How to get rid of whiteflies on tomatoes in a greenhouse: the most effective and safe ways

Whitefly is quite common in horticultural crops and causes enormous damage to the crop. This is a variety of midges that resembles a tiny white moth. Its size is only 1-2 mm in length, and the wings are covered with a white coating, which resembles powder. These insects multiply rapidly; one female can lay up to 250 eggs on tomatoes. Larvae look like yellowish-transparent scales. They attach to the back of the leaves of the plant and absorb their juices, sucking out all the useful substances with them, as a result, after a while, the leaves become colorless or darken, wither and fall off, and in the future the plant may die.

There are two types of these pests: greenhouse and indoor. Greenhouse Whitefly lives mainly in a warm climate, prefers to live in vegetable greenhouses and affects peppers, cucumbers, watermelons, melons, lettuce, celery and some flowers. In total, her diet has up to 300 plant species. But her favorite delicacy is tomatoes. If you find the activity of these pests in your greenhouse, urgently begin to take measures to destroy them, so it is so important to know how to get rid of whiteflies on tomatoes in a greenhouse. Otherwise, the pests will destroy the tomatoes, move to bushes of other crops and can cause irreparable damage.

Important! When the whitefly sucks the juice from the plants, its excess goes out and remains on the leaves with shiny sticky trickles. This is a favorable environment for the occurrence of fungal infections. Adult insects are also carriers of viruses.

Whitefly Life Cycle

It is important to know how these propagators reproduce and develop in order to competently and effectively deal with them. Often, many summer residents make every effort to destroy adult insects when many larvae have already been deposited. Consider this insect in more detail. Whitefly is very similar in appearance to aphids, only, unlike aphids, it is white. She lives in groups on the underside of plant leaves, where she does the laying of her eggs.

Larvae hatch quickly and begin to search for food on their own. This moment should not be missed in the fight against this pest. As soon as the larvae pupate, no means will take them, since their body is enveloped in a dense wax coating. That is, the cocoon of this insect is practically impenetrable. And if young individuals emerge from the pupae, the harvest is over, because the bodies of young whiteflies are also coated with wax, so it is very difficult to exterminate them, and the cycle will repeat.

Pest Signs

Greenhouses, greenhouses and greenhouses are ideal places for breeding and life of whiteflies. She prefers a warm climate and high humidity. It is transferred mainly through infected plants and with planting material. Before you start the fight against whiteflies in a greenhouse on tomatoes, it is important to make sure that this insect attacks your crop. The following characteristic signs indicate the presence of whiteflies:

• white midge, similar to a small moth and flying over tomato plantings;
• if you shake the bush a little, a white cloud of insects will appear;
• translucent and barely noticeable scales are glued to the bottom of the sheet;
• sticky and shiny coating on the leaves of vegetable crops;
• many dark spots on plants arising from infection with their sooty fungus, which is a frequent companion of whiteflies;
• infected plants lag behind in development and growth;
• white dots on the leaves of plants, later the leaves fade, turn yellow and curl;
• necrosis develops on the fruits, the flesh becomes white.

If you see several of the listed symptoms in your greenhouse, it means that your vegetable crops are infected with dangerous pests. Fighting whiteflies on tomatoes is a matter of time and your patience. There are many different ways to fight, the main thing is not to miss the moment.

Important! The most productive time for killing whiteflies is when butterflies appear and larvae on tomatoes have not yet been found.

Whitefly control in a greenhouse on tomatoes

First you need to eliminate the adult insects that are involved in the breeding process. The following methods are suitable here:

• Washing the leaves. Before this procedure, if there are not very many plants, you can collect the whitefly manually. Then treat the bushes with soapy water and rinse with water.
• Shoot down insects from plants with a stream of water.

The advantages of these two methods is that in addition to insects, sticky deposits and soot fungus are removed from the crops, and it becomes easier for plants to breathe after water procedures.

Other methods include:

• Using Velcro is a common and effective way to deal with whiteflies. For self-production, you need to take a yellow cardboard and grease its surface with Vaseline. The insects are attracted by the bright color, and they stick to the trap, when a lot of them stick, you can wipe the petroleum jelly and spread a new layer.
• Heat rosin in a water bath, add castor oil and honey, apply the mixture on cardboard or plywood of yellow or blue color and spread it all over the greenhouse;
• Process the tomato bushes with a counter-emulsion emulsion purchased in a pharmacy. It is necessary to make a solution at the rate of 50 grams of emulsion per liter of water and process the tomato bushes well;
• Using yarrow grass can help you save the entire garden. To prepare it, you need to grind 80 grams of grass, pour a liter of boiling water and insist in a dark place for a day. Then wipe the leaves of infected plants with this solution;
• Garlic tincture - finely chop 10 grams of garlic and add two liters of water, leave for 24 hours in a dark, cool place, and then spray the tomatoes with this solution.
• Use this trap: take a few pieces of bright plastic and spread them with entomological glue. Attach a backlight to the plastic and hang traps so that they are on the same level as the tops of the plants, a lot of insects will stick together in bright light and color and stick.

Recommendation! During the treatment of plants, remember that for the extermination of whiteflies, you need to use various drugs, depending on the degree of infection with pests.

Using Predator Insects to Control Whitefly

To get rid of whiteflies in a greenhouse on tomatoes, you can settle insects that feed on midges and their larvae:

• Ankarsia. This hunter destroys whitefly larvae. An enkarsia female lays eggs right in them. The parasite grows with the whitefly and leaves an adult insect that dies.
  

  Attention! During the fight against whiteflies, using enkarzia pupae, chemicals cannot be used in the greenhouse.

• Bedbug Macrolofus. It shows high efficiency in the fight against whiteflies and their larvae in greenhouses with tomatoes. Five individuals are enough for 1 sq.m. After two weeks, you must repeat the resettlement.
• Ladybug - quickly eats a whitefly.To attract them to the greenhouse, you can plant such plants: alissum, daisies, marigolds, tansy, yarrow.

Use of chemicals

In advanced cases, it is necessary to apply radical methods of pest control and use chemicals. They need to process not only infected tomatoes, but also plants nearby. Today in specialized stores it is possible to buy different drugs: Actellik, Confidor, Pegasus, Verticillin, Fufanon, etc. In the instructions attached to each of them, you can learn about ways to work with poison. Processing should be carried out several times until the complete extermination of insects. Remember about the toxicity of these drugs and be sure to use personal protective equipment when processing: gloves, mask, protective clothing.

Advice! When processing insecticides, add chopped laundry soap or shampoo. Means will stick to leaves better.

The appearance of whiteflies on tomatoes is easier to prevent than to eliminate later. To do this, you need to burn the tops in the autumn, dig the soil to raise the larvae to the surface, and in the winter they will die from cold temperatures. Remove the coating from the greenhouse or disinfect, rinse the frame with bleach. Control the climate inside the greenhouse and systematically ventilate it. With careful care of crops, you will certainly be rewarded with healthy bushes and a rich harvest!