Whitefly Greenfly Aphids ?

Anyone pestered with whitefly/greenfly/aphids?

After planting numerous containers with petunia I noticed I have a family of them! Well, I rarely resort to chemical sprays so I dug up a few of Granny Gaules tried and trusted remedies  to attack the problem and so far so good.



Water: if the infestation isn’t too bad you can simply spray the affected area and knock them off the plants. Sounds too simple, but it often works if as I said the problem is caught in time. Be careful where you spray them onto though – you want to get rid of them, not get them to move house!





Companion planting: this is more of prevention rather than a cure. It won’t have any major effect if you already have the problem, but planting certain plants together have proven to be very effective in reducing predators to one or both. Planting African Marigolds, French Marigolds (tagetes), Nasturtiums, Onions/chives/garlic, Zinnia and Sunflower have the effect of reducing or eliminating attacks of greenfly/whitefly/aphids. So think before you plant to avoid a whole range of pests. We’ll come back to this topic in the near future and give it a more comprehensive airing.



Garlic Spray: this spray is made up using nontoxic components and is very effective against a range of similar type visitors – greenfly whitefly aphids and red spider mite.

Required -

·       120 ml of liquid soap ( but not detergent )

·       3 cloves of Garlic

·       1 cup of cooking/soya bean oil

·       1 gallon of water

Crush the garlic and mix with the rest of the ingredients. Leave for 24 hours to mix. Strain and use the liquid as a spray. Make sure you get the underside of the leaves. The oil blocks the spiracles through which they breathe and the soap makes sure the mixture/spray sticks.



Tabaco Spray:  this is effective but were really going back in time now, but be careful using this on tomatoes / or in greenhouses with tomatoes. they can be susceptible to Tabaco mosaic virus and the jury’s still out as to whether the risk is eliminated by using cigarette butts instead of broken up Tabaco  - some say intense heat involved in smoking kills virus and some don’t agree – so if in doubt avoid use.

Required –

·       Cup of Tabaco/cigarette butts

·       1 gallon of water

·       Drop or two of soap ( to make it stick )

Mix Tabaco/butts with water and leave for 24/48 hours, should be like the colour of weak tea when ready. Any darker dilute. Nicotine will kill pests when sprayed on plants.



Hope this helps all effected with these little blighters !


Happy Gardening