Whitefly

Prevention

• Remove weed hosts that attract whitefly.
• Protect your plants with insecticide PLANThealth Spectrum before they become a problem.

To Get Rid of Whitefly:

• You must watch sensitive plants and apply products early before infestation takes hold. Kiwicare PLANThealth Spectrum is also highly effective for controlling whitefly. This kills whitefly rapidly without any leaf burn or marking.
• Kiwicare also offer some great natural and BioGro® certified alternatives to deal with whitefly in your garden. Organic Super Spraying Oil suffocates the bugs. This oil blocks the spiracles (breathing holes) of insects suffocating them and it also makes it difficult for insects such as whitefly to hold onto plant surfaces.
• For use on fruit and vegetables we recommend Organic Insect Control with Pyrethrum. Make sure to spray all parts of the plants for most effective treatment.
• Spray your plants regularly to ensure good protection as infestations can build up very quickly.
• Indoor plants- spray with Gro-Sure Houseplant Insect Control Spray.

• The citrus whitefly was first found in New Zealand in 1995. It came from Australia and because it has few predators in NZ it has become common in the North Island.
• Citrus whitefly a small sap sucking insect which like other aphids and whitefly produce a sweet honeydew waste product from its rear. Sooty mould grows on the surfaces of leaves covered in the sticky honeydew.
• The combination of whitefly sucking sap from the plant, spreading other disease and the loss of photosynthesis due to the covering of sooty mould can be very damaging to the health of the citrus tree and the yield of fruit.
• So if you see your citrus tree looking sooty it may not be enough to treat it with a fungicide alone.
• Control of these whitefly is achieved with the use of spraying with Organic Super Spraying Oil. The oil should be applied directly onto the insects as it works by suffocating them. It can be used in conjunction with copper spray to control the sooty mould.
• Whiteflies are members of the family Aleyrodidae.