whitefly resistance gene discovered
 

Thought some of you might like to know about this discovery I saw over at phys.org:
[url]http://phys.org/news/2012-09-galapagos-tomato-key-cultivated-tomatoes.html[/url]

What a great article to post about, I enjoyed learning about this and am going to keep an eye out for those plants in a couple of years. I wonder if this guy would involve the Dwarf project to get them out there sooner???

Thanks for posting.

Thanks for the link.

I had whiteflies very badly this summer. My 80 y/o grandpa has been farming all of his life, worked 30 years doing agronomy research, and had still never seen whiteflies on tomatoes like I had. They loved the hot drought we had for a summer. A few plants apparently got a virus transmitted by the whiteflies and rapidly died. I reluctantly sprayed with Malathion once, and that helped a lot.

Cole, I have had a whitefly problem each growing season on my plants. I used many things trying to control them and the only thing I found that worked is the homemade neem oil mix. It's cheap to make and you don't have the problems of chemicals on your skin other than some vegetable oil and a small bit of dishwashing liquid as well as water. I liked using it because it took care of the whitefly very well.

Here is the recipe for ready to use.

1/4 [B]teaspoon[/B] liquid dish soap
2+3/4 [B]teaspoons[/B] oil (peanut, corn, cottonseed, soybean, sunflower or safflower oils).
2 [B]Cups[/B] water
Shake Well and use in a hand sprayer not a hose end sprayer.

Use only Ivory or cheap pink dishsoap, not the dawns of the world today, those kinds will strip the leaves and don't use antimicrobial either.

Spray the undersides of the leaves and the tops when it is less than 85 degrees outside, the sun is down and the plants are not drought or heat stressed.

I used this solution once a week for a couple of weeks and my horrid whitefly infestation went away.

Whiteflies are my nemesis. i hate them, and my neighborhood has such a bad infestation that you can see the spirals on bananas, palms have whitefly "snowflakes" just flying and falling from them, they are on ficus, and a certain kind of oak tree etc and so on and so on...


Rockporter, I am very interested in your homemade formula. 2 questions:
1) when you say oil in your recipe, you mean Neem oil right?
2) What type of Neem oil, (pure, or in solution, concentrate or pre mix) and where do you get it?


I have been using neem (storebought) but needed to do it about every 4 days. It's horrible!
Last year I spray painted solo cups lemon yellow, coated them thickly with vaseline, and put them on 3 foot tall posts with a pushpin, which was my homemade yellow sticky trap, and it seemed to help alot, much less population of them than this past year when I didn't do it.Still did the Neem though.:o

Good article that would be great if it coudl come around without too much gene meddeling.

I have never had a problem with them till this year. I had tons of them on a potted plant in my front yard. I just sprayed it down with water as you would for aphids. They have pretty much gone away. Not sure if it was the spray or the cooler temps that made them leave. They migrate away from cold areas so maybe it is the weather. Either way they are more mangable if not gone.

Good luck to you all.

[QUOTE=ginger2778;303019]

Rockporter, I am very interested in your homemade formula. 2 questions:
1) when you say oil in your recipe, you mean Neem oil right?
2) What type of Neem oil, (pure, or in solution, concentrate or pre mix) and where do you get it?[/QUOTE]


The formula is from the USDA(not me) and it works very well.

You don't use neem oil, you can use peanut, corn, cottonseed, soybean, sunflower or safflower oils.

I will update that recipe to clarify.
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[QUOTE=gixxerific;303029]Good article that would be great if it coudl come around without too much gene meddeling.

I have never had a problem with them till this year. I had tons of them on a potted plant in my front yard. I just sprayed it down with water as you would for aphids. They have pretty much gone away. Not sure if it was the spray or the cooler temps that made them leave. They migrate away from cold areas so maybe it is the weather. Either way they are more mangable if not gone.

Good luck to you all.[/QUOTE]

The whitefly solution helps for all kinds of bugs, including aphids because it smothers them. Using it when it is less than 85 degrees outside and in the evening when the sun is down is best so the oil doesn't burn the leaves.

I cut down a banana tree this Am because the stalk was ready and ripening. I noticed the black sooty mold on the outside of the leaves, but when it was cut I could see the entire banana leaf (all of them) was covered about 4 thick in clumps of whiteflies. Must have been several hundred on each leaf. I am ordering ladybugs today because I think there is definitely enough food for them to keep them busy for a while. Gonna do the oil spray too. I just can't stand them.:x:panic:

Ginger,our fellow Floridian chancethegardener posted a worms way site that has some beneficial bugs and had a white fly predator listed. [URL]http://www.wormsway.com/product_cat.aspx?cat=PESI[/URL]

biocontrol
 

Effective in humid areas is Paecilomyces fumosoroseus
wiki;

[url]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paecilomyces_fumosoroseus[/url]

Available product;
[url]http://www.certisusa.com/pest_management_products/bioinsecticide/pfr-97_microbial_insecticide.htm[/url]
I can personally attest to it effectiveness.
-d

According to the MSDS
 

[QUOTE=DKelly;303644]Effective in humid areas is Paecilomyces fumosoroseus
wiki;

[URL]http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paecilomyces_fumosoroseus[/URL]

Available product;
[URL]http://www.certisusa.com/pest_management_products/bioinsecticide/pfr-97_microbial_insecticide.htm[/URL]
I can personally attest to it effectiveness.
[LEFT][SIZE=2][FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT][SIZE=2][FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT]This product may be toxic to fish and aquatic invertebrates. The potential effects of this product on non-target beneficial insects are[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT]not known. Do not spray when honeybees are actively foraging. Do not apply directly to water, or to areas where surface water is[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT]present, or to intertidal areas below the mean high water mark. Do not contaminate water when cleaning equipment or disposing of[/FONT][/SIZE]
[SIZE=2][FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT]equipment washwaters. Do not allow contamination of or discharge into lakes, streams, ponds, or public waterways. Runoff from[/FONT][/SIZE][/LEFT]
[SIZE=2][FONT=TimesNewRomanPSMT]treated areas may be hazardous to aquatic organisms in neighboring areas. Apply this product only as specified in the label[/FONT][/SIZE]
[/FONT][/SIZE]
-d[/QUOTE] To dangerous for the Florida water laden enviornment,might kill beneficials and bees.

Wow
 

Yes it has to registered as a pesticide and with that comes the statements you listed Kurt. Not sure what your point is? Product is certifiable organic and safer than currently available alternatives. Just trying to help here.

[QUOTE=DKelly;303656]Yes it has to registered as a pesticide and with that comes the statements you listed Kurt. Not sure what your point is? Product is certifiable organic and safer than currently available alternatives. Just trying to help here.[/QUOTE]


I think what Kurt is trying to say is because of the labeling of the product he cannot use it where he is at. I could not use this product here in TX at the community garden because we are too close to the water. Kurt is probably in the same situation. Just saying I think this is the issue.

Understood,just that it would be harmful for us here Florida with our flat standing water enviornment.Our water table is in some places 2ft below ground surface.All our municipalitys have strict pesticide controls and are using beneficial insect control(predator whiteflys seen at wormsway.com mentioned in above posts)We are in shortage of honeybees as it is,and MSDS statement reads "potential"affects on non targeted beneficials not known is scary for me.That is my point.[FONT=ConduitITC-Medium][SIZE=1][COLOR=#005ba4][FONT=ConduitITC-Medium][SIZE=1][COLOR=#005ba4][FONT=ConduitITC-Medium][SIZE=1][COLOR=#005ba4]
[LEFT]Product review is conducted according to the policies in the current OMRI Policy Manual and based on the standards in the current OMRI Standards Manual.
To verify the current status of this or any OMRI Listed product, view the most current version of the OMRI Products List at [url]www.omri.org[/url].
OMRI listing is not equivalent to organic certification and is not a product endorsement. It cannot be construed as such.
Final decisions on the acceptability of a product for use in a certified organic system are the responsibility of a USDA accredited certification agent.[/LEFT]
It is the operator’s responsibility to properly use the product, including following any restrictions.
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