Maark23:

I spray all my plants with a solution of Neem Oil as an overall general insecticide about once a week. You can buy it at Lowes, Home Depot, Walmart, etc. Mix as indicated on the label.

Thanks for the help! I have started using neem oil and it seems to be working.

However yesterday I saw a swarm of white flies, pass through the yard! It was the craziest thing. I had no idea they would gather in swarms.

Mark

Mark, bug clouds are very cool to watch though!

What I do before moving plants indoors is get a jar of Bacillus thuringiensis (Gnatrol from Amazon or Thuricide, from Home Depot). This is mixed with water and used as soil drench. It consumes insect eggs in the soil so they do not hatch into adult and lay more eggs.

I'm too lazy to track how many days it takes for various bug eggs to hatch so after the initial drench I just wet the oil every 3 days for about 2 weeks. Indoors in the winter, I water them with this solution. If the plants are dormant and aren't being watered, the soil dries out anyway and bugs wont lay eggs in dry soil.

Sometimes I use Bt in the kitchen compost.

Pagan

I have used BTK and atleast it is safe.

The other thing I did with one my Brug's was tie these yellow strips on a few branches. I cannot remember the name.
They are sticky and attract bugs and they become stuck on them.

Do not use in summer, as many beneficial insects will also get stuck, but indoors they work well.

Rick

Thanks Pagan and Rick.

I have been trying the neem oil for 2 weeks now and it doesn't seem to be working that well. I think it's because there are so many whiteflies in the area its hard to control. They are found in the grass, and some cone flower plants we have in the yard. Everytime I move them, I see them flying around.

I was thinking of using fly paper to see if it works.

I will look into Thuricide. I was also thinking of investing in a small hand held vacuum to suck to babies up!

Do you think they will die when it starts getting colder?

Mark

Mark,

Oh they definitely die when it gets cold. I did not bring my plants indoors until they've spent a week outdoors when night temperatures went down below 10C. At that point the adults were gone but I'm sure there were eggs in the soil so I continue to treat them with Bt.

During the first week indoors, I sprayed them with a solution of alcohol and water so if there are stowaways, they will be smothered. I use alcohol when plants are indoors because neem, while excellent for outdoors, just reek too much when indoors with the heat on and the windows closed!

I have no solution to Catzilla problems, however.

Pagan