How I didn't Conquer White Fly Infestation in my Greenhouse
Updated: May 8, 2022
I posted the following post last year and this turned out to be a lesson learned post.
This was not a successful strategy because I did not use clips to fully seal the fabric to every container. I learned you have to use clips to seal every possible space the while flies can enter and provide continuous air flow,
I live in zone 10b - San Francisco, California, USA. For the past two months I have been spraying various homemade pesticides to deter white flies in my greenhouse and day after day, they keep coming back. Neem oil and insecticide soap solution did not work. This year they are relentless, so I treated my plants aggressively with the following solution first:
2 TSP of Baking Soda
1 TSP of Neem Oil
5 Drops of Insecticide soap
1 Liter of water
I drenched my tomato plants from top and under all leaves.
I moved them into a spot where wind flows well.
I covered them with mesh cloth and clipped all access points to plant to block any entry.
It's been a week and my plants appear to have a chance to flower and actually produce tomatoes.
I also covered my pepper plants and kale to prevent green caterpillars from eating them up like last year.
I'll continue to monitor the next few weeks to see how successful this strategy works. Wish me luck.