Don't waste your time with garlic water, ladybugs, and such. You need something that is actually going to kill the whiteflies and fast (they multiply at an exponential rate).

Apply insecticidal soap at 3-4 day intervals to ALL surfaces of the plants for a couple or three weeks until you have good control. After that, keep a close eye on the plants and treat as necessary.

You'd mentioned having the plants "inside". If greenhouse or sunroom evironment, that could make treatment difficult and other things may need to be done (fumigation, repeated treatments, etc.)

If just a couple of plants in the breakfast nook, south window, etc. taking them outside a few times so you can hose them down good with soap sprays should suffice. Just keep in mind surrounding houseplants will need to be looked at and possibly treated as well.

well, i'll try your first idea but....you probably think i live in an actual house! hehe, I live in the city in a studio apartment. The building I live in used to be a hotel in the 30's. I don't have an outside place to go. No balcony or anything (this is San Francisco). I HAVE to grow my plants inside. I didn't know if they would grow well or not, it was an experiment, but they seem to be doing okay besides the whiteflies. Maybe I could "hose" them down in my bathtub? What kind of soap spray sould I use? thanks :)

Yes, you can put them in the bathtub or whatever so that you can spray them.

You can pick up an insecticidal soap from your local box store or gardening center. Garden Safe brand for example is a good one and is cheaper than Safer brand (just get whatever is cheapest). While you are there pick up a hand held pump sprayer to use with the soap spray.

I know it's been a while since this thread was active, but I thought I'd pass on the solution I use... Pantene makes a shampoo called "Pantene Pro-V Clarifying shampoo". Pick up a bottle of that specific shampoo at your supermarket, then add a couple of drops to a spray bottle and spray all the leaves. Make sure to get the undersides of the leaves in particular. Repeat the spray two to three days later.

My experience with this stuff is that it nukes all stages of the life cycle, somehow. Regular insecicidal soap kills only the adults, but the shampoo seems to give good control for at least a couple of weeks. It's enough of an effect that I have a formal biology project planned to make a study of it, alongside insecticidal soap and malathion... If I manage to do the study, I'll spread the word on what I find.

--Alison

heres a link for you for whiteflies.

Here is a link that might be useful: USDA Whitefly knowledge