White insects

[puredead]

Hi,

I've just noticed some small white bugs that seem to hang around my plant now. I'm just wondering what they are and if its harmful to my plants at all?

Thanks

[SukonmiSkunk]

yes they are harmful.. it sounds like whitefly.. the bugs them selves dont really damage plants.. i dont think they actually feed on them.. what they do is lay there eggs on the underside of the leaves.. and in the hundreds..

 

the undersides of the leaves have little hairs.. these little hair are like breathers for the plant.. they take in oxygen and co2.. so ive been told.. with the white fly laying hundreds of eggs everywhere on the underside of the leaves, restricts the plant in its breathing.. slowing the transpiration rate and eventually suffocating the plant...

 

this takes weeks to get to this stage tho.. and i dont see them being anywhere near as bad as a spidermite infestation... still best to get rid of them..

 

theres various types of bug sprays that will work... even just hanging a flypaper strip in the room will help keep them down.. ive even used normal house fly spray once.. done the trick.. of course i wouldnt be spraying anything on flowering plants.. and if you find you need to do that.. then its a good idea to give the plants a good foliar feed with soda water top wash off any residue that will be left..

[Gazza2001au]

these are the little flys they look more like skinny moths ive had them a couple of times in small numbers its the shinny gloss they leave on the plants that can become the problem

[ilky]

could be aphids?

[Pam]

Aphids cluster, and they seem a bit more flesh color to me at least the little bastards I have here are. These sound more like white flies.

A botanist once told me to put the affected plants under warm water in the bathtub for 30 min. I still had to spray them though, that just got the adults off.

Rotenone will kill them, it's usually found in insecticidal soaps.

They are attracted to yellow so SS has a good idea about the fly strip.

Have you brought any new house plants or cut flowers near the grow room recently?

Been sleazing around any greenhoiuses where you could have picked them up?

It is so easy to accidently bring home unwanted nasties...

Good luck with them. let us know how it goes.