You move your plants and all of a sudden you are bombarded with a bunch of white bugs flying everywhere! Congratulations, you have found the whiteflies that have invaded your plants. If you see the white flies, you will want to take precautions for keeping the whiteflies off of your plants from here on.
But, before going into how to take control of whiteflies you need to understand the insect. There are two different types of whitefly, though they look very similar. There are the greenhouse whiteflies and the silverleaf whiteflies. At the mature stage, the greenhouse whitefly is almost 1/8 inch long. They are white with a waxy coating. Their wings are parallel to the surface of the leaves. At maturity, the silverleaf whiteflies are slightly smaller than the greenhouse whiteflies. They also have a yellow tint to them. Their wings are held at a 45 degree angle to the surface of the leaf. These little creatures are not actually in the family of the flies. They are really kin to mealybugs, aphids and scales. They lay eggs on the bottom side of the leaves. Their eggs resemble the shape of a cone and are dark gray to burnt orange in color, depending on the species of whitefly they are to become. They lay their eggs in a pattern resembling a circle or a crescent. The eggs hatch anywhere from 4 to 12 days after they have been laid. Thus, if you see these eggs on the leaves, make sure to take a moment to smash them. Once they have hatched and become a nymph and also an adult, is when they start causing physical damage to the plants they are on. They suck the juice out of the leaves, buds and stems. The plant then yellows and becomes stunted. The whiteflies also produce honeydew. The honeydew will drip on the plant and cause a mold to grow, thus spreading plant viruses.
Thus, it really isn’t a congratulations that is in order. It really is more of an “UH OH!” These little white flies are something that you will want to get a handle on quickly, so that your plants do not become ruined. The best solution to taking care of them is to turn to your Slug-A-Bug, the premier Brevard County pest control service. We can check on the extent of the problem, then take care of it in an environmentally friendly way that will rid you of the pests, but not hurt your plants in the process. Then, we can work with you on a plan to keep the white flies from becoming a problem again, so that you can focus on more important things in life.