How To Get Rid Of White Flies
79Easy way to get rid of white flies
White flies, I hate the things. They get in your food, your drinks, your eyes; you sometimes even breathe them in. In the summer my shrubbery is the white fly Hilton. White flies also known as gnats breed worse than roaches and can infest a home in a matter of days. I quit having indoor house plants because of white flies. Its bad enough trying to keep the things out of the kitchen garbage.
I tried everything to get rid of them. I used powders, expensive sprays, and those sticky pest strips that you try to hang somewhere so they don't get stuck to your walls and clothes. I found a great way to get rid of them and wanted to pass it on to all you folks who suffer from the little buggers.
Getting rid of white flies is easy. All you need to do is mix a tablespoon of Dawn liquid dishwashing detergent in one gallon of water and spray it on any infected area. Use a hose sprayer, a garden sprayer, or even one of those hand held spray bottles. Apply it 2-3 times a week for a couple of weeks and your white fly problems will be gone. Soap kills white flies and it won't hurt your plants or the soil or your fruits and vegetables. Spray it on shrubs, fruit trees, house plants, and garbage cans. I can't believe after using all those poisonous pesticides that plain old soap was the best and only thing that has ever worked for me. This stuff also works great on fruit flies and is just the thing to put on orchards. Its sort of fitting that soap kills white flies considering where they land sometimes.
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Its all I've ever used. I have heard some people get good results using the oil based soaps. Just be sure not to put too much soap in the water. I tried using a heavier concentration and it did bad damage to my shrubs.
that detergent thing only works so much. white flies have a good resistancy factor. the best way to rid them is to destroy the infested plants.... get rid of the things that the flies have touched and spray with something industrial strength which you can obtain through the net, nursery (not all have this) or a home and garden place like home depot. you always have to change what you get because the flies will become resistant.
right now i'm using a bayer solution for whiteflies and other plant infestations.. it's way powerful and can make you sick as a dog. i've been feeding it into the plants and soaking the leaves, stems and trunks with the junk... so far it's been moderately successful.
greattttttttttttt job (:I'll try it.
This is great info.. but i have a question.... In Austin, TX.I have a grapevine it's about 118 years old! crazy right! So i have been noticing whiteflies for months now on this huge vine now...WITHOUT KILLING THE VINE....How can i trim the vine? Spray it with the soap and how often do i need to spray the solution?PLEASE HELP!!csmith6089@yahoo.com
118 yrs old? I've never seen any kind of plant that old.
Thanks for the info this is great to know. Boy Dawn dishwashing liquid is one great thing another little bit of information is that is also kills fleas on your animals just bath them in it a wella fleas are all gone:-)
Thanks for the tip.
I have a small garden of watermelons and almost lost all of my watermelon vines to the whitefly. I used neem py spray to get rid of them. I thought my leaves would come back but they didn't. if they are yellowing or even have a few whiteflies on them its better to just cut them off. even the green ones if they have eggs on them. About a week afterwards new leaves began to bud and flower and the watermelons are back. still crossing my fingers and spraying neem oil to keep the whiteflies away.
Thanks for posting, you can get rid of some of the neem oil by spraying it with water.
I think i used to much soap in my soap water :( I'm scared I killed my plant. The soil feels soapy... Not a smart move. Idk if I can fixit it or what. I'd hate for my plant to die. Thank u :/
very cool!
very cool!
DBoud 5 years ago
Thanks for the info. I just tried the soap for the first time last night. It is starting to rain here so I will do it again tomoroow evening. Does it have to be Dawn or can I use any dishwashing soap?