I think, wf have several stage of life(similar to butterflies, but not exactly in that order). they will die in one stage and will come back from another stage.

Nancyjane, are you talking of aphids or whiteflies?

rhizo- could be both, but when I shake a leaf a whole bunch of white bugs fly away!
They look the same as the photos I looked up.
I'm thinking of just pulling them, though the plants look fairly healthy! Nancy

If they are WHITE and they FLY, they are called "White Flies"

Same thing down here in SoCal Nancy. Kale's an easy one to control though. Just harvest almost all the leaves and then treat with water treatments and neem oil

Kevin

I don't know if my brassica whitefly,Aleyrodes proletella, is the same as yours. I believe there are many. many species. If they fly up in clouds when you disturb the plants they are whitefly, not aphids. The ones I get overwinter happily but I don't really bother about them. I just wash them off before cooking. I don't pick it all and freeze. It tastes far better fresh.

Thanks Floral. I'll just clean it up really well before cooking. Nancy

I agree with the previous posters, I had whitefly problems, the cold should stunt the flies but the larval stage will hatch within a few days so unless it stays relatively cold for a while the larval stage will hatch and them lay eggs and the cycle repeats. But like they said just rinse the leaves and you will be fine. The only biological control that I know of is green lacewings and thrachinid wasps. The lacewings don't eat them but their larval stages will eat them by the truckload, just do a little internet search because I don't know if lacewings survive in cold either. Or as the other poster suggested sharp blast of water on the undersides of the leaves to dislodge them, they are softbodied insects so the blast should kill them, just remember to keep with it because their life cycle is short so everyday a few more can hatch so keep at it. Also, neem works great too

If they are white flies, nicotine will handle them very well. Make a tea from commerical tobacco or buy nicotine sulfate.

If they are aphids, plant nicotiana afinis (the white flower only) and this will trap the aphids on its sticky stem. The fragrance is also beautiful, and only comes out at night. For more on this plant, see:

Nicotiana Afinis

Here is a link that might be useful: Alan Chadwick

Carlo, thanks. That looks like a nice site I'll go through later.
I do get aphids from time to time so I'll definately look into the nicotania! I love yummy smelling plant in the garden. Especially at night! Nancy

nancy_jane - I am alarmed by CarloMartin947's advice. Obviously growing some Nicotiana is delightful but I would not use nicotine in my garden under any circumstances. And a home brewed concoction even less so since you would have no idea of its strength. It is toxic to all warm blooded creatures including us. White flies do not need such drastic measures. Any readers in the EU should note that nicotine based products for the garden are banned here, as is mixing your own pesticides.

CarloMartin947 always links to the Alan Chadwick site. I'd be interested to read more if his own practical experiences in gardening.

Wow Floral! I'll look into it more closely! Nancy

I'm not too sure about nicotine advice also. One of the cultural practices I read very often about is smokers should wash hands before touching plants to reduce the risk of possible Tobacco Mosaic Virus.

here's my agenda for whiteflies --

Develop a year-round IPM program by planting flowering plants that attract beneficials. mainly lacewings.

Spray plants much in the same way to control aphids -- a couple water treatments a few days apart followed by insecticidal soap and/or neem oil treatments about a week apart for about 3 weeks.

In the meantime, I order lacewing larvae to be released a couple weeks after the last soap or neem treatment so that when they hatch, I am no longer in need of the spraying.

Note: if you have an ant problem, it must be dealt with prior to lacewing larvae release. The ants will eat the larvae.

Kevin