Whitefly

This has to be nemesis No2 for the chilli grower. Whitefly are winged sap sucking insects from hell that can be particularly fatal to seedling plants when uncontrolled. Whitefly can be found under the leaves of plants where they hide and suck the sap from the underside of leaves. Whitefly multiply rapidly and on mass will destroy the plants ability to produce energy due to massive leaf damage. The biggest issue with Whitefly is that they are vectors for viruses, fungal and bacterial infections and being flying carriers, can spread these infections across a field like wild fire. And these infections are usually fatal. The good news is Whitefly are visible to the naked eye. They look like tiny white fruit flies that sit under the leaf. When disturbed, whitefly can be found flying around the plant and will return to the underside of the leaves once settled. The not so good news is they multiply in the blink of an eye and are fast and difficult to catch. The fact that whitefly can fly and are very difficult to catch can make these pesky suckers difficult to control. Neem oil will work for whitefly as neem oil targets all sap sucking insects and will interfere with their feeding, breeding and growing cycles. But there are better options here, seeing they move so fast. We suggest that when dealing with whitefly to look at BioGrow's Pyrol™ or Neudosan™ insecticides. These are contact insecticides and much better suited to flying insects such as whitefly.

We recommend spraying plants at dusk with a very fine sprayer. Set the sprayer to the finest mist setting and start by misting the plant from a good distance to catch the escaping whitefly before zeroing in on the plant and spraying over and under leaf. This treatment will have to be repeated several times to get on top of infestations, but it will work. Once sprayed, escaping Whitefly usually return to the leaves. We suggest a second go over with the spray about 5 mins later. Sticky traps are also an option for Whitefly and can be purchased from specialist hydro stores around the country.

Always read the product instructions and follow the instructions exactly as given by the manufacturer.