Whiteflies
These garden and indoor plant pests can seem to come out of nowhere.
These garden and indoor plant pests can seem to come out of nowhere. You may not even realize they’ve taken up residence in your garden until you move or shake a plant that has been infested. All of sudden, a cloud of small white flying insects are flying around you. You’ve got whiteflies. Whiltefly infestations come on fast and they multiply even faster. Wet and humid spring weather often results in a big whitefly population.
There are two types of whiteflies that are most common: The greenhouse whitefly and the silverleaf whitefly. They nymphs and adults cause the most damage to your plants. They will suck the liquids out of your plant’s leaves, buds and fleshy stems. You then may see leaves turning yellow falling off.
Just like aphids, whiteflies produce a honeydew that encourages growth of sooty mold (you can see the black areas of growth on the undersides of the leaves in the photo – that is sooty mold). Whiteflies can also spread plant viruses.
Whiteflies can be treated with horticultural oils that may need to be reapplied several times before the infestation is eradicated.
