Whitefly on tomatoes: control methods. All ways

The article describes the whitefly on tomatoes: control methods, prevention. All methods of struggle are indicated: chemical, mechanical, natural, folk.

Whitefly on tomatoes: control methods. basic information

Whitefly on tomatoes: control methods

When starting to plant tomatoes, every gardener thinks about the health and productivity of the plant, hoping to get the strongest bushes in order to plant them in open or closed ground in the future. Quite often, especially inexperienced gardeners cannot understand why the tomatoes suddenly began to wither. Even after a thorough inspection of the tomatoes, it is impossible to immediately see the smallest butterflies. They are the reason why tomatoes wilt.

A gardener with experience in this matter instantly understands what he is dealing with, and realizes how difficult it will be for him to get rid of these insects. After all, these butterflies are whiteflies, and it is difficult to fight with them. Moreover, if you do not start to fight it in time, this process can be started, and it will become impossible to overcome the whitefly.

Whitefly on tomatoes: control methods, pest description

Whitefly on tomatoes: control methods

The pest itself is a small insect related to pests, outwardly it looks like an ordinary moth. You can identify this insect at the bottom of the leaf, since this is where the whitefly eggs hold well. Together with the eggs, you can also see the larvae, which resemble gray grains. Pests are found on the leaves, as they feed on their juices, and they can also be found on the shoots. Most often, it settles on tomato seedlings, which is why it acquired a second name - seedling moth.

Feeding on the juices of the leaves, the whitefly begins to secrete a certain liquid, which is very sticky, this liquid is secreted at the bottom of the leaf. This liquid becomes a habitat for fungi, such as the mob. In this case, the foliage turns black, in addition, many leaves and shoots dry out and die.

In addition, these pests can cause some kind of infection to the plant, as they are vectors. Chlorosis of foliage, jaundice are common diseases, the problem of these diseases is that they are not cured and begin to deform the plant completely. Consequently, the deformation can reach such an extent that the plant will completely die or you will not see the harvest at all. And all the efforts that have been invested in the development of culture will be in vain.

Whitefly should be prevented from breeding as quickly as possible, since it reproduces at an amazing rate. That is why gardeners, recognizing the cause of the poor appearance of tomatoes, are very upset.
The whitefly is a disaster for the gardener. The pest will not disappear on its own and the tomato will not be able to overcome it, and if inactive, the whitefly will begin to invade other bushes or crops.

Before you deal with a pest, you need to carefully study it, its structure, its weaknesses, as well as methods of struggle. To begin with, it is worth considering that when the whitefly is destroyed using insecticides, the fight against the pest will not be completed, because insecticides do not affect the whitefly eggs. They are completely protected due to their wax-like shell. And also the impact does not affect the whiteflies, which have entered the puppet phase.

How to get rid of whitefly on tomatoes: the life of a pest

How to get rid of whitefly on tomatoes

Whiteflies start laying eggs in early spring, but this is only in open ground. When planting tomatoes indoors, eggs can be laid for a whole year. The larvae hatch into the world after 8-9 days, after which they are looking for a suitable place to live. After finding them, the process of transition to dolls begins. This process lasts about 15 days, during this period it is impossible to get rid of butterflies, because they are in a motionless position and are protected by threads from the effects of various chemicals.

After the pupal phase, they are reborn, turning into adults, after which they begin to reproduce and there are more and more of them. Development to an adult lasts 28-29 days, but one female individual lives for about 35 days, but, despite a rather short life, she lays about 150 eggs.

How to deal with a pest

There are many ways to combat whitefly. They differ in their effectiveness, the harm they bring to the environment.

Whitefly on tomatoes: chemical control methods

In order to get rid of adults, chemicals are often used. They are very effective, but at the same time they have a big drawback, which is that when treating with chemicals, the bush also absorbs the drug and can die or deform. This is often due to improper processing. Several years later, scientists have created gentle chemicals that have little or no effect on the plant itself.

1. The plant can be treated with Aktara, as it is safe for tomatoes and is a good way to get rid of the pest. This drug should be used systematically, which is why the period of action of the drug is long about 25-30 days.

It is very important in this preparation that it must be introduced into the soil by the root method, without spraying the sprouts. Such processing is carried out 2-3 times with an interval of 7-9 days. You can try to get rid of the pest at a time, for this you need to increase the concentration of the solution 4-5 times. In this case, the seedlings will not suffer, and the whitefly will be destroyed many times faster.

2. The plant can be treated with Verticillin. The composition of this drug contains spores of fungi, so it does not injure the plant, nor does it harm humans. However, it has a very strong effect on the whitefly. To prepare a solution for tomatoes, add 50 milliliters of the substance to 2 liters of water and spray the tomatoes. Such processing is carried out twice with an interval of 8-9 days.

3. If tomatoes are grown indoors, then they can be processed with Pegasus, Intavir, Vertimek, Confidor, Talstar or hormonal agents, for example, Admiral or Match.

Note: Hormonal agents act only on eggs and larvae; adults do not die from them.

Mechanical methods.

If you are averse to chemicals and are afraid of harming your plant, you can use mechanical methods to get rid of the whitefly. There are many such methods.

1.Adults are well lured to glue traps, they stick and cannot move.
2. Since whiteflies fly in yellow, you can take pieces of iron or wood, painted in yellow. Then take petroleum jelly and castor oil and spread it on a piece of iron. They will stick and die. The trap should change after some time, it should be cleaned and re-lubricated.
3) Mosquito tape can also be a great whitefly trap.
4. If there are a lot of whiteflies, you can get rid of them using a vacuum cleaner at low power, so as not to injure the plant.
5. Washing the leaves and shoots with potassium and soap infusion will also help get rid of the pest. This flushing must be done regularly to be effective.

Whitefly on tomatoes: natural methods of struggle

If a large number of seedlings are grown, then special insects can be used. These insects begin to eat eggs and larvae of the pest until it completely disappears.

You can settle in a greenhouse or open ground Enkarzia and Trichaporusia. Only 4 insects of the same species will get rid of the whitefly 1 square meter. The natural method works by 97%, which shows the effectiveness of the method. This method is perfect for getting rid of the pest on tomatoes, since the tomato leaves do not interfere with the eating insects in contact with the pest.

You can also use the Macrolophus bug, which also destroys the whitefly. A little more individuals are needed here, 6 individuals are needed per 1 square meter.

Note: 15 days after you launched the eating insects into open or closed ground, it is worth re-launching so that the whitefly is 100% exterminated.

Folk methods.

The most popular way to fight whitefly is folk methods. In such methods, various infusions, decoctions or solutions are used. And at the same time, they work great and treat tomatoes from the pest. Traditional methods have gained popularity because of their safety as well as their effectiveness. But in order to completely get rid of the pest, frequent and regular treatment with solutions will be required. Such treatments are carried out until all individuals, eggs and larvae of the whitefly have disappeared. An excellent result will be the combined use of mechanical and folk methods.

Before you start getting rid of the whitefly using folk methods, you need to treat the tomatoes with soapy water.

1.The very first way is to process tomatoes with garlic infusion. To prepare this infusion, you need to take 450 grams of fresh garlic. Garlic is finely rubbed or chopped and 2 liters of clean water are added to it. This infusion is left for 6 days so that the water is well saturated with garlic. After that, the infusion should be diluted with clean water, 2 liters of water are used for 15 grams of concentrate. This infusion must be sprayed on the surface of the tomatoes.

2. The second most popular is the infusion of yarrow. To prepare it, you will need 100 grams of yarrow and 1 liter of hot water. This solution is left for 30 hours in a dark place. After the elapsed time, the infusion must be filtered. After that, you can start processing.

3. A solution of dandelion foliage and its root system does an excellent job in the fight against the pest. For cooking, you need 50 grams of dandelion, usually all parts except flowers are used. These parts are filled with water in the amount of 1 liter and left for 4 hours. This infusion must be filtered and processed. This infusion cannot be stored for a long time, so a fresh infusion is used for each treatment.

4. You can use a pharmacy agent, this agent is called an emulsion solution. This remedy is used for scabies. This drug must be diluted with clean water, 25 grams of the substance per 500 milliliters of clean water. Such processing is carried out several times with an interval of 8-9 days.

Note: If you add a little grated laundry soap to all the proposed infusions, then the infusion will last longer, as it sticks to the surface of the sheet.

Preventive measures

Note: Whitefly can be transferred from purchased flowers or plants, and it can be introduced in different ways. In order to avoid this problem, it is necessary to carry out prevention, as well as a thorough examination before buying any plant.

This pest does not tolerate cold weather, the whitefly begins to die already at +9 degrees. With regular airing, the risk that a tomato becomes infected with a whitefly decreases significantly.

When growing tomatoes indoors, a good prevention is winter freezing, when the greenhouse completely freezes in winter.

But if you use any of the above methods to get rid of the pest, you will be good at protecting your plants from the whitefly.

Whitefly on tomatoes: control methods