white fly the pest

[jjcaa1995]

in my greenhouse i have acquired a mass of white fly i have tried a few different types of spray but alas no joy i have many seedlings and thirty tomato plants in my 20 foot greenhouse as anyone got a idea how to kill the little blighters

[Hawkwalk]

which sprays have you tried and for how long have you applied them? You need to break the life cycle. If you only kill the visible adults with a spray, the eggs that have already been layed will hatch and the cycle starts again.

You could try the biological control alternative which is very effective.

[heathfield]

You could try those Vapona yellow sticky strips and hang them close to your plants. There's also some more advice here. At least your plants are enclosed. I have a beech hedge that suffers from these pests every year.

[jjcaa1995]

thanks for your replies i will have to live with them i have tried every thing in the last three weeks

[Thunderbird+]

most of these sprays seem to recomend treating at fortnightly intervals, so seeing results after three weeks may be a little early as yet.

[CSG2306]

Hi jjcaa1995,

First of all, use the sticky yellow strips in your greenhouse, placing them at least 2ft. apart. Every time you go into the greenhouse give your plants a shake and the white fly will head for the strips.

Secondly, spray your plants with ordinary water with a few drops of washing up liquid in it. This causes the plants no harm but it makes the white fly sticky and prevents them from flying and eventually kills them off. However you must keep repeating the process for quite a few weeks.

This has worked for me over the past 40 years, you might be a little late this year but for future years, if you start early enough it will keep your greenhouse virtually whitefly free.

Regards

[jjcaa1995]

many many thanks i think its a lot to do with the weather up here in yorkshire we generally get a lot of heavy frosts this year hardly any