Home Vegetable Gardening: Getting Rid Of White Flies

By Author: Michael Podlesny
Total Articles: 174
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White flies are tiny, about the size of the tip of a pin, and a lone fly by themselves is hardly reason to panic, but thousands could be very destructive to your garden.

They more readily attack cucumbers, potatoes and tomatoes, and can literally wipe out your crop if not handled properly.

They usually gather on the underside of leaves of the plants and extract the sap from the plant, which could invariably kill the plant.

Here is how you can get rid of white flies from your vegetable garden.

The first step and most natural repellent and control for white flies is to attract their natural predators. As with most creatures in the insect world, white flies too, have natural predators. They include lacewings, ladybugs and praying mantids to name a few. Attract a few of these and they will definitely help you out.

The second step is to put in yellow sticky traps near the plants that are more likely to be affected by white flies. Take a trip to your local home or garden center and for less than a couple of bucks you will take a big step to reducing the adult white fly population in your vegetable ...
... garden.

The third step is to hit existing white flies with natural and safe pest repellents. Simply spray the plants where you see white flies living with neem, insecticidal soap or neem oil. This will produce fairly immediate control on the white fly population.

Finally repel the white flies from coming back by applying a garlic spray to the plants white flies are more likely to attack. Garlic spray acts like a natural repellent. Just remember to wash all fruits and vegetables thoroughly before consumption.
About the Author
Mike is the author of the book Vegetable Gardening for the Average Person: A Guide to Vegetable Gardening for the Rest of Us, available where gardening books are sold. Sign up for Mike's vegetable gardening newsletter at his website: AveragePersonGardening.com and he will send you a free pack of vegetable seeds to get your garden started.