The warm season is here and so does those little white insects, better said potted plants attackers!
I have a Japanese rose and these white flies are in love with it, damaging it seriously when they attack it. Also, they can damage the greenhouse pretty badly.
These white flies lay their eggs on the back of the leaves, and they feed on the plant sap, eventually leading to the mutilation and death of the leaves.
If you check the bottom of the leaves and if you notice small white insects flying around the plant, you have to take action immediately, otherwise your plant will be soon dead.
How to get rid of white flies?
Of course, there are many chemicals you can use to get rid of these whitey insects, but their toxicity may affect pretty badly the plant. And the recovery after a chemical treatment is pretty hard! But there are some natural solutions that are effective, even if it takes a little longer to get rid of white flies.
Sanitary alcohol – dilute 100 ml of alcohol in 1 liter of water and sprinkle over the leaves affected by white flies.
Potassium Soap – is a gentle insecticide with plants and is found in phytosanitary stores. Buy it in liquid form, and dilute it with water – follow the instructions on the label. After that, sprinkle the solution on plant’s leaves.
Hot pepper infusion – put 1 teaspoon of hot chili peppers in 250 ml of hot water, let the solution to infuse and cool down gradually. Repeat the treatment for 2 or 3 days until the adult and young white flies are dead.
Prepare insect traps
White flies can also be removed with ingenious traps.
- They are attracted by bright colors such as yellow or orange. Oint a few pieces of yellow cardboard with honey and white flies will be attracted by the color and they will get stuck in honey.
- You can also put small containers of apple vinegar at the base of the plants, and the white flies will be attracted by the intense smell of vinegar and get drown in it.
Image Credits: Growweedeasy
