What to do if a whitefly appears on tomatoes in a greenhouse. How to get rid of whiteflies in a greenhouse and garden on tomatoes

Identification and characteristics of the pest

Methods of disposal

If whiteflies appear on tomato bushes or adjacent plants in a greenhouse, you should immediately use the following means and methods of protection:

Preventive actions

Control of greenhouse whiteflies usually takes a long time, and the use of strong chemicals can cause significant damage to cultivated vegetables or flower crops. It is for these reasons that it is advisable to strengthen preventive measures and prevent the appearance of pests in the greenhouse structure.

It should be remembered that the whitefly does not tolerate temperatures below fifteen degrees, which makes it possible to use regular ventilation of the greenhouse.

Besides, Special attention Care should be taken to thoroughly process all metal parts of the greenhouse structure, as well as destroy plant debris. The greenhouse soil must be dug up, and the compost must be removed from the greenhouse at winter period, since it is this substrate that is ideal place for wintering the pest.

• To kill whiteflies, it is recommended to choose dry and windless weather, and also close all windows and doors in the greenhouse structure.
• After spraying, the tomato bushes should be shaded using a special one, which will avoid the formation of burns on the plant.
• Chemical preparations should be changed periodically, since insect pests very quickly develop immunity to the same product, and the drug loses its effectiveness.
• It is not advisable to use aggressive types of chemicals in greenhouse conditions, which quickly accumulate in the greenhouse soil and are difficult to remove from it.

Protection against whiteflies with chemicals (video)

Whitefly is a pest that often appears on tomatoes in a greenhouse; it attacks bushes growing on open ground. Habitat insect habitats are subtropical and tropical zones, so the conditions of a greenhouse, where it is not always possible to withstand correct temperature and humidity often favor the rapid proliferation of pests.

Characteristics of the pest

An adult insect is a tiny white moth, whose body is no more than 2 mm in length and 0.3-0.7 mm in width, covered powdery coating. Insects prefer to hide on back side lower leaves bush. There they lay eggs, indistinguishable to the naked eye - 0.2-0.3 mm in length.

Larvae emerge from the eggs - the most harmful phase of the pest for plants. The larvae bite through the surface of the leaf and begin to drink the juice, secreting a sticky honeydew. Having attached itself to one place, the insect will remain there until it turns into a pupa, wrapped in a waxy covering, from which an adult will eventually emerge.

Important! At this stage, intestinal insecticides are not effective against the pest, since the pupa does not need nutrition. This makes repeated treatments of plants necessary.

Only adult individuals go into the ground for the winter, but pupae can also survive the winter on the remains of plants that were not harvested in the fall.

Symptoms of the lesion

Indirect signs of whitefly damage to tomatoes are the appearance of yellow, white or black spots on the leaves and the formation sticky coating, curling of the leaf blade with the edges up, wilting.

If you shake the bush on which the whitefly has settled, small white midges - adult individuals - will fly into the air. The larvae are too small to be detected, but when they accumulate in large quantities down side the leaf appears covered with coarse gray dust.

Whitefly Damage

In addition to consuming plant sap, the whitefly larva harms tomatoes by secreting a large amount of honeydew - a sticky, sugar-containing substance that becomes a good environment for the development of fungi. The fruits on tomato bushes affected by the pest ripen slowly, and white veins form in their pulp.

IN favorable conditions The pest quickly spreads throughout the planting. In one growing season On average, 3 generations of moths are hatched; in year-round greenhouses, more than 15 generations can be hatched per year.

Attention! Insects attack not only tomatoes; they can also spread to other crops. Most often, “greenhouse whitefly” appears in the greenhouse, dangerous for vegetable and ornamental plants, and “tobacco whitefly”, which attacks vegetable, fruit, melon and ornamental crops.

Pest control methods

The choice of method for exterminating the whitefly population depends on its abundance. If a pest is detected in the early stages of damage, mechanical removal of insects in combination with treating the bushes with folk remedies will be sufficient. If the damage to the planting is severe, treatment with chemicals will be required. In any case, the fight against whitewing cannot be postponed - the insect is fertile.

Mechanical methods

To remove larvae and eggs from leaves, spray the bushes with water from a hose. After this, the soil under the plant must be loosened to prevent the larvae from getting out of the soil. A more reliable, but also more painstaking way would be to wipe the leaves soap solution using a cotton swab, this will also remove honeydew from the plants. Severely affected leaves should be cut off and burned.

You can reduce the number of adults in the greenhouse using traps. They use store-bought sticky tape for flies or make a trap yourself from pieces of cardboard, lubricating them with a viscous substance ( vegetable oils or Vaseline). To increase the attractiveness of the baits, you need to make them yellow or white (the whitefly reacts to these colors), and also add a drop of honey for scent.

At night, you can light a lamp and leave it in the greenhouse. Like other moths and midges, adult whiteflies fly into the light, get burned and die.

Interesting! Adults at cool temperatures become lethargic and inactive. Taking advantage of this feature, some gardeners manage to collect them with a vacuum cleaner in the morning, when the air temperature drops to a daily minimum. But you need to clean the bushes carefully so as not to damage the leaves. For such “cleaning” you should use disposable bags and burn them immediately after, before the insects get out.

Chemical treatment

If the planting is severely damaged, the use of chemicals may be the only way to save the crop. Do not forget about the high toxicity of these products, due to which during some periods of plant development the treatment is detrimental to the crop. The drugs must be used in strict accordance with the instructions.

For spraying against whiteflies, the most effective means are:

These drugs are of contact or enteric contact action, which makes them effective against adults and larvae. The whitefly is capable of developing immunity to the active ingredients of the drugs, so if the fight against the pest has been going on for more than a year, you need to change the means.

The use of chemical insecticides in greenhouses is undesirable. It is highly unlikely that it will be possible to exterminate the population of whiteflies and many other pests in one season. In open ground, in place of affected tomatoes, crops that repel whiteflies are planted - onions or garlic, but in a greenhouse, where space is limited, and sometimes only one type of plant grows, it is difficult to apply crop rotation. As a result of repeated chemical treatments, the soil becomes toxic; hazardous substances penetrate through the roots of plants into the fruits, even if the terms of application of the drugs are observed. In view of this, for processing greenhouse tomatoes It is better to give preference to biological products or folk remedies.

Biological method

There are two types of biological effects on whiteflies:

Biological methods should be used in conjunction with adult traps.

Folk remedies

The greatest effect can be achieved if you wipe the tomato leaves with these products using a cotton swab, at the same time erasing the larvae, and then spray the entire bush, treating the leaves on both sides. After the procedure, you need to loosen the soil under the tomatoes in order to sprinkle the fallen larvae with soil.

The most effective means from whiteflies:

Alcohol

2 tablespoons of a 96% technical alcohol solution are diluted in a liter of water.

Healthy! Alcohol affects whiteflies in any phase - it is capable of dissolving the protective covers of eggs and pupae.

Garlic

Crush 200 grams of garlic heads and add a liter of water. Infuse for 5 days closed lid. Add a spoonful of this tincture to 1 liter of water for spraying. Treatment is required every 3-4 days until the pest is defeated.

Soap solution

Laundry soap is grated and dissolved in water in a ratio of 1:6.

Yarrow

90-110 grams of fresh yarrow leaves are poured with a liter of boiling water, pre-cut. Leave for 2 days.

Tobacco infusion

Crushed, dried tobacco leaves are poured with a liter of boiling water and left for 5 days. Spray the planting every 3 days.

Dandelion

100 grams of dandelion leaves and rhizomes (in a 1:1 ratio) should be poured with 1 liter of water and left for 3-4 days. This treatment is carried out every 2 weeks.

A gentle, but very productive way to exterminate whiteflies from the point of view of the ecological cleanliness of the crop, is to fumigate tomatoes in a greenhouse with tobacco sticks (for example, “Hephaestus” or “Vulcan”). But you should not use sulfur for these purposes. The procedure can be performed once every 10 days.

Whitefly prevention

Also, if possible, it is necessary to reduce the favorable conditions for whiteflies in the greenhouse:

1. Regular ventilation helps control humidity; in addition, the insect prefers places with poor air circulation.
2. For the same reason, tomato plantings should not be made too dense. In addition, crowding weakens plants, making them more vulnerable.
3. Growing tomatoes costs minimal permissible temperatures– pest activity decreases when it is cool.
4. compost pit should be placed at the maximum distance from the greenhouse. Adults often overwinter in compost.
5. Care should be taken mosquito nets on the windows and entrances of the greenhouse to prevent the penetration of adult insects from the outside.

Advice! Planting dill, celery, parsley next to the beds or between rows of tomatoes helps against whiteflies. These plants are inhabited by predatory insects that feed on the pest.

Autumn cleaning of the greenhouse

Remains of tops, fruits, and weeds should be removed from the beds in the fall and burned - larvae may remain on them. The greenhouse must be disinfected after harvesting. It is advisable to disassemble the structure in order to be able to process everything hard to reach places, since the size of the insect is very small. The frame should be painted.

For disinfection, insecticidal preparations are used that destroy larvae and adult insects. To destroy eggs, you need to use substances that can corrode their protective layer. These include drugs based on cypermethrin, as well as alcohol diluted with water in a 1:1 ratio.

The soil should also be treated or replaced. Digging is done to a depth of 10-15 cm with the addition of lime or wood ash. For 1m2 of beds you need 100-200 grams of lime or 500-750 grams of ash.

Fumigation is effective against larvae and adult whiteflies, including those hiding in the ground. Now that there are no plants in the greenhouse, you can use not only tobacco, but also more effective sulfur bombs. You will need 50-80 grams of sulfur per cubic meter of space. Fumigation is carried out in a closed greenhouse for 3-4 hours. The greenhouse is left for 2 days, after which it is well ventilated and after 15 hours the whole procedure is repeated again. It is advisable to carry out fumigation after another 10 days in case new larvae emerge from the eggs. For greater reliability, repeat in the spring 2-3 weeks before planting the seedlings.

The greenhouse can be frozen if winter temperatures in the region are quite low - at least -15 °C, and preferably -20 °C. If the greenhouse is removed for the winter or the roof is removed, it is necessary to clear the planting site of snow during frosts. A layer of snow increases the chances of survival of insects remaining in the ground.

It is possible to finally remove the whitefly from the greenhouse only with the help of systematic and complex application measures against her. Even if the insect was destroyed last season, it is recommended to disinfect the greenhouse in the spring and preventative treatment planting using biological means, and also do regular inspections of the lower leaves of the bushes.

Growing tomatoes in a greenhouse is a rather complex process, as it involves a number of mandatory actions and procedures that will help ensure the plants intensive growth and fruiting. The growth of tomatoes in a greenhouse is affected by lighting, air temperature, humidity and watering. Sometimes it happens that while fulfilling all these requirements, greenhouse owners cannot protect plants from attack by bacteria, fungi or pests. Whiteflies on tomatoes in a greenhouse are one of the most dangerous insects that attack tomatoes.

In nature, the whitefly comes in several varieties, but only the greenhouse whitefly “loves” tomatoes.

Whiteflies pose a great danger to greenhouse plants. They not only take away all the juices from them, but also lead to the spread of fungi on the plants, which lead to blackening of tomato leaves. It happens that moths do not have time to lay larvae, but only settle on the leaves of plants - this is the most important time to get rid of pests.

Signs of plant damage by whitefly:

• Tomato leaves turn yellow and curl.
• The fruits ripen unevenly.
• The inside of the fruit acquires white veins.
• When you touch the bush, a cloud of white midges rises into the air.

If only midges without larvae were found on the bushes, you should immediately treat the bushes with a soap solution or insecticides. Solutions of pyrethrum or pirimiphosmethyl help well. Whitefly is dangerous because it can lead to plant infections. This can cause plants to develop jaundice, chlorosis, or leaf curl.

Dangerous whitefly on tomatoes in a greenhouse: how to get rid of it

The fight against whiteflies will differ depending on what stage of development the moths themselves are at. If these are adults, then it is easy to fight them. They can be destroyed using a wide variety of drugs.

With larvae, on different stages development, there is a tough fight ahead, since for each stage of insect development a certain type of drug is used.

A special coating on the larvae can save insects from the effects of a particular drug. The effectiveness of the method is determined by the intensity of plant damage. To prevent attacks by harmful insects, preventive procedures can be carried out.

Types of insect control:

• Fumigation. Should be done several times a year. If the greenhouse is located remotely from the living space, fumigation can be carried out using the right candles. Insecticide sprays will get rid of adults and larvae without harming the plants.
• Chemicals. They should be diluted according to the instructions. The use of “Confidor”, “Fosbecid”, “Pegasus”, “Aktellika”, “Mospilan”, “Fufanon” is considered effective. Sometimes one spray is enough to completely rid the plant of pests.
• Biological methods. Special insects are placed on the bushes so that they destroy the larvae at any stage of their development.

All control methods are effective. Each owner chooses the method of struggle for himself. When working with chemicals, it is very important to take precautions so as not to harm health, plants and fruits.

Chemical control of whitefly in greenhouses on tomatoes

When choosing chemical agent you need to be extremely careful. It should not harm the plants themselves. It is very important to ensure that chemicals do not spread further than the area where the treatment is being carried out.

It is important that after treatment the plants are not exposed to the sun, as they can get burned.

The use of aggressive substances is dangerous, since they not only kill insects, but are also absorbed into the soil and removed from there over a very long time. For repeated treatment, the drug must be changed, since insects can develop immunity to the same drug.

Types of drugs:

• Insecticide. It gets into the sap of plants, and with it into the larvae that feed on it.
• Contact insecticide. Insects die upon contact with the drug.
• Soap base. Eliminates large quantity adults.

Whiteflies need to be dealt with immediately after they are discovered. Large moths are not difficult to fight; they can be repelled by simply spraying the plants. But the fight against larvae can take a long time. Since they are protected from death by a special coating, which not every drug can cope with.

Fight with folk remedies: whitefly on tomatoes in a greenhouse

There are gardeners who zealously oppose the use of chemicals to control pests. Using chemicals is, of course, effective, but not always necessary. You can fight pests using folk remedies.

Whiteflies are not affected by cold. If the variety of tomatoes allows, they can be temporarily taken out of the greenhouse into fresh air.

If there are a lot of whiteflies, you can catch them using glue traps. To do this, on cardboard, preferably bright yellow color, you need to apply glue. These traps attract moths.

Spray method:

• Wipe the leaves with millennium infusion.
• Spray the plants with a weak solution based on laundry soap.
• You can use garlic tincture.
• To combat adult moths, you can use plain water.

It is better not to fight insects, but to prevent their appearance. Sometimes fighting moths takes a very long time and is unsuccessful. It is important to prevent moths from breeding.

Tips for preventing the appearance of whiteflies:

• Frequent ventilation. Moths are thermophilic and cannot tolerate temperatures below fifteen degrees.
• Weed the plants in a timely manner and ensure that no weeds grow near the tomatoes.
• To each new landing the ground needs to be dug up and treated with special solutions.
• Compost should not be stored in a greenhouse - this is cozy place for whitefly life.

Preventing insects from appearing in a greenhouse is easier than getting rid of them. It is important to notice the appearance of insects in time. To do this, you should carefully monitor the condition of the leaves and fruits of the plants. The first signs of the appearance of whiteflies: yellowing and withering leaves, as well as the appearance of white moths.

Pests and diseases: whitefly on tomatoes in a greenhouse (video)

It seems that the plants are completely safe in the greenhouse: the owners monitor temperature conditions, air and soil humidity. But sometimes such actions are not enough. If the plants begin to appear yellow spots, the leaves curl up and wither, the fruits do not ripen so quickly - this means that a whitefly has settled on the leaves of the tomatoes. This harmful insect, which drinks the juice and water of tomatoes, causing the plants and their fruits to die.

Every year, farmers lose a significant portion of their crops due to diseases and pests. Tomatoes are no exception. The danger isyou will learn from her in the article and video. These tiny insects can cause enormous damage to a crop if action is not taken early.

Whitefly on tomatoes in a greenhouse can cause enormous harm if action is not taken in time

How to fight whitefly on tomatoes in a greenhouse?

The small moth lays its eggs on tomato plants, causing the leaves to gradually wither and fall off. What signs of its appearance will allow the summer resident to take appropriate measures? Here are just a few of them: leaf deformation, stickiness, yellow spots on tomato bushes, curling. But how to get rid of whiteflies on tomatoes in a greenhouse? According to reviews from gardeners and experts, there are several methods for its elimination.

Don’t know how to get rid of whiteflies on tomatoes and protect the crop bushes? Then read about folk remedies and watch a thematic video.

A small moth lays its eggs on tomato plants, causing the leaves to gradually wither and fall off.

If the summer resident wants to spend preventive measures without application chemical substances, then you should pay attention to folk remedies combating whiteflies in a greenhouse. Having studied the reviews of gardeners, we identified the most effective ways:

• glue traps greased with Vaseline, castor oil, a mixture of rosin and honey;
• spraying seedlings with garlic infusion or clean water;
• Ventilation in the greenhouse will reduce the risk of pest damage, since whiteflies do not like low temperatures, drafts, and multiplies quickly in warmth;
• use of tincture from dandelion rhizomes;
• using a solution based on laundry soap;
• spraying tomatoes in a greenhouse with yarrow solution;
• planting umbrella plants, such as dill, in a greenhouse;
• placement of smoke sulfur bombs near seedlings.

These are perhaps the most basic measures to combat whitefly, which every gardener wants to get rid of. Before planting in, it would be good to treat the soil with copper sulfate.

Watch a video about whiteflies on tomatoes in a greenhouse and how to get rid of the pest:

It turns out that it causes enormous damage to the farmerwhitefly on tomatoes in a greenhouse, how to get rid of itfrom this pest, and what you can do, you learned from our article. Timely preventive measures are guaranteed to allow gardeners to protect tomato bushes from dangerous insect. It is worth knowing about them in advance in order to protect the seedlings from the pest.