Whitefly problem indoors

I got this nice plant from this ritzy restaurant planter and have it growing indoors. Unfortunately it has whitefly now. Anyone have suggestions for getting rid of the whitefly? It's in my kitchen area.

I had this issue with aphids last year. Not quite the same, but this is what I tried. Unconventional techniques, but I've been known to use ordinary-sized "Scotch tape" wrapped inside-out around my finger to remove them (Get bugs stuck, fold tape over bugs, dispose, repeat). I've also looked for any conveniently-available spider that had snuck into the house. It will then get a reprieve from either a return to the cold, cruel outer world, or be saved from a worse fate. I've also tried rinsing the plants off in the garage sink every week or so. I've also used insecticidal soap after the rinse. I don't remember if insecticidal soap works on white fly, though.

Hi Growin, I have used these yellow sticky traps. I got them at a nursery, I used yellow the , but there was also a blue ones. The yellow I think is for fungas nats but I think they also work for white flies. I also used them for white flies on brugmansias. I don't think they were very expensive maybe 3 bucks or so. Good luck Heidi and Dragonfly

Thanks for the suggestions. I have lots of spiders in my bachelor pad from picking palm tree seeds from clusters indoors. I'll grab a few of those. I was thinking of the yellow sticky tags but wasn't sure if anyone carries them at this time of year. I guess I'll go hunting. I like the idea of tape on the finger to poke at the flies & eggs. Thanks!

BE CAREFUL with sticky traps!!!
They don't get along with lizards and tree frogs.
This probably will not be a problem in your kitchen though. :)

Try a small/WEAK vacuum cleaner for whiteflies. It works when you use it properly. Sticky traps don't really work.

This is NOT a solution for small, delicate plants.

great info, germinater - had not thought of vacuuming.
My vacuum has only one speed, so I'll try attaching a hairdryer diffuser to the vacuum nozzle to see if this will weaken the suction.

Any good ideas for getting rid of Spider mites, other than washing the plant with insecticidal soap?

I had some spider mites on my Baobab trees earlier this Fall and I just washed them off by hand with a spray bottle.

This may be a dumb question, but what is a hairdryer diffuser?
I'm not a girl. :)

Oh- you could also put a piece of fine netting over your vacuum nozzle to keep it from eating leaves.

Thanks

Hmm, vacuuming-like it! Kind of like the prairie dog sucker, but for insects, and it's honestly lethal instead of disingenuously so. Wonder if those "keyboard vacuums" that never work on keyboards might actually work for this?

A hair dryer diffuser is a roundish plastic cone that goes over the end of a hairdryer to soften the force of the air coming out. They're often included in the box with the hairdryer when you buy it.

Diffuser did not fit, BUT duct tape makes it work just fine.

Yes, I doused each leaf of the plant for Spider mites. But this is a huge palm at work, and I just don't have time or space to do this on a regular basis. I doubt they would vacuum, but if Susybell's suggestion of using a keyboard vacuum attachment works for white fly, then it just might do the trick on any SM's.

Susybell - again I salute you!

No, No, Germinater gets the credit for the vacuum cleaner! I just wondered about the mini attachment (that I haven't tried because I got rid of it when it didn't work on keyboards...)

Lint roller????

(Be glad it's not scale. I spent a looong afternoon with a pair of very sharp tweezers and a ficus once....)

Yes, I know, but YOU get credit for the keyboard vac.
Just a handy-dandy little Spider Mite removal tool. I don't think the palm fronds will mind.
Plus, the Engineers/Project mgrs I work with won't make any noise about the insecticidal soap aroma...

I just used my regular vacuum on the plant and it did a great job! I stuck the vacuum over the new growth and it sucked alot of the whitefly adults up. Guess I'll do it again later in the week and it was so fast.