Selfsufficientish.com

I am all for live and let live but the white fly and powdery mildew at my place need to be curbed. it my front garden Calendula and pansies have mildew and round the back the courgettes had to be pulled up, the pumpkins got it bad and even the weeds have it...I have read about using bicarb soda as a spray- anyone have any success with anything? Also there are so many white fly around here you think it is either unseasonal snow or ash from a no longer dormant volcano and they are reducing some of my plants to lace....
I think they are a result of years of neglect but I just don't know where to start with getting them under control!

maybe it is an Aussie thing...

Don't know about the mildew but spraying whitefly with a solution of washing up liquid seems to sort them

I don't know if this will help jessiebean - I found it ages ago on tinternet

Antifungal Rose Spray

I know people love their roses. If you have some you may want to try this home brew. From Woman's Day

1 tablespoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ivory bath soap
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 tablespoon epsom salts
1 gallon water

Mix all the ingredients into a large bowl.
Store in a clean gallon container with lid.
To use: Spray on both sides of plant leaves; repeat every 10 days.
You can use this on lilacs and MOST other flowering plants in the garden, too.

Grapefruit seed extract, just a few drops in water, is supposed to be good too.

I've also read that 1tbsp molasses per litre of soapy water, will deter all "chewing" pests - do aphids count?

Soapnut liquid works nicely indeed. I have had very good results

What may well work (i don't know much about bugs down under) is encouraging Ladybirds and Lacewings with a nesting box for them.

The larvae of both of these are very similar and look like little crocodiles,

http://www.kendall-bioresearch.co.uk/beetle3.htm

They will happily much all day and soon clear up any excessive bugs. Again I had very good results here.

White fly - spray made from rhubarb leaves works very well. Could try with some washing up liquid as well.

Powdery mildew - I seem to remember someone said spraying with milk, but never tried it. It is usually caused by the plants drying out or watering over the leaves. So water regularly but not on the leaves.

I do like the idea of encouraging more beneficial insects.. I wouldlove to learn more about how best to do so- I plant things like alyssum and calendula to try to encourage them.. what else should I do?
I have a tree out the front which is riddled with whitefly... my calendula has many aphids too...I thinkI need a shipping container of ladybirds...
I haven't seen lacewings around here...I wonder where I can import some from!

I tried the milk thing on roses but it didn't work as ours have had powdery mildew the last two years. I think whitefly is just one of those things, along with all other diseases, that you just some years have to put up with. You'd need a hell of a load of chemicals to get rid of an entire garden infestation of whitefly!

Last year we had a real basinful of fungal (and/or bacterial) diseases of all kinds plus the usual pests so I just put up with it, whether it is climate or what I don't know, but everything seemed to come at once but we still got fruit and veg. My courgettes were riddled with mildew but they still fruited, I just kept picking off the really badly affected leaves. They looked a right mess but still produced!

Ah I had real trouble with both and my courgette and pumpkin vines died off prematurely but look what I have found here :http://www.ecoorganicgarden.com.au/gg.php. I CAN buy in Lacewings and other good bugs.. I wonder if it would work for me.. and them of course!