What are the methods for controlling whiteflies?

Whitefly is actually the small white moth we see commonly. It is a common pest that mainly attacks crops. If you want to take preventive measures against whiteflies, then you must come and learn about them, such as crop rotation, eradication of insect sources, trapping and killing, etc., so that you can better protect your crops. If you don't clean them up in time, they will reproduce very quickly.

Whitefly is also known as the little white moth. Belongs to the family Aleyrodidae in the order Hemiptera. It is a global pest that occurs in all parts of my country and is an important pest of crops grown in greenhouses. It has a wide host range, and can harm vegetables such as cucumbers, beans, eggplants, tomatoes, peppers, wax gourds, beans, lettuce, as well as cabbage, celery, onions, and peonies. It can also harm 653 species of plants from 112 families, including flowers, fruit trees, medicinal materials, forage, tobacco, etc.

Hazard characteristics

Greenhouse whiteflies cause many kinds of damage to crops, flowers and vegetables. The main ones are:

① Direct damage: continuous sucking causes plant growth to lack carbohydrates and reduce yield.

② Inject toxins, inject toxins into the plant when sucking the juice.

③ It causes mold. The honeydew it secretes is suitable for mold growth, contaminating leaves and fruits.

④Affects product quality: fungi generally cause fruits to turn black.

⑤ Spread viral diseases. Whiteflies are the vectors of various crop viral diseases.

The excrement of adult whiteflies not only affects the respiration of plants, but also causes diseases such as sooty mold. Whiteflies secrete a large amount of honeydew on the back of the leaves of plants, causing fungi to multiply in large numbers, affecting the normal respiration and photosynthesis of the plants, thereby reducing the quality of vegetables and fruits and affecting their commercial value.

Prevention and control measures

1. Crop rotation: in areas where whiteflies are rampant. The types of vegetables grown in the greenhouse in autumn and winter or in the open air around the greenhouse should be celery, prickly pear, spinach, rapeseed, garlic sprouts and other vegetables that whiteflies do not like to eat but are resistant to low temperatures. This will not only protect them from harm but also prevent them from spreading to the greenhouse.

2. Eradicate the source of insects: When raising seedlings or planting, remove the stumps and weeds in the base, and fumigate or spray the remaining adult insects. Install insect-proof nets on the seedbeds or air vents of the greenhouse to prevent the influx of foreign insects.

3. Trapping and avoiding: In the early stage of whitefly infestation, a 30-40 cm square board can be set up in the greenhouse. Apply No. 10 engine oil on it and insert it between the rows higher than the vegetable plants to trap and kill the adult insects. When the engine oil no longer has the ability to drill, wipe it off and replace it in time. In winter and spring, hanging aluminum-coated reflective curtains in the greenhouse in combination with yellow boards can repel whiteflies and increase light on the vegetable plants.