The Trick To Whitefly Control In West Palm Beach

If you enjoy the outdoors, it's likely you have come across whiteflies or whitefly damage in West Palm Beach. Perhaps you have put in many hours of work, prepping your garden area in a nice sunny spot, planting seeds, weeding, feeding, watering, and propping up certain plants.

And, just when you are looking forward to seeing your beautiful ficus hedge growing into a natural privacy fence, you notice tiny little white insects all over the leaves. Whiteflies! Whiteflies defoliate hedges quickly and by making your hedges see-through, these flying bugs defeat the whole reason you had ficus hedges.

But what can you do about them? Today, we will get into what can be done to prevent these ficus-destroying pests. First, let's talk about what these garden-destroying pests are.

What Are Whiteflies?

person looking at white flies in south florida

These tiny insects are aptly named since they are, indeed, whiteflies. They are soft-bodied, winged insects that are closely related to aphids and mealybugs. Whiteflies can be as tiny as 1/12 of an inch in length and they look like minuscule white triangles.

In South Florida, Fig Whiteflies and Spiral Whiteflies do major damage to ficus hedges, ficus trees and coconut palm trees. Ficus hedges in the Palm Beach area are often used in our area for privacy, and unfortunately whiteflies have decimated many of these hedges, leaving them with no leaves and eliminating the very privacy homeowners enjoy.

Often these whiteflies can be found in clusters on the undersides of leaves and are active during the daytime. These garden pests are most active in mid to late summer when temperatures are warmest.

In addition to affecting ficus hedges and palm trees, whiteflies are fond of warm-weather vegetable plants such as tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, sweet potatoes, and cabbage. They are commonly found in greenhouses and on many ornamental shrubs around homes as well.

How Much Of A Problem Are Whiteflies?

If you notice these flies and do nothing, figuring that they will go away on their own, you are in for a surprise. Adult female whiteflies can produce up to 400 eggs, which can hatch in about a week - meaning these flies multiply like crazy and can completely ruin a garden. We always receive more whitefly calls in the spring and summer, as higher temperatures speed up their life-cycle and whiteflies hatch from their eggs faster.

These bugs suck plant juices and produce honeydew, a sticky substance left on the leaves. Honeydew can cause fungal diseases to form on leaves, creating even more of a problem. If whiteflies are allowed to continue feeding, plants will become weak and may become unable to carry out photosynthesis. Leaves will wilt and turn pale or yellow and growth will be stunted. This honeydew will also attract ants, which can easily get into your home. Who knew that whiteflies on your shrubs could also be the primary reason ants are getting into your home?

Whitefly Control In West Palm Beach

Since these insects are extremely difficult to get rid of once they have infested and begun to multiply (and because they can be resistant to pesticides) it is important to be proactive and put into place some prevention strategies.

Here are a few whitefly prevention tips you can try:

Encourage natural predators of whiteflies: There are several creatures that eat whiteflies, including ladybugs, spiders, lacewing larvae, and dragonflies. Parasitic wasps (which are not harmful to people) and hummingbirds are also helpful. Creating a habitat that is attractive to dragonflies and damselflies will help in keeping whiteflies down and will also help reduce mosquito populations. Some of these whitefly eating creatures can even be purchased online.
Ensure that your irrigation system is getting sufficient water to the roots of your ficus hedges. When there is a lack of rainfall, hedges become stressed and are more susceptible to whitefly defoliation. Also, lack of water prevents systemic insecticides applied to the roots from being absorbed by the plant.
Apply sufficient granular fertilizer to the roots of your ficus hedges and shrubs. We have often seen ficus stressed by a nutrient deficiency defoliate quickly compared to well-fertilized hedges.
Mulch early in the season with aluminum reflective mulch: This is especially helpful with tomato and pepper plants. Reflective mulch makes it difficult for whiteflies to find their host plants.
Use yellow paper or poster board coated with petroleum jelly; whiteflies are attracted to the color yellow and will get stuck in petroleum jelly. Setting several of these sticky yellow papers around your garden will help in catching whiteflies early, so they can't reproduce.

How Native Pest Management Can Help

Once whiteflies have invaded, it can be very difficult to exterminate them on your own without professional help. Chemicals advertised to kill whiteflies may do nothing to kill these pests but only kill the beneficial insects (whiteflies' natural predators) and insects needed to pollinate your garden.

If whiteflies are multiplying in your garden and you need help getting rid of them, reach out to the lawn and ornamental pest control experts here at Native Pest Management.

Our technicians have the tools, the products, and the experience to take care of whiteflies for you, so you can go back to watching your vegetables grow, and enjoy them when harvest time comes!

Don't let white flies ruin all your efforts, call one of our helpful experts today to schedule a free inspection for lawn care or exterminator services in West Palm Beach.