Thrips can be recognized by their description. These are small pests with an elongated yellow body. Sometimes you can find individuals with dark brown and black bodies. Adult specimens have a pair of wings.
The larvae are quite small in size, with a body length not exceeding 1 mm. To understand that these are thrips, you can take a good look at them; they are jumping. There are minor differences between males and females and they consist in the fact that females look slimmer and have a shorter body than males.

They settle on the vegetative parts of plants, feeding on sap from leaves and flower stems. The danger is that they multiply rapidly. After laying eggs, within 10 days numerous colonies of pests appear. But they become adults after a month.

Thrips on indoor flowers

You can tell that thrips are present on plants by looking at discolored areas on the foliage. In addition, all the foliage will be strewn with through punctures - black dots. Brown and dark spots will be clearly visible on the lower part of the leaf blade.

In the process of life, thrips leave behind sticky secretions, which not only spoil appearance Plants are also a breeding ground for the development of fungal diseases.

How to get rid of thrips on indoor plants

It is very difficult to fight thrips; it will not give up so easily, you need to be prepared for this.
Getting rid of the pest should begin with hygiene procedures. First you need to inspect all indoor flowers for thrips infestation. Diseased plants will have to be moved to the bathroom and washed thoroughly in the shower.

In case of mass damage, you will first have to remove all adult individuals; this can be done with a vacuum cleaner. Next you need to get rid of the larvae; they can be removed using cotton swabs. During inspection, you will have to remove all damaged foliage and cut off flowers. If a large part is damaged, you will have to completely cut the stem back to the healthy part.

When fighting pests, first of all, it is necessary to pick off all the flowers, without sparing them, since most of the adult individuals settle in them, because flowers are liked not only by people, but also by insects.

In addition, the plant spends a lot of energy on flowering, which means that by spending energy, a weakened flower may soon die. Treatment with chemicals affects flowers and they lose their attractiveness. After treatment, you will need to remove the plant from the old pot and replant it in new soil. The place where the flower stood will also need to be treated with chemicals.

Preparatory measures will not free you from pests; it is necessary to apply insecticide treatment.
To combat thrips, “Aktelik”, “Fitoverm” and “Agravertin” are used. For Fitoverm to give a positive result, you need to know that spraying with a diluted product is effective only at room temperatures above + 20 °C. For better results, you can add a drop to the solution. liquid soap or shampoo. In addition to the listed drugs, you can use Intavir, Karate, Confidor. Treatment should be repeated after 1 week.

Thrips develop when the soil is kept dry for a long time. To prevent insects from appearing, you need to check the soil regularly and water as needed.
Plants love showers, so you need to give them rain baths more often. You can hang sticky tapes near flower pots, which will allow you to catch insects that accidentally enter the house.

How to detect a tick

The insect is so small that it cannot be seen with the naked eye, except under a microscope. At first, it is impossible to understand that a mite has appeared on the plant. Only after some time can you see a thin silvery cobweb on the underside of the foliage. Over time, this web will cover the entire plant.

When settling on a plant, the mite pierces the leaf with its thin and long proboscis and sucks out all the nutrients and juice from the flowers. Over time, the area around the puncture becomes discolored or turns yellow. Over time, many dots merge together and form a solid dark spot.
Punctures lead to plant diseases, it weakens and may die. Ticks especially love young leaves and shoots. Almost all indoor plants suffer from mites: roses, violets, fuchsias, ficus, hibiscus.

Many gardeners are afraid to treat plants with fuzzy leaves against mites. Do not be alarmed, as all types of indoor flowers respond well to treatment with chemicals.

How to fight at home

Spider mites have appeared on indoor plants: how to fight if the insects are one of those pests that quickly get used to a certain type of acaricide. That is, if spraying is carried out with one preparation, then the next generation of ticks will have stable immunity to chemical agent. Therefore, during processing it is necessary to constantly alternate acaricides.

Ticks love low air humidity along with high indoor temperatures. This environment is favorable for their reproduction. A special peak in population growth occurs in the summer months, when the weather is hot.

Decorative fountain among indoor flowers

Many gardeners recommend frequently spraying the foliage of plants for preventive purposes. However, practice has shown that frequent spraying does not give a positive result, since water evaporates very quickly from the leaves. A way out can be found if you buy artificial air humidifiers: decorative fountains. If your family budget is limited, you can independently increase the air humidity in the room by placing saucers of water near the plants or hanging wet towels over the radiators. In conditions of high humidity, the tick population will not increase at the same rate.

Plants need a hot shower, but on one condition: it will be short-lived. It won't harm the flowers, but it will scald the ticks. The water temperature during processing should be within +45-48 °C. When arranging a hot shower, you need to try to ensure that the stream of water hits the underside of the leaves.

Ways to fight flowers

Among flower growers, biological, chemical and folk methods of combating harmful insects are common.

Biological

Under natural conditions, the threat to spider mites is Phytoseiulus, a large mite. It is clear that it is impossible to breed another individual at home, but it can be used if indoor plants are grown in plant-growing farms.

Chemical

Spider mites quickly get used to the drugs, so fighting with insecticides will not bring the desired result; you will have to use acaricides:

Contact acaricides are the most suitable for controlling ticks at home.

There are many different ways to control pests. And first of all, the preparation of solutions is based on odorous plants. But the use of folk remedies is not always effective; pests still continue to multiply rapidly.

The whitefly is a small insect that is a real disaster in greenhouses and conservatories. However, as it turned out, this pest is not averse to enjoying the juice of delicate indoor plants. If there is a massive infestation of whitefly, the indoor flower will die within 2-3 weeks. In order to keep your flowers intact, you need to know how to get rid of whiteflies on indoor flowers.

Varieties of whiteflies that attack indoor plants

This insect looks like a white butterfly, much like a moth, but only tiny in size. This insect, which barely reaches 0.4 cm in length, received its name because of the color of its wings, as if sprinkled with starch. However, what we mistake for starch is a coating of wax.

The body of this midge is pale yellow in color and also has a waxy coating. The whitefly's head has elongated antennae and eyes. The insect lays very small eggs that cannot be seen with the naked eye. The larva of this pest is wingless, slightly less than a millimeter in size, with an oval, flat body. The shell of the larvae is initially colorless and then becomes whitish.

Many different species of this pest live in the natural environment, but you have to fight the following types of whiteflies yourself at home:

• greenhouse or greenhouse - loves a warm environment and lives exclusively in houses and structures on protected ground;
• cotton or tobacco - an omnivorous insect that prefers moist air and heat;
• gigantic - capable of causing enormous damage to ornamental crops;
• citrus - gives particular preference to citrus crops.

Important! If small white midges are found on indoor flowers, this indicates that the plants are inhabited by one of the above-mentioned types of whiteflies.

What flowers are at risk?

Whiteflies are found quite often on indoor plants. However, not all domestic flowers are indiscriminately affected by whitefly. The pest prefers plants with soft and delicate leaves, and is not at all interested in prickly cacti and toxic plants.

The following indoor plants are at particular risk of whitefly damage:

• myrtle;
• fuchsia;
• hibiscus;
• geranium;
• gloxinia;
• pomegranate;
• petunia;
• rose;
• orchid;
• balsam;
• pelargonium;
• ficus

It is on such indoor flowers that you have to fight the whitefly and remove it with purchased chemicals or folk remedies.

Causes of occurrence, and why are pests dangerous?

For no reason, white butterflies cannot appear in a person’s home and colonize an indoor flower. This undesirable phenomenon always occurs due to something.

They can enter the house in the following ways:

• through an open door or window;
• along with the soil with which the pots are filled;
• on the leaves of purchased plants;
• on a person's clothing or shoes.

Got into the house white midge must have certain conditions for life and reproduction. Cool, ventilated rooms are not suitable for her. She will not be able to live in such an environment.

Attention! The ideal environment for whiteflies is a hot, unventilated room with high humidity air. If plants are placed densely in such a house, this is an additional bonus for a prosperous life and reproduction of the pest.

All stages of insect development, with the exception of eggs, have a harmful effect on indoor flowers. The growth of larvae and their development occurs due to the juice that they suck from the tissues of indoor flowers. Weakened plants slow down their development and begin to slowly dry out.

Adult butterflies deposit sweetish excrement on the leaves, which is colonized by sooty fungus. The fungal organism, developing, causes blackening and rotting of the foliage and stems of the plant.

We must not forget that whiteflies are often carriers of pathogens of incurable viral diseases:

• mosaic;
• chlorosis;
• leaf curl;
• jaundice.

Important! There is no need to try to treat indoor flowers that have become ill with viral diseases. They should be thrown away mercilessly.

How to identify larvae and adults?

This insect pierces the leaf shell with its chitinous proboscis and sucks out the juice. The punctures leave marks that show that there are whiteflies on the flowers.

Symptoms of damage look like this:

• yellow dots less than a millimeter in size appear on the leaves;
• with an increase in the number of pests, the number of points quickly increases, the leaves begin to fade;
• a sooty coating appears on the reverse side of the leaf;
• on the leaves under a magnifying glass you can see a clutch of yellow eggs laid in circles;
• There is a lot of honeydew on the leaves - whitefly excrement.

Attention! Honeydew is a favorable environment for sooty fungus. If the fight against whitefly on indoor plants is not carried out, then this will inevitably lead to their extensive damage to a fungal infection. Then the fight will have to be waged on 2 fronts: against the butterfly and against the disease.

What is used to kill insects at home?

Sooner or later, every amateur gardener is forced to think about how to destroy whiteflies. To date, many effective options for combating this insect have been tested, and people have learned to defeat the whitefly that has entered their home.

The means of control used are conventionally divided into the following groups:

• chemical;
• folk;
• traps and fumigators;
• biological.

Depending on the degree of damage to plants and the existing conditions, each grower chooses one of these control methods, which seems to him the most effective.

Chemicals

This group includes purchased insecticides that suppress the vital activity of white midges in a matter of hours. The toxic substance of the insecticide penetrates the leaf tissue. The pest drinks the sap of the plant and dies from the poison.

However, these drugs also have a negative side. The fact is that they are toxic not only to insects, but also to humans and pets. Chemicals are quite dangerous outdoors, but in the home the danger to humans increases significantly. Therefore, people resort to chemicals as a last resort, having first tried other methods. Most often they are processed non-residential premises with good ventilation.

Before treating residential premises, take the plants to the balcony or to your neighbors. Strictly follow the instructions for use of the drug, avoid any experiments with chemicals.

Akarin

Akarin is a fairly effective, practice-tested drug that can destroy not only whiteflies, but also other pests. Before use, the product must be diluted with water in the ratio specified in the instructions. Indoor plants should be treated by spraying. The poison, falling on the pest, penetrates its protective shell and kills it.

Spark

This drug is well known to gardeners and flower growers, as it has been used for several decades. Domestic industry produces it in the following forms:

• powder;
• liquid;
• sticks;
• pills.

A spark is used to spray indoor flowers against whiteflies. The period of its protective effect lasts 22 days. Sometimes a single use of this product is enough to permanently get rid of whiteflies on indoor flowers.

Fitoverm

Fitoverm is an insecticidal agent that allows you to effectively fight whiteflies and other harmful bugs at home. It is recommended to poison the pest with this chemical before the growth phase of the potted plant. In two sprayings with an interval of 10 days, you can completely get rid of whiteflies.

Aktellik

A drug that shows excellent effectiveness against whiteflies, aphids and even mites. The chemical is available in liquid form, has a strong unpleasant odor and is highly toxic.

Aktara

Potent insecticide. It is used by pouring it under the root. As a result of this, the entire vegetative part of the plants is saturated with the poison of this substance, which does not have a negative effect on the flower itself. Butterflies and their larvae die from this insecticide. In case of massive damage, the bushes are also sprayed.

In the fight against whiteflies, other commercial chemicals can be used, for example: Fufanon, Rovikurt, Inta-Vir.

Ready-made and homemade traps

These are good products designed to combat adult butterflies. The principle of their operation is based on the use of an adhesive substance applied to a tape or piece of film. And to attract butterflies they are painted bright Orange color. Insects mistake the bright color for a light source and fly towards it. Insect traps are easy to purchase at the store, but you can build your own.

You can make the simplest trap with your own hands like this:

• take a sheet of cardboard and paint it bright orange;
• Apply glue that dries quickly and does not have a strong odor on this sheet;
• hang the prepared trap in places where insects accumulate.

The whitefly will definitely fly in and land on the adhesive mass applied to the cardboard, and it will no longer be able to get out of it.

Fumigator

The use of fumigators is always highly effective when it is necessary to destroy harmful insects in an apartment. Essentially, this is an electrical device that contains a container with a chemical or a special plate soaked in poisons.

When the device is powered with electricity, the plate heats up, releasing toxic gas. And if you choose a liquid unit, the liquid from the coil heats up and also evaporates the poisonous gas into the air space of the room. Within an hour, the concentration of poison in the room reaches such levels that the whitefly drops dead.

Important! Before turning on the device, you must close the windows and doors tightly. There should be no people or animals in the room at this time.

Folk remedies

Compared to chemicals, folk remedies are not as toxic; they do not require the evacuation of household members from the apartment during the treatment period. However, their main disadvantage is that they are not 100% effective, as well as the need to carry out several such treatments to eradicate the pest.

Tar soap

To combat white butterflies, some results are achieved by using tar soap. It is used like this:

• grind it with a grater;
• For 1 part soap, take 6 parts water;
• combine the components, mix the solution well until a large amount of foam appears;
• take a sponge and apply foam to the leaves and shoots of plants;
• the surface of the soil in the pot should also be treated with foam.

Attention! It is advisable to repeat this treatment after 7 days.

Garlic cloves

Oddly enough, garlic can protect indoor flowers from whiteflies. The recipe for making garlic infusion is also surprisingly simple. You need to chop 3 cloves of this vegetable, then pour 1 liter raw water and let it brew for 1-2 days. After filtering, you can start spraying. Practice shows that one spraying is almost always not enough; you will need to duplicate the treatment several times.

Yarrow decoction

What else can you try if whitefly appears on indoor plants? Many gardeners use yarrow grass. Based on it, an infusion is prepared according to the following recipe:

• take 95 g of dry herb;
• pour 1 liter of boiling water over it;
• leave for 1.5 days;
• strain;
• apply for spraying.

The plants will have to be sprayed several times until the white midges completely disappear.

Tobacco

Homemade recipes based on tobacco are no less effective in the fight against whitefly. The simplest of them is the one in which 20 cigarettes from a pack are poured into 1 liter of boiling water and the composition is infused for 4-5 days. After filtering the resulting solution, you can spray your home flowers 2 times a day.

Dandelion infusion

The well-known dandelion, which grows in dry steppes, can also be useful for breeding a white butterfly on indoor flowers. The recipe based on it is prepared as follows:

• 80 g of dandelion leaves along with the root are crushed with a knife;
• pour 1 liter of water;
• leave for 3-4 days in a dark place;
• filter and use for spraying.

Sugar syrup

To prepare such a folk remedy, you will need to dissolve 2 tbsp in a glass of water. l. granulated sugar. The vegetative part of the flowers must be treated with a sweet solution. After 6 days, it is recommended to repeat this procedure. After the white midges disappear, you need to wipe the leaves with a sponge dipped in warm water.

Alcohol extract of pyrethrum

Some people begin to poison whiteflies with an alcohol extract of pyrethrum. Why 26 g of this substance is poured with alcohol in an amount of 100 g and left for a day under a tightly closed lid. Before use, the resulting concentrate is diluted with 1 liter of water, 6 g of crushed soap is added and the entire composition is thoroughly mixed.

This composition can be used to treat indoor flowers every week.

Wood ash

Some gardeners get good results using wood ash in the fight against whiteflies on indoor plants. This recipe is not at all difficult to prepare. To do this, you need to dilute a glass of ash in 5 liters of raw water, and then infuse the composition for 4 hours. To ensure that the product adheres well to the leaves, add 46 g of crushed laundry soap to the solution.

Ammonia

Ammonia is quite often used against various pests, including against whiteflies in greenhouses and conservatories. But because of its pungent odor, it is not used in living rooms.

Removing the pest manually

If the number of pests is small, you should not bother yourself with preparing different recipes; it is better to remove white midges manually. They can be pressed directly onto the leaves with the same sponge or use a vacuum cleaner. This household appliance will pull the whitefly into a dust bag where it cannot escape.

We use biological agents

In addition, the predatory bug Macrolophus is very dangerous for the whitefly, since it feeds on its eggs. If you release such a tick in a room, the whitefly eggs will never hatch into larvae.

Wipe the leaves with water

It is known that the stage of development of whitefly larvae before their transformation into adult insects is normal conditions lasts one week. They live on the underside of leaves, sucking the juice. Having such information, you can use it to reduce the number of insects.

Reducing the temperature in the room

We have already noted earlier that the whitefly loves high temperatures, and at low positive temperatures the harm from it is minimal. This factor can also be used in the fight against these white butterflies. To do this, you need to reduce the temperature in the room with indoor flowers to 6-8 degrees Celsius for a day or more. Adults will die from such conditions.

Important! A significant disadvantage of this method is that it has no effect on pest eggs. Therefore, such an operation will have to be duplicated 1 or 2 times.

Prevention of re-infection

To protect your indoor flowers from the invasion of this insidious pest or to prevent its reappearance, you need to perform some preventative actions. Here's what to do:

• prevent stagnation of irrigation water in trays;
• place indoor plants at some distance from each other;
• Keep purchased plants separate from other flowers for a week;
• regularly inspect indoor plants;
• immediately remove all plant debris, cut off dried plant fragments;
• Ventilate the room daily;
• pots, equipment or soil brought into the house again must be disinfected;
• use growth stimulants to increase the immunity of indoor flowers;
• Wipe the leaves of the flowers and give them a weekly shower.

If you follow the above simple steps, you can greatly reduce the risk of whitefly infesting your indoor flowers.

Whitefly infestation is not easy to detect at the initial stage. This is explained by the fact that the insect nests mainly on the underside of the leaves, and its larvae are so small that they resemble small scales.

How to recognize greenhouse whitefly

One of characteristic features The sign that a plant is affected by whitefly is the appearance of whitish or yellow spots with blurred boundaries. The plants take on an unhealthy, depressed appearance; on the underside of the leaves you can see light tubercles - places where second-instar larvae accumulate.

When examining the leaves, their deformation and curling are noted. After a short time, the affected leaves turn yellow and die.

Clusters of whitefly larvae on the underside of a leaf

The secretions of the larvae cover the plant with a sticky coating, which is easily detected when touched. This plaque clogs the pores of the leaves, preventing natural photosynthesis and normal plant development. If black velvety spots are found on the leaves, then we are talking about a concomitant disease - sooty fungus, which is carried by whiteflies.

If any of the listed signs of an unhealthy plant appear, urgent measures should be taken to save the crop.

How to get rid

If the plant is still infected, everything is not so bad. Getting rid of pests will require time, patience and perseverance, but every gardener can cope with whiteflies.

Using time-tested methods, you can not only save plants from death, but also get rid of the annoying pest forever.

There are many methods and measures to help defeat the pest and reduce its harmful effects on plants.

• Whiteflies prefer warm air, so it is better to place plants in a cool place.
• First of all, you need to reduce the number of adults. To do this, hang sticky tape next to the plants.
• Regular inspection and wiping of the leaves will help wash off eggs and larvae. Washing the leaves with soapy water is ideal.
• Whiteflies scatter in different directions at the slightest movement around the plant, and the larvae crawl across the leaves. Therefore, an excellent solution would be to collect them using a vacuum cleaner. It is best to do this early in the morning, when it is still cool and the insects are moving slowly.
• There is a method in which you need to generously water and spray the plant with a spray bottle, and then place it in a plastic bag, which must be secured at the bottom with an elastic band. It is advisable not to disturb the plant for 2-3 days.

Means of struggle

Whiteflies can be controlled using insecticides. But it is worth remembering that chemicals can cause some harm not only to plants, but also to people nearby.

You need to use medications especially carefully if there is an allergy sufferer living in the room.

1. Insecticidal preparations such as actellik, intavir, fufanon, actara and decis have proven themselves well. Processing must be carried out according to the instructions. However, there is an extreme method - dip the plant in the solution for 5 minutes - but it can only be used at your own peril and risk.
2. Microbiological preparations (bacterial and fungal) are also widely used: for example, verticillin, cypermethrin, talstar, arrivo, fury.
3. It is very effective to use biological control agents. To do this, a predatory mite, which is a biological enemy of the whitefly, is released into the areas.

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How to fight whiteflies on indoor plants using chemicals

Among the well-known products you can buy drugs under the names: “Admiral” and “Aktara”, as well as “Kinmiks”. The principle of their action is based on the drip method of spreading the substance over the entire area of ​​the plant. The main criterion for the use of such products is careful adherence to the dilution dosage. Before use, you must carefully read the instructions and prepare a solution with the required amount of water.

How to deal with whitefly on pelargonium and fuchsia flowers?

If there is a massive abundance of insects on flowers, then the approach to their destruction should be step-by-step:

1. The first step is to clean the affected leaf plates from plaque.
2. In the second step, completely remove the damaged areas of the plant.
3. On the third, spray with potent insecticides.

Suitable medications include Talstar and Comfidor. The dilution recipe must strictly comply with the instructions on the packaging.

This video talks about an effective method of controlling whitefly for fuchsia.

How to deal with whitefly on indoor flowers mechanically?

1. The lower part of the plant is treated with a soap solution using a sponge or lint-free cloth. After the procedure, the leaves are washed with running water. This will be useful not only at the initial stage of damage by larvae, but also when the lesion spreads, so that the plant can fully breathe. Such treatment cannot be limited to one application, it is systematically repeated until effectiveness is observed.
2. Sticky traps are very helpful in killing whiteflies. There are ready-made ones in stores under the Bona Forte brand. They can also be used to get rid of fungus gnats. If it is not possible to purchase such traps, ordinary adhesive tape will also work in the fight against flies. It must be cut into small rectangles or squares and hung near the plant. It is enough to leave the size of the squares at 8x8 cm; if there is a choice from the manufacturer, then it is better to give preference to the Fumitox or Moskitol brands.
3. A very simple method is considered to be improvised traps in the form of cardboard rectangles, smeared with glue or rosin in addition to honey. The effectiveness of their action was also observed when fighting insects at home.

Whitefly in a greenhouse: effective methods of combating it.

Read also: Hellebore water for lice instructions for use

Midges in the apartment: fighting with folk remedies.

This video presents effective methods for controlling whiteflies at home. Don't forget to leave your questions about the article.

How to get rid of whiteflies

Biological measures

Biological protection measures are most acceptable in private farms and on small dachas. Biochemical preparations developed on the basis of living beneficial microflora effectively destroy whiteflies without harming animals and humans.

Of the common and long-established biological products, it is best to use the bioinsecticide Actofite, which destroys (except for whiteflies) a fairly large list of pests. During the growing season of vegetable crops, 2–4 treatments are sufficient. From the same group, Aversectin C and Avertin-N are effective. They are especially effective in killing younger whitefly larvae and other sucking pests. Recently, bicol and bitoxibacillin have become more widely used. In Russia, bioinsecticides Nemabact and Antonym-F were created, which are the best drugs against a wide range of pests, but their production has just begun and is still on sale in limited quantities.

It should be noted that bioinsecticides begin to work at elevated temperatures and humidity. Therefore, treatments are carried out at +18°C and above. Before treatment, the plants must be moistened or treated after watering. Rain washes away bioinsecticide solutions, so treatments have to be repeated. The last treatment with bioinsecticides is carried out 2-3 days before harvesting. Treatment solutions are prepared strictly according to the manufacturers' recommendations. Increasing the concentration of the solution will not increase the efficiency of the treatment. The use of bioinsecticides is recommended for owners practicing organic farming.

Folk remedies for whiteflies

Biological means of protection should also include the use of decoctions of insecticidal plants for whiteflies (onion peels, yarrow decoction, garlic infusion). Plants are sprayed with decoctions from a small spray bottle. The use of decoctions requires frequent repetition - every 2-3-4 days for a long time.

Whitefly on strawberry leaves.

Chemicals against whiteflies

The use of chemicals during cultivation garden crops in open and, especially, closed ground is not recommended. In some cases, when the vegetable wedge occupies a large area and the whitefly has multiplied epiphytically, 1-2 treatments can be carried out at the beginning of the growing season. The last treatment is carried out no later than 20-25 days before harvesting.

Of the chemicals allowed on vegetable crops against whiteflies, you can use mospilan, inta-vir, spark-M and others

When choosing a drug, you need to pay attention to the decomposition period, duration of action, level of danger and other indicators. The selected drug must be used strictly according to the instructions with all protective measures personal(gloves, gown, hat, goggles, respirator or multi-layer bandage)

Traditional methods of dealing with whitefly

If the pest has settled on indoor flowers, you can get rid of it by washing sheet plates. The period during which the larva turns into an adult insect is only a week. It is easier to get rid of larvae attached to the underside of the leaf than to deal with flying flies.

1. Every week, the leaves of indoor flowers should be wiped with a weak solution of laundry soap. Naturally, this method is difficult for small-leaved trees.
2. Spraying with a soap solution helps get rid of the pest. In this case, it is advisable to treat the leaves, trunk and top layer of soil. Economic or tar soap diluted in a ratio of 1 to 10 (100 g of soap shavings per 1 liter of water).
3. Many insects do not like infusion of smoking tobacco. It also helps against whiteflies. Spraying is carried out every 3-4 days until the pest is completely eradicated. To make the solution, you need to take shag or gut a pack of cigarettes without a filter or flavorings. Pour boiling water over tobacco and leave. After 3-4 days the solution is ready.
4. Herbal infusions are also used to combat whiteflies. Garlic arrows, dandelion leaves and roots, yarrow herb are filled with water and infused for several days. You can use one plant to prepare a solution or a mixture. Spraying is carried out at intervals of 2-3 days.
5. It has been noticed that many insects do not tolerate strong odors. For whiteflies, such an undesirable aroma is camphor. Camphor alcohol or oil is diluted with water and sprayed on the walls or partitions of the greenhouse. This preventive measure will repel the pest and will not allow it to settle on the plants.

Every vegetable grower has his own favorite means to combat whitefly.

But preventing the appearance of insects requires adherence to agricultural practices and attention to plant health.

How to treat the area against ticks;

How to treat trees against pests;

Ways to fight

There are several ways to combat whiteflies using:

• mechanical means;
• folk remedies;
• chemicals.

Mechanical means

Collection by hand. During the daytime, butterflies scatter in different directions at any attempt to touch, so you can collect them at night or early in the morning, while the pests are inactive. You can use a vacuum cleaner.

Duct tape. Use any Velcro - for example, against flies. It needs to be hung near the plant.

Soap solutions. Prepare a solution of green potash or ordinary laundry soap and wash the leaves of the attacked flowers with it (2-4 g per liter of water). The solution must be washed off immediately clean water. For maximum effectiveness, use this method regularly until the insects are completely destroyed.

Master class on killing whiteflies mechanically look at the video:

Folk remedies

Infusion of yarrow. 100 g of crushed parts of the herb (flowers, leaves) are poured with boiling water, the volume is adjusted to a liter and left to infuse for a day. Treatment (spraying or washing the plant) is carried out regularly until the insect completely disappears.

Garlic infusion. Quite an effective remedy, especially for small lesions. Unpeeled garlic cloves are crushed and left for 5 days in a dark place in a tightly sealed container.

To prepare this concentrate, take 150-180 g of garlic per liter of water. To treat a flower, 5-7 g of concentrated infusion is diluted in a liter of water, after which the affected plant is sprayed.

Glue traps. Pieces of hardboard, cardboard or plywood are painted in bright light colors (yellow, white, beige), then smeared with castor oil, petroleum jelly, rosin, honey.

Pests are attracted to the bright color, to which they fly up and stick. Can be used repeatedly by washing off the contaminated layer and applying a new one.

Read our material about why calathea leaves dry out and curl.

Our article will tell you about the features of caring for and growing gloxinia.

Is it possible to grow Hamerops from seeds? Find out at the link: https://sad-doma.net/houseplants/decorative-leaf/palmy/hamerops-uhod.html

Chemicals

Aktara. Refers to insecticides with enteric contact action. For spraying, dilute 0.8 g per liter of water, for watering at the root - 0.8 g/l.

Vertimek. Biological insectoacaricide of intestinal contact action. Dilute 5 mg in a liter of water, after spraying the plant is covered with plastic wrap for 24 hours.

Tanrek. Extensively active contact-intestinal insecticide. Dilution 0.5 ml per liter of water for spraying plants.

Admiral. Hormonal insecticide for contact and intestinal damage. 0.3 mg of the drug is diluted in a small amount of water, stirred thoroughly until it is completely dissolved, then the volume is adjusted to 1 liter.

Mospilan. Systemic contact insecticide that affects the nervous system. For treatment by spraying, dilute 0.4 mg per liter of water. Used once.

Actellik. A highly toxic insectoacaricide, it belongs to organophosphorus compounds. Spray the plant with a solution of 2 mg per liter of water

Use very carefully due to its high toxicity!! Can be used up to 4 times with a break of 3 days.

Verticillin. Microbiological insecticide. Dilute 25 ml of the product per liter of water and spray the plant. Can be used twice with a break of a week.

Read also: Bark beetle

Fufanon. Organophosphate insecticide of contact action. Diluted in a liter of water - 1.5-1.7 mg. Use once.

All the described insecticides are used very carefully, observing the necessary safety measures - work is carried out with gloves and a mask. At the end of treatment, the room should be well ventilated.

Types, their features, photos and descriptions

Tobacco

Important! During the growing season, this species can produce 7-15 generations.

It is found from berries and vegetables to weeds. In general, it harms more than 210 plants. The damage is caused by the larvae. Reproducing on the underside of leaves, they suck out the sap of the plant, causing its leaves to dry out and die.

Greenhouse or greenhouse

The favorite habitat of this type of pest is, as the name itself says, a greenhouse or greenhouse (how to get rid of whiteflies in a greenhouse?). The very place where a fairly warm air temperature is maintained from +23 to +30 and significant humidity. In closed ground, it can harm any cultivated crops, since it produces up to 17 generations per season.

In appearance it is an inconspicuous, fragile moth from 1 to 1.3 mm with a yellow body, antennae and clean white wings. Females lay their offspring on young shoots and leaves.

Reference! The offspring, the eggs laid by the female, die from the drop in temperature.

The color of the eggs is initially yellow, then after 1.5 weeks it changes to black.

Watch a video about the greenhouse whitefly:

Citrus

This quarantine species is common in Europe, some countries in Asia, Africa, Australia, as well as North, South and Central America.

Reference! As for Russia, you can meet it in the Caucasus - the Black Sea coast, Azerbaijan, Armenia, the Krasnodar Territory, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.

On the back of this type of insect you can see a mark resembling the letter “Y”. The larvae are light brown. Dangerous for its fertility, each female can lay up to 255 eggs.

Cabbage

A common and dangerous enemy of cabbage is the cabbage whitefly. It not only sucks out the sap of the plant, but at the same time reduces the yield of the crop.

Attention! At the initial growth stage, it prevents the leaves from setting into heads.

The excrement of these insects is a white discharge that infects the plant with fungi and viruses.

Strawberry

A small moth up to 1 cm in size with a pair of sleeping wings covered with white waxy pollen. This species does not like the sun, so it is preferable to live in the shade. Like all other species, it lays its larvae on the leaves, or rather on their underside.

Non-chemical plant treatment

In some cases, for a number of reasons, chemical insecticides cannot be used to treat indoor pets - this is the presence of small children, pets in the house, or residents are allergic to toxic components.

In these situations, pharmacy green soap is used to kill pests. The leaves, stems and inflorescences of the plant are washed with a solution of the substance, then the soapy residues are removed with warm water. The procedure is carried out regularly until the last whitefly disappears. At the same time, loosen the soil in the pot.

Mechanical methods of getting rid of whiteflies:

1. To remove columns of larvae, you can trim off the affected leaves and shoots.
2. You can also manually collect larvae and adults from plants. But it is advisable to carry out this procedure in the early stages, since this is a rather labor-intensive task. The collection of pests must be carried out several times at certain intervals so as not to miss new individuals that emerge from the larvae. The procedure is carried out early in the morning.
3. Flying pests can be collected using a vacuum cleaner.
4. Transfer pots with affected flowers to a cool place for a while.
5. Using various traps and electric fumigators to kill whiteflies.

Basic store-bought anti-whitefly products

The best way to deal with whiteflies is store supplies, in this case, you should choose complex drugs, i.e. combine agents against larvae and adults. The most common types of poison are “Aktara”, “Aktellik”, “Double Effect”, “Admiral”, “Commander”, “Mospilan”, “Tanrek”, “Oberon” and similar drugs. All of them have a deadly effect on pests, but they can be used in different ways:

The fight against whiteflies is not easy, but with desire and perseverance you will definitely defeat such a small but harmful enemy.

Methods for controlling whiteflies

Chemical control methods

Effective methods of controlling whiteflies are the use of chemicals. The options here may be different, but it is better to turn to chemistry after traditional recipes have been tried and they have not given the desired result.

Wipe leaves

From the larvae, the whitefly grows into an adult midge within a week. But even the larvae actively feed on the plant’s juices and cause harm to it. Colonies are concentrated on the underside of the leaf. To destroy the larvae, you need to wipe the leaves weekly with a sponge and water. You can add a little laundry soap to the water. This is a long-term method, but effective and will allow you to exterminate the entire population within a few months.

Read also: Ways to get rid of rats

Regularly wiping leaves will help get rid of whiteflies.
Of course, such a simple method is only suitable in situations where the whitefly has not had time to seriously infect the plant.

Temperature drop

At temperatures below 10 degrees Celsius, you can kill an adult whitefly, but its larvae will simply stop developing and wait longer. suitable conditions to be born. Therefore, in addition to this method, it is necessary to use spraying of leaves with different compositions.

What solutions to make:

• Laundry soap. Cut a little soap and grind it, dissolve it in water in a ratio of one to six. Beat until a strong foam forms, take the foam and apply to the plant. You can use soapy water to spray the plants, but it is important to avoid getting it on the ground. Laundry soap can be replaced with tar soap.
• Garlic in the amount of two cloves. Grind and soak in a liter of water, leave for a day in a warm place. Then strain and use to treat the plant several times a week.
• Yarrow. You need to pour 100 grams of leaves with a liter of water and let it sit for several days. Strain and spray the areas of the green pet that have been affected by the whitefly.

Folk remedies for whitefly control

Plants have long been saved from insect attacks folk ways, whose popularity has not diminished to this day. Along with chemically active components, you should also try old proven folk remedies:

• the simplest solution for spraying against whiteflies is onion or garlic water. You will need 2-3 tablespoons of grated ripe fruits per glass of hot water, the resulting infusion should be left for 12 hours in a cool place, then strain and spray the plants every day for a week. This measure is more suitable for indoor plants, since in a greenhouse it will be problematic to make the required amount of solution;
• pest control with folk remedies is very effective, and does not harm either human health or the condition of plants. Most methods do not involve the use of active components at all. Since whiteflies love the color yellow, sticky traps can be used to catch them. They are made as follows - pieces of plywood are painted with bright yellow or orange paint, after which Vaseline, honey or another sticky ingredient is applied to the dried surface. After a while, the insects attracted by the bright colors will stick to the trap; you can destroy them mechanically, then wipe the board and reapply the sticky composition. If you don’t want to make a homemade trap, ordinary sticky fly tapes are suitable for fighting whiteflies, since they are colored yellow and will definitely attract the attention of pests;
• treatment with toxic aerosols, for example, ordinary dichlorvos or modern “Raid”, can also help, but you should take care of safety rules. It is recommended to spray toxic fumes away from living quarters, but if pests have attacked indoor plants, the easiest option is to place the flower in a plastic bag, then treat a piece of cotton wool with the product and put it inside. The bag is sealed tightly, and the plant should be placed on the balcony or in a remote room. After 4-5 hours, the wrapper should be removed and the flower should be exposed to air, then washed, treating each leaf, dried and set aside from other plants to prevent them from becoming infected. It is rare that pests die completely after the first procedure; usually several more stages of whitefly control are required.

To get good results, you should alternate between different insect repellents, using traditional methods at the same time. Don’t forget about prevention, because it is much easier to prevent infection than to get rid of multiplied individuals afterwards.

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Types of whiteflies

Today, several types of pests are known:

Special insecticides work well against whiteflies.

There are more than 200 species of these pests in nature. Initially, they were common in regions with a humid and warm climate, close to the subtropics and tropics. The development of agricultural technology contributed to the movement of whiteflies to cooler areas, where they gradually adapted to living conditions.

The main thing for insects is a hot and humid atmosphere. These parameters are ideally suited artificial conditions, created in greenhouses and often in residential apartments. Therefore, encountering an insect in a residential area with a large number of ornamental plants has a high probability.

How to fight whitefly on indoor plants Greetings, dear reader!

Yesterday my neighbor saw small white insects on her flowers. Either large midges or small mosquitoes.

And, of course, the first thing she did was ask me: what is this new attack and what should I do now?

After inspection, it turned out that a whitefly had settled on her indoor plants. But read our article on how to deal with it.

Prompt identification of the pest will help you quickly begin appropriate treatment, including chemical treatment with insecticides. Poisoning a plant at random or as a preventative measure is categorically not recommended, so accurately identifying the “enemy” is half the success.

Due to the immobile larvae tightly attached to the leaves, the whitefly can be mistaken for a scale insect. When approaching the plant, whiteflies rise into the air and you can see a cloud of small light-colored insects.

In total, there are more than two hundred species of whiteflies in nature; indoor plants and garden crops are most often affected by greenhouse, tobacco (also known as cotton) or citrus whiteflies. Flowers such as geranium, fuchsia, nightshade, eucalyptus, pomegranate, gloxinia, lantana henbane, fern, calla lilies, and myrtle are particularly affected by this pest.

The reasons for the appearance of whiteflies are often the following factors:

• warm;
• humidity;
• stale air;
• grouping of plants.

Whiteflies often appear in greenhouses, where all the factors described above create simply ideal conditions for it. Mini-greenhouses set up on a windowsill for seedlings or rooting cuttings can also become a source of whiteflies.

It is very important in conditions of high temperature and humidity to ensure an influx fresh air, its natural movement. Also, the cause of infection can be soil, an already diseased plant brought into the house (vegetables, melons, garden crops), the whitefly can get on your flowers simply through a window or an open window.

Methods for controlling whiteflies on indoor plants

It is unlikely that you will be able to deal with the whitefly in one go - prepare to work on its extermination in several stages. Do not delay in treating the plant - the whitefly multiplies very quickly. The female lays about 300 eggs every 25 days, which after 2 weeks turn into larvae sucking the sap of the plant.

You need to start fighting whiteflies with hygienic treatment plants. Create conditions for the flowers so that there is a slight coolness in the morning - this will prevent the whiteflies from taking off. Take the plant to the bathroom and thoroughly wash the leaves to remove pests, paying special attention to the undersides of the leaves.

Replace the soil and dispose of the contaminated soil. If you can’t create temporary coolness, use a vacuum cleaner to catch flying pests and wash off the larvae with water. If your indoor plant can tolerate low temperatures - below 15 degrees, optimally 12-14, then simply put it in the “cold” for 7-10 days.

Attention!

The whitefly dies at temperatures below 15-14 degrees. Heat-loving plants are treated with chemicals. The best way to combat whiteflies is with systemic insecticides such as Actellik, Fufanon, Confidor, and Mospilan.

However, they do not completely suppress the whitefly at the stage of transformation of the larvae into the so-called nymphs, so it is recommended to treat the plant 2-3 times every 7-8 days, and also combine treatment with biological products based on an entomopathogenic fungus, for example, Verticillin.

After washing, the plant is treated according to the instructions (sprayed, soil is spilled) and wrapped in polyethylene to create a “toxic greenhouse”. The chemical will continue to evaporate and kill the larvae; if the treated plant is left without the bag, there is a good chance that the whitefly will survive.

All work on treating plants with chemicals must be carried out outdoors, in calm weather, wearing protective clothing and a respirator. Particularly damaged areas of the plant, its individual parts, leaves are easier to remove - it will not be possible to restore their integrity, and dead areas will be a good platform for the development of rot.

This is a good way to get rid of whiteflies folk recipe: garlic is peeled and crushed, poured with water (proportions 1 to 5), left for 5-6 days, filtered and sprayed with this infusion on the infected plant.

source: http://onwomen.ru/

Tiny white butterflies may seem completely harmless: some people don’t even think that these insects are somehow connected with the death of plants. Who is this whitefly? And how to get rid of it?

How to recognize a whitefly

How to get rid of whiteflies Adults resemble a small butterfly, on average they reach 1-1.5 mm.

Whiteflies are active throughout the year and are distinguished by their ability to reproduce quickly.

They lay eggs on the back of leaves, hidden from the sun's rays.

The body of the hatched larva is flat and translucent.

Young individuals move little: the juice from the leaf on which they live is enough for them to feed. Most often, whitefly damages flowers such as:

• geranium;
• fuchsia;
• begonia;
• orchid;
• balsam;
• begonia;
• heliotrope.

The insect leaves behind loose, sugary secretions, on which a sooty fungus soon develops. A plant that is dying due to whitefly can be identified by discoloration and deformation of its leaves. Soon they begin to fall off, and along with them the buds and flowers.

The whitefly is very tenacious and easily moves to more and more new plants. In the house, she can even “move” to another room, as long as there are flowers there. Sometimes the insect lives in greenhouses or in open ground.

Whitefly on flowers: how to get rid of it mechanically

The easiest method of controlling whiteflies is to remove insects from plants manually. To do this, you need to pick off the affected leaves and burn them. Afterwards you need to loosen the soil in the pot.

The remaining leaves should be wiped with soapy water or plain water and then dried. You can also hang sticky tapes near the plants to catch flies: whiteflies are also caught on them, but, naturally, only adult flies.

You can easily repel insects using sunlight. You need to place sheets of foil near the flowers: silver or yellow-golden. It will reflect the sun's rays in such a way that they will fall directly on the lower surface of the leaves, where the whitefly lives.

If a colony of flies is especially active on some not-so-favorite flower, then it makes sense to sacrifice it: this way you can be sure that the insects are completely destroyed.

Flies in flowers: how to get rid of folk remedies

The whitefly is little susceptible to chemicals: the insects simply fly away “until better times”, but very soon return. First you should try wrestling traditional methods:

• Pour boiling water over 100 g of crushed yarrow. Let it brew for 5 hours. Then strain and add a little dishwashing detergent. Use the resulting solution to wipe the affected leaves.
• Will need to fill cold water 80 g dried lemon or orange peels. Wait 18-24 hours and add 2 tbsp. l. soap solution. Treat insect-infested flowers for 5 days in a row. You can store the product in the refrigerator, but no more than 3 days.
• You should collect the leaves from 6 dandelions and finely chop the rhizomes of the flowers. The resulting ingredients need to be poured into 1 liter of hot water and wait until the infusion has cooled. They need to spray indoor plants every 1.5 weeks. Dandelion infusion can also be used to prevent the appearance of whiteflies in the house.
• It is necessary to finely chop or grate 3-4 garlic cloves and pour 0.5 liters of water into the resulting pulp. After 4 days, the infusion will be ready for use. They should either wipe the leaves or spray the flower. This remedy is considered effective only during the early stages of infection.

As a rule, in a house where there are not many plants, it is not difficult to get rid of whiteflies using folk remedies.

How to get rid of whiteflies using insecticides

There are many products available to control insect pests. You can increase their effectiveness by adding a little shampoo or soap solution to the insecticide.

This will allow the chemical to stay on the plant and affect the whitefly longer. The most popular means are:

• Aktara. On average it costs 8,700 rubles. for 1 kg. The drug has proven itself as an excellent insect repellent. It paralyzes the nutritional function of pests, causing them to die of starvation within 24 hours.
• Actellik. Average price – 3100 rub. for 1 l. Helps “thin out” whitefly colonies. Usually used in combination with Aktara.
• Kinmiks. Estimated cost – 4200 per 1 liter. It affects the nervous system of the insect, disrupting the transmission of impulses throughout the body. The death of pests occurs within 1-1.5 days.

The use of insecticides must be approached with extreme caution. If they are used in a residential area, it must be ventilated after treatment. If the chemical is used in a greenhouse on fruit crops, the fruits can be eaten no earlier than after a few days.

Whitefly in a greenhouse: how to get rid of it

You can control pests in a greenhouse using all of the above methods. If for some reason they are not suitable, you should consider the following options:

It is very difficult to completely get rid of whiteflies, since more and more insects will hatch from the larvae. But sooner or later there will come a time when the pests die before they have time to lay eggs. This will be the turning point in the fight against whitefly.

source: http://kak-izbavitsya-ot.com/

How to fight whitefly?

Whitefly is a dangerous plant pest. These small flying insects look a little like miniature white moths, swarming over a disturbed plant. On the leaves you will find eggs of pests and their larvae in the form of small grayish grains. Let's figure out how to deal with it.

Whiteflies, or Aleyrodidae, are a family of small insects. There are about 1550 species, 160 genera and 3 subfamilies. About 20 species live in Central Europe. The scientific name comes from the Greek word aleuron (flour) due to the powdery coating on the wings, and the Russian name comes from the presence of 2 pairs of white wings.

Description of whiteflies

European species of the family are usually about 1.3-1.8 mm in length (up to 3 mm). They slightly resemble small mole-like lepidoptera. They have 4 wings, which are covered with a white dusty coating, reminiscent of flour.

The first instar larvae are mobile, the subsequent ones are immobile. They feed on plant juices. Typically found on the underside of leaves. Some species are dangerous quarantine plant pests.

Whitefly diet

The favorite diet of whiteflies primarily includes: fuchsia, begonia, balsam, passionflower, pelargonium, lantana. In the absence of a favorite, the whitefly is capable of attacking most indoor plants. In greenhouse conditions, it prefers tomatoes and cucumbers, but will not disdain other plants.

Prevention

Whiteflies appear where high temperatures are combined with high humidity (greenhouses, greenhouses - first of all), there is not enough ventilation, and plants are placed too closely. For this reason, first of all, it is necessary to provide the plant with optimal moisture and temperature conditions and ventilation.

Also, all plant-strengthening drugs have a preventive effect - a healthy, strong plant will withstand a whitefly invasion with less losses, provided that you still defeat it!

Natural enemies of whiteflies, such as lacewings and ladybugs capable of quickly destroying pests.

External signs of whitefly damage to a plant

Whiteflies usually hide on the undersides of leaves. On the upper side of the underlying leaves, a shiny coating (honeydew, or honeydew) appears - insect excrement, on which sooty fungi ("black") subsequently develop, due to which the surface of the leaf becomes first white and then black.

It is believed that it is sooty fungi that can greatly harm the plant, and not the whiteflies themselves. Sometimes because of them the growth of shoots stops.

Measures to combat whitefly

Biological methods of control Recently, biological methods of controlling whiteflies have become increasingly widespread.

The female of this small insect lays her eggs in the body of the whitefly larva.

Moreover, the effectiveness of this method is very high. The predatory bug macrolophus is also used to combat whiteflies.

Chemicals

Common insecticides are effective in controlling whiteflies. It should be noted that it is dangerous to stay for a long time in a room where plants were treated with insecticides. Also, when processing, it is necessary to use protective equipment: a respirator, goggles, gloves, and special clothing.

• Actellik. Dilute the ampoule in 1 liter of water and treat during the period when the pest appears. Solution consumption up to 2 liters per 10 sq.m. No more than 4 treatments. Waiting period 3 days.
• Verticillin F – 25 ml per 1 liter of water. Spray twice with an interval of 7-10 days.
• Confidor (20% VRK) 0.1 ml per 1 liter of water. One-time spraying.
• Mospilan (20% RP) – 0.05-0.06 g. Single spraying
• Pegasus (25% EC) – 2 ml per 1 liter of water. Spray twice with an interval of 7 days.
• Fufanon (57% EC) – 1.2-1.5 ml. One-time spraying.
• Phosbecide Dilute 5 ml per 5 liters of water, consumption – 100 m2. m.

Folk remedies

Insects, attracted by the bright yellow or white (preferably yellow) color, land on these baits and stick. When there are a lot of them on a piece of plywood, they wipe it and lubricate it again with the same solution. You can also use sticky fly traps.

Whiteflies do not like low temperatures, so you can move the plant to a cooler room. Since whiteflies fly, they can be caught using sticky strips (available at fly catching stores).

Attention!

You can use folk remedies, for example, herbal infusions against insects - they are sprayed on plants. Garlic infusion is relatively effective. Pour crushed garlic cloves (150-170 g) into 1 liter of water and leave in a tightly sealed container for five days.

For spraying, 6 g of concentrate diluted in 1 liter of water is sufficient. Keep in mind that folk remedies can help if there are not too many pests. Try rinsing the plant with clean water - whiteflies are washed off well with water; after this procedure, you need to loosen the top layer of soil in the pot.

source: http://www.botanichka.ru/

All about whiteflies and how to combat them

The whitefly is a small insect (about 1 mm long) with a yellowish body, two pairs of wings covered with a white powdery waxy coating. The whitefly resembles a small white moth. Whitefly larvae are pale yellow with orange-red eyes and covered with short hairs.

The largest of them do not exceed 3 mm in length. In nature, there are at least 200 species of whiteflies, living mainly in warm regions of the globe. In the temperate zone, there are relatively few whitefly representatives.

However, some species, once in greenhouses and conservatories, became dangerous pests ornamental and vegetable crops. The whitefly reproduces quickly - one generation every 30-40 days. Female whiteflies lay eggs in groups, often in a ring of 10-20 on the inside of young leaves.

The average fertility of one female is 130 eggs, but can reach up to 280 eggs. The eggs hatch into wandering larvae, which move around the plant for some time in search of the most convenient place to feed. Having found it, the larvae stick to the leaf and begin to feed on the juices of the plant.

They become covered with a waxy coating and shed three times. After the third molt, the larvae stop feeding and a resting phase begins. The larval skin hardens and turns into a “false cocoon”. At this time, whitefly larvae are practically inaccessible to anyone, incl. systemic insecticides.

This makes it very difficult to successfully combat this pest and leads to the need for repeated chemical treatment of plants at certain intervals. IN last years The whitefly has become one of the main pests of greenhouse plants.

Larvae and adult insects suck the juice from leaves, cuttings, and less often from stems; as a result, the leaves become discolored, turn yellow, and sometimes dry out and fall off. A sooty fungus settles on the sugary secretions of the whitefly, causing the plants to weaken and die.

In addition, the whitefly is a carrier of viruses. Whitefly attacks balsam, fuchsia, ferns, pelargonium and other indoor plants with soft leaves. Whiteflies live in groups on the undersides of leaves.

External signs of whitefly damage

Fuzzy yellow spots (more fuzzy than with the lesion) spider mite) on the leaves and slight curling of the leaves indicate damage to the plants by whiteflies, which, together with the larvae, suck out cell sap from the veins on the underside of the leaves.

The consequence of this is the appearance of sugary secretions and a sooty fungus settling on them, sometimes the transfer of viral diseases.

Preventive actions

Warm, dry air promotes whitefly infestation. If flying insects appear, carefully inspect the plants.

Carry out regular inspection of the most commonly affected plants - fuchsias, poinsettias, hibiscus, abutilon, balsam, ferns, pelargonium.

Ways to combat whitefly

It is difficult to fight whiteflies, but it is possible. The number of adult butterflies can be reduced by hanging flypaper or other yellow sticky tape near the plants. Eggs and larvae should be washed off the leaves regularly.

At the slightest touch to the plant, whiteflies immediately fly away in different directions, so collecting insects is possible only in a cool place early in the morning, when after the cold of the night the insects are still motionless.

However, when collecting, it is almost impossible to catch all the larvae and collect all the eggs. Frightened insects are very easy to suck out with a vacuum cleaner. It is also recommended to wash the plants with water, possibly soapy water, especially the undersides of the leaves.

The method in which the plant is placed in humid environment- this can be a plastic bag put on the plant and secured at the bottom (with an elastic band, for example), while the plant is watered generously and sprayed with a spray bottle, and then placed in the bag for 2-3 days.

You can also use insecticidal preparations (Actellik, Fufanon, Intavir, Decis). Among the biological methods, microbiological preparations (bacterial, fungal) are used: verticillin. New generation drugs are effective - pyrethroids, such as cypermethrin, Talstar, Arrivo, Fury.

Folk remedies for fighting whiteflies Treatment of plants with garlic infusion helps: finely ground garlic (170 g) is infused in 1 liter of water for 5 days in a dark, tightly closed glass container. When preparing the working solution, take 6 g of concentrate per 1 liter of water.

Glue traps can be used to catch adults. To do this, take pieces of plywood or hardboard, paint them yellow or white and grease them with Vaseline, rosin with honey or castor oil.

Insects, attracted by the bright yellow or white (preferably yellow) color, land on these baits and stick. When there are a lot of them on a piece of plywood, they wipe it and lubricate it again with the same solution. You can also use glue fly traps, which are available at any hardware store.

source: http://www.inflora.ru/

Have you noticed white midges on indoor plants that immediately fly up as soon as you touch the leaves with your hand? These are whiteflies. Whiteflies are a type of small aphid with white wings that live on the undersides of plant leaves.

• Whiteflies on indoor flowers are a fairly common occurrence. It is also unclear where they come from, but they have preferences, for example, royal pelargonium, small-leaved carmona, nephrolepis, ctenantha, aglaonema, clerodendrum. Whiteflies also greatly harm vegetables in greenhouses, such as radishes and cabbage.
• If in summer indoor plants stand on an open veranda or in the garden, then whiteflies will not take long to appear either. Whiteflies multiply quickly, feeding on plant sap and weakening them. The plants look depressed, do not bloom, and the leaves wither.
• Whiteflies leave behind sticky dew, very similar to the secretions of aphids and scale insects, which serves as fertile ground for the development of fungal diseases. If you notice these white midges, touch the leaves: they will feel a little sticky or sticky to the touch.
• Whiteflies usually sit on the underside of leaves where they lay their eggs. Do not delay the fight against whiteflies if you suddenly find them, because it is quite difficult to fight whiteflies. During spraying, they fly away, hide, and then, as the smell of the insecticide disappears, they sit on the leaves again.
• A calathea leaf that has been damaged by whiteflies: when held up to the light, numerous punctures and bites are visible. The whiteflies were noticed in time and neutralized, but the decorative appearance of the leaves managed to suffer, and this is the reverse side of the leaf after the whitefly attack.

Black dots are visible, they are very sticky to the touch and serve as fertile ground for the development of fungal diseases. These leaves can be washed with a damp cloth with soap or shampoo. If the leaves are tender, it is better to remove them

Therefore, you need to treat not only one plant on which whiteflies were found, but also neighboring plants, and also wash window frames and glass to remove all escape routes for whiteflies.

Attention!

If a plant is particularly badly affected, then after treating it with an insecticide, cover the plant with a large plastic bag. Let the plant stand like this for two hours. Contact of pests with the insecticide will be longer, and you will not have to breathe the insecticide vapors. It is good to carry out such treatments in the bathroom.

You will have to treat with an insecticide every week for a month and a half to remove all insects (those that hatch from their laid eggs). The insecticide does not affect eggs, so repeated treatments are necessary.

Yellow sticky traps will also help control whiteflies. You know, I found another way to combat pests of indoor plants. I placed dishwashing liquid with the valve open on the kitchen window next to the flower pots. And the flies are dying, and the mosquitoes, and other insects are not visible.

While dealing with whiteflies, look at the undersides of plant leaves. If you see white dots, remove them manually. Or tear off such leaves completely. This will also help in the fight against whitefly.

Cicadas jump high as soon as you touch the leaves. Whiteflies can also be confused with leafhoppers—small winged insects that are green, brown, or yellow. Cicadas also live on the lower surface of the leaf, from which they suck sap.

Plants also look depressed after leafhopper attacks, and the leaves gradually wither. Cicadas are quite easy to spot: as soon as you touch the leaves, they jump high. And the leafhoppers look quite large, up to 5-8 millimeters in length.

They, like whiteflies, feed on the sap of leaves, leaving small white dots at the bite sites. All plants with tender, succulent leaves may be at risk. Cicadas can jump into a room through an open window.

A leafhopper attack is rarely serious; a single treatment with insecticides is sufficient, and it is better to remove severely affected, wilted leaves.

source: http://floweryvale.ru/

Whitefly attacks on plants are a real problem for flower growers, gardeners and gardeners. After all, these annoying pests are capable of not only superficially affecting cultivated crops, but also carrying many viral diseases, from which plants die. What methods of controlling whitefly exist?

How to identify larvae and adults

The reproduction and spread of whiteflies occurs in several stages. The female lays her eggs first (usually on the underside of the leaf). They have a small stalk that allows them to move and look for a suitable place to feed.

Having tightly attached to the surface of the plant, the larvae develop and completely transform several times within 5-10 days. At the final stage of its development, the larva changes its body shape and rearranges itself, forming future legs, wings, antennae and other necessary organs of the adult.

Fully hatched larvae resemble gray crumbs. They are also located on the lower surface of plant leaves. At this stage of their development, they are absolutely not susceptible to the damaging properties of insecticides. As they develop, they feed on plant juices and contribute to the spread of black sooty fungus. The leaves of the plants they damage become deformed, dry out and fall off.

Whitefly larvae

The adult whitefly is a tiny insect that resembles a small white moth with a yellowish belly. The length of its body is only 1-2 mm.

Colonies of these harmful insects infect both ornamental and garden plants, both in greenhouses and in open ground. The adult individual secretes a special sticky substance that promotes the development of fungus on the leaves, causing them to turn yellow and die.

The main types of whiteflies and the plants they damage

Most deciduous trees, such as rowan, pear, apple, and some types of shrubs, are attacked by the so-called ash whitefly (Siphoninus phillyreae). Its larvae are distinguished by wide stripes of white powdery coating on the back and a fringe of thin tubes with droplets at the ends.

Adults are white. Cotton and melons are preferred by insects called the fringed whitefly (Trialeurodes abutilonea). Their larvae have short waxy threads along the edges. Adults have gray bodies and brown stripes across the wings.

The citrus whitefly (Dialeurodes citri) damages ash, gardenias, various types of ficus and citrus crops. Its larvae do not have fringes along the edges, but there is a Y-shaped mark on its back. Mature individuals are white.

Crowned whitefly (Aleuroplatus coronata) larvae damage chestnut trees and oaks. They are black with a small amount of white coating. Hibiscus, mulberry, banana tree, spring crops and many ornamental plants are the favorite “delicacy” of the giant whitefly (Aleurodicus dugesii).

The larvae have a distinctive feature of long waxy threads (up to 2 cm in length). Adults reach 0.5 cm in length and leave waxy spirals on the leaves. The greenhouse whitefly infects almost all existing herbaceous ornamental plants and most vegetable crops. The larvae have thin long wax threads along the contour of the body. Adults have a yellowish body and white wings.

Where you can encounter pests Initially, the natural habitat of a huge number of whitefly species were those areas characterized by a tropical and subtropical climate.

But modern plant care capabilities make it possible to create the necessary microclimatic conditions and grow many crops in areas with unfavorable natural environments.

There are about two hundred species of whiteflies in nature, and many of them have learned over time to adapt to survive and develop in artificial conditions.

A warm, humid atmosphere is ideal for these pests. Therefore, in greenhouses, conservatories and even apartments with a large number of decorative rooms, it is most likely to encounter their pest attacks.

What is possible to combat whitefly?

In severe forms of whitefly infestation, it is very difficult to combat their pestilence and spread. Most insecticidal agents do not help get rid of whiteflies; they give a weak effect, and even that goes away quickly, since the larvae are completely insensitive to chemicals.

Attention!

You can reduce the number of adult insects by covering the soil with aluminum foil and installing them on trees. a large number of sticky baits. Some types of beetles and bedbugs significantly reduce the number of pests.

You can remove some insects by manually. So the leaves on which the larvae and adult pests are located are torn from the trees and burned. To rid indoor flowers and plants of pests, you can wash the leaves with an infusion of garlic or yarrow.

At home, they also hang sticky tape around affected plants to catch adult butterflies. It also helps to place objects near objects that have a large surface, the color of which resembles sunlight (white-yellow-golden).

Some special preparations can also help get rid of whiteflies. These include Fosbecid, Furanon, Mospilan, Confidor, Verticillin Zh, Actellik, Decis, Inta-vir, Fitoverm, Kinmiks.