White Fly

Gardening to 'grow your own food' from square foot to half an acre !!
Post Reply
Peduk
Learner Laner
Posts: 5
Joined: 15 Feb 2016, 13:45
Gender: Male

White Fly

Post by Peduk »

Hi
If anyone could help, each year plagued with white fly on the brassicas i use to use chemical sprays, but looking for anything organic i could use instead of these pesticides .

Thanks
Steve )hlp>
User avatar
lancashire lass
Legendary Laner
Posts: 6527
Joined: 28 Jun 2007, 15:17

Re: White Fly

Post by lancashire lass »

you could try sticky or grease cards - not sure how well they do outdoors / rain etc. You could hang some up or knock the plants a bit so that all the white flies take to the air and then waft the sticky card around. I really don't know how effective it is and of course, there'll always be some (a lot) that escape and settle on new plants.

White flies are a form of aphid even though they look like microscopic moths. There are a couple of home remedies worth trying as you would for greenfly / blackfly - I remember my mother throwing her bowl of used washing up water over the roses to keep the aphids down. A drop of washing up liquid (or go for the proper horticultural soap) in a spray bottle of water, shake and spray especially underneath leaves and the growing point on the plant is a bit more selective. But do give a test spray first before dousing your entire plants, and then leave at least 24 hours to make sure they are fine (I've done it on cabbages okay) Some recipes add a drop of vegetable oil to the soapy mix which must be well shaken to disperse before spraying (it will separate out on settling) - detergent has the effect of drying out soft insect bodies (like aphids - most other insects like ladybirds and bees are unaffected). Oil has a smothering effect on tiny insects. Neem oil is a potent insecticidal oil used in some natural shampoo products but which have been used in gardens. Do be careful as it can kill other beneficial insects so not selective.

I should also add that home made remedies generally are against EU rules
Peduk
Learner Laner
Posts: 5
Joined: 15 Feb 2016, 13:45
Gender: Male

Re: White Fly

Post by Peduk »

ill give that a try ty Lancashire lass
User avatar
KathJ
Longlasting Laner
Posts: 934
Joined: 12 Sep 2012, 13:13
Gender: Female
Location: Shropshire

Re: White Fly

Post by KathJ »

We were getting a lot of white and green fly on our roses last year so I made up a solution of garlic spray which seemed to be quite sucessfull. The area does smell a bit garlicky for a while and occasionally so did my chickens if they were underneath when I was spraying {rofwl} but the smell soon went away. Sorry, can't remember exactly how I made it up but it was very easy and I just followed a video demo that I found in the internet. Maybe worth a go!
Kath xx

Mum to my beautiful girls Lucy, Holly, Rosie, Hettie, Polly, Ruby, Lily, Penny, Gracie, Maisie, Molly, Evie and my gorgeous boy Toby

RIP my beautiful Ranger, Roxy, Bluebelle, Poppy, Speckle, Daisy and Honey xxxx
Post Reply