How do I control white fly

[Jessiebean]

I have been tolerating the white fly but the tomato plants have started to suffer so what do people recommend to deal with them?
As cheap and harmless to others as possible of course!

[Millymollymandy]

In the days when I used to spray the cr*p out of them with chemicals they took not a blind bit of notice as they seem to withstand any chemical that was available at the time (a lot more than now!) . So I have no idea what you can do. I get them in my veg patch every year but they don't seem to do any damage but if you've got an infestation in a greenhouse that could be a lot worse, though at least toms are grown as annuals. (I had them on fuchsias and in the end I had to just stop growing fuchsias which was a real shame )
I think some people use sticky fly paper in greenhouses but I'd be worried that a good insect would get stuck, but you could try the flat fly papers and just shake the plants gently and hope to get some of the whitefly stuck to it. I do think that would be a bit futile though and time consuming.

Sorry not much help! I do sympathise though.

[red]

yes i used the sticky paper - you can buy sheets of it in garden centres etc. you do catch the occasional other fly
but it is much better than no tomatoes or chemicals

[grahamhobbs]

Usual remedies for white fly are soft soap spray, rhubarb spray, covering with mesh and planting french marigolds. The biological control is Encarsia, a small wasp.

However washing up liquid sprayed on once or twice a week is reckoned to be the most effective (about a teaspoonful in a pint of water). Some people swear by Stergene washing up liquid.

[Green Aura]

And stick a clove of garlic in it. too.

[Jessiebean]

Ah, will try the detergent/garlic spray. I was chatting over the fence to neighbour who says she doesn't bother controlling hers on the tomatoes but does on the pumpkins...
I watered the tomatoes heavily this morning hoping to make the whitefly so soggy they couldn't get about....will do the detergent spray tonight though!

[Jessiebean]

I was just wondering if there is any special technique to growing tagetes?I have never had much luck, if they flower at all they are stunted wee things.

[Millymollymandy]

They like really rich soil - I grow them in the veg patch and they are enormous, but the ones I put in the flower beds (not so good soil and dry) were tiny and pathetic.

Washing up liquid/soft soap spray doesn't work on whitefly, in my experience, any more than chemicals do.

[Jessiebean]

They like really rich soil - I grow them in the veg patch and they are enormous, but the ones I put in the flower beds (not so good soil and dry) were tiny and pathetic.
.

right, that would be where I have been going wrong- I have only tried them in flower beds and they were dismal so I was too disheartened to give them any of my valuable vege space.
Will try some in the composty bits then.

[Jessiebean]

Hey if that's what works then that's what I will do next time!

[Millymollymandy]

I start them in a heated propagator but after that they are pretty easy, prick them out, grow on in cold frame for a little while then plant out. They grow really quickly and are in flower after a couple of months and just keep on flowering until they are hit by really harsh frosts - they can withstand light ones. Not really growing them for any particular reason these days as they don't seem to keep carrot root fly away (like anyting does!), the petals don't taste nice despite what it says on the packet! but they are pretty (I have ones which are a nice mix of mottled yellow and browny/red stripy flowers and the bees like them. They were a free packet with a seed order in the first place!

Then they self seed which is great!

[Jessiebean]

so I need to get a heat propagator...and a cold frame and then I will be right! I guess I expected them to be v. easy to grow, so I will try harder next time.. I may have some seeds about the place...
I love thinks that self seed but my garden was a sea of four o'clocks and alkanet (I found out from you guys!) when we arrived a year ago ... pretty flowers but I like a bit of variety.. I hope to get enough self seeders going so they are kind of in balance and the default for the garden is lovely plants rather than weeds!
I am rather lazy!

[Millymollymandy]

I don't think in Tassie you would need either (must look up your climate as you make it sound so cold!!).

We have probably a shorter growing season than you and I wanted them started early. Otherwise I'd just sow them in a seed tray in the cold frame (for protection against rain and wind as much as the warmth) or you can sow them direct in the soil in June here (when the soil has warmed up enough and all risk of frost has passed).

I had loads of tiny seedlings all around the plants in September/October but unfortunately they don't survive the winter here! And ditto baby Busy Lizzies - such a shame as all those free plants gone to waste!

How cold are your winters?

[Jessiebean]

Apparently Winter is 2.8C to 13.1C on average with 14 days of frost.
http://www.bom.gov.au/weather/tas/launc ... mate.shtml
Bear in mind there is a great belief that Tasmania is wickedly cold ( Iam sitting in 30C weather at present) and I have moved from the subtropics of SE Queensland (erggh).
I don't think it is very cold.. what do you think based on those averages?

[Millymollymandy]

I think you have the perfect climate though I'm a bit concerned about your 1 frost day in summer!

It sounds very mild and I can't see why anyone would advise that you can't grow melons! They grow them here (OK by here I mean France and south of where I live!) where it is colder in winter and same sort of summer temps (maybe they are all grown in hot houses, I don't know )

Just shove some marigold seeds straight into the ground, they should do fine. But maybe wait until your spring!