White Fly - Plant Pest

Natural Pest Control - Whitefly Killer 1 treatment - Top Up
Natural Pest Control - Whitefly Killer 3 treatments

Signs - Most commonly found on houseplants and in greenhouses, when disturbing the leaves, the tiny white flies that hide under the leaves will fly up.

Damage - Sap suckers, will weaken the plant and make it susceptible to further attacks of pests and disease.

Treatment

   Tap the leaves and, as a cloud of flies up, suck them up with a small car vacuum cleaner - take care! or you'll damage your tender little pants.

    Whiteflies are also attracted to yellow paper, so you could try hanging strips of sticky yellow card which the whitefly stick to - these are available commercially and if you think you have whitefly will become covered surprisingly quickly. They also serve as a good early warning for if you suspect that you will get whitefly.

    Avoiding whitefly on tomatoes without the use of chemicals. Plant French Marigolds (Tagetes) between your tomato plants to keep those pesky Whitefly away. It's not that the Whitefly particularly don't like these marigolds, it's because the pungent smell from the marigolds masks the nice smell of the tomatoes that usually attract the Whitefly.

    Another option is to go for biological control. Biological control of a pest relies on introducing a predator species so "fighting nature with nature", if chosen carefully, the predator will stop damage to your plants without damaging the environment. Such biological controls are safe for the user, children and pets. They will not harm other beneficial garden insects and are biodegradable.

They do rely on the predator always having some food though, or they will die out, so like other organic practices it is a question of maintaining a small population of pests to allow the predators to be ready for them, in this case though the balance is skewed away from the problem.
The biological control for whitefly is the parasitic wasp, Encarsia formosa. These minute little wasp's parasitise the whitefly pupae. This turns the pupae black after a period of about 10-14 days depending on temperature. From these pupae will emerge Encarsia formosa instead of whitefly therefore controlling them. One wasp in the right conditions can parasitise up to 150 whitefly scales. These wasps are harmless to all other insects and animals
For effective control, regular introductions should be carried out.
Encarsia is only suitable for glasshouses and conservatories. Encarsia needs a 24 hour average temperature in the glasshouse of at least 17Ā°C

Natural Pest Control - Whitefly Killer 1 treatment - Top Up
Natural Pest Control - Whitefly Killer 3 treatments

Insect deterrents

Plants

Citron scents are particularly effective at deterring 'midges'; hence the recent rise in popularity of citronella - fragranced garden candles. Try growing plants with citrus-scented foliage, such as Geranium macrorrhizumand lemon balm. Another option is lemon verbena, which has wonderfully aromatic foliage - not fully hardy though, so best to grow it in a pot so that it can be brought into the greenhouse or conservatory to over winter.

Other aromatic herbs have insect-repellent properties - Lavender has been used for this purpose for centuries, either in dried or fresh form. Mints can also help to repel aphids - spearmint or peppermint can be grown near roses to deter these pests.

Chemical insecticides

If your plants get a heavy infestation, then I think it's acceptable to use a chemical insecticide as a "smart missile" just on that particular plant. I resort to this when the aphids build up under cover on my favourite plum tree, or other plant/s.

Don't overdo it and spray too often and don't spray the whole garden "just-in-case".