Gardenia Bushes

I have three that have done really well. The names is Chuck somehting. The white flies just love them! Can someone give me the recipe of the soapy water mixture to use? I mixed dish detergent and water in a spray bottle but it seemed I had to do this everyday. They have gotten bad towards the end of the summer. I want to get a better hold on them next year but don't want to kill all the good bugs with insecticide. I saw more praying mantis this year in my yard than I have ever seen and of course they were around my gardenia bushes.
Thanks,
Dawn

I have used Ivory Flakes mixed in water. I only have one bush so I just mix up a bucket and throw it over the entire bush.

liveoaklady~You grate Ivory Soap into flakes? What are the proportions please. Good to know, as I'm very interested in doing the least harm, plus we use Ivory in my house.

I had the same thing with 'Kleim's Hardy' in the greenhouse. I found the yellow sticky tags to be the best. It seemed to keep the numbers down between biologicals application. I used large tags attached at the stem. Is there a way you could place them under the plant so noone sees them?

Oh my, let me back track----I bought huge boxes of Ivory Flakes when a store went out of business in 1978 (and so did Ivory Flakes) and still have one box left. It is about 1/4 cup to a bucket of water. I am certain if you make a soapy mixture with the bar of soap it is just as good. We used Ivory because it was gentle on the plants.

Wow, you bought a 30 yearsupply??! That's outrageous. LOL I bet the liquid would work as well, maybe even better, with it's surfactant properties.

So it is just soap and water? Spray as needed? maybe i didn't put enough soap in. Seemed like I had to do this every 3 days or something.

pdoyle, you may have better luck using soap and oil combined. Mix 1 tablespoon dishwashing liquid detergent with 1 cup of cooking oil. You can save this and use it as your "stock". Add 1 to 2.5 teaspoons of this solution to 1 cup of water, spray onto plants every 10 days.

And remember, with any oil based spray don't apply in direct sun or on excessively hot days.

The yellow sticky traps will also work but I'd put them above the plant. That way when you wiggle/brush the plant the whiteflies will be flying upwards and be enticed to head for the sticky traps.

As a last resort, but still a safe one, try some Neem oil, spraying it about every 8 days; this will keep the nymphs from maturing into adults, thereby laying even more eggs and begatting more babies.

Shoe ....Gardenia lover!

Besides using dish soap, I use mothballs. May sound crazy, but it works. Works for keeping whiteflies away and wheat straw not pine straw for a mulch keeps the aphids and thrips away from the plants. There is a chemicalproperty in wheat straw that like sufficates the aphids and thrips when they try to emerge in the spring from the ground.

Thanks shoe, I knew there was somethingelse I needed to put in the mixture.
Starlight, do you put the mothballs on the ground?

Yes, I just sprinkle them around and if there is alot of rain I keep an eye on them and replace as needed. The mothballs also help keep the neighbors strays dogs and cats from peeing on the bushes and rooting around them and if ya can get strong smelling ones, they even help keep some of the wildlife unwanted critters away.

I will have to try that!
Thanks
Dawn