[Arid_gardener] Re: Tomatoes: White Flies and Wilt

[Olin Miller]

Why doesn't the Reemay keep the white flies out?  You can't use it on plants 
that require isect pollination like the like pumpkins and melons but it 
should work on tomatoes that generally are selfpollinating.    Some 
exceptions are the heirloom tomato varieties with exerted styles. I am using 
a product called Agribon AG-19 from Peacful Valley at www.GrowOrganic.com , 
They claim 85% light transmittance as compared with 75 % for Reemay and say 
it provides 4 deg frost protection.  I found that the heat buildup is too 
much for the cool leaf crops when we still get triple digit temperatures but 
it should be okay for tomato plants.

Try Arbico in Tucson http://store.arbico-organics.com/ for beneficial insect 
pests. They list eight that are supposedly efffective against whiteflies. 
It may be pretty far to drive just to buy insects but there other things to 
do to round out a trip, e.g., Arizona-Sonoran Desert Museum, the air museum, 
Native Seeds/SEARCH, etc.  And they will probaly ship via USPS or UPS.

As to other suggestions, back when whiteflies were a serious problem for me, 
I wouild skip the fall squash and wait to plant the fall and winter greens 
until mid to late October when it became too cool for the whiteflies.  Thr 
flies are now still a bit of a problem but are manageable with nearly daily 
water and soap sprays.

Olin Miller, Master Gardener Volunteer, Maricopa County AZ
http://home.att.net/~millero/ValleyOfTheSunGardeners.htm


----- Original Message ----- From: "Jefferds" <sjefferds at host6.net>

> [ ... ] I'm about to give up, for the third year in a row the whiteflies 
> have decimated my garden. I went out Wednesday and saw nothing, Saturday I 
> found the flies. I went to Lowes and bought Neem Oil spraying as directed. 
> I sprayed again on the following Wednesday but by Saturday it was obvious 
> that I'd lost the war, both my pumpkins and watermellon were all but gone.
>
> Is there any plant I can put in the garden that will deter the white flies 
> from invading? Someone told me Sevin is effective, but as noted before I 
> don't want to exterminate the insects wholesale. I have a few ladybugs and 
> numerous geckos I'd like to keep. I've even had the flies go after my 
> lantana!
>
> Any suggestions appreciated, I have several hundred feet of remay cloth 
> available. By the way, where can I find the parasitic wasps and more 
> ladybugs in Mesa? I've looked at the big box garden places and they're 
> more miss than hit.
>
>
> -- 
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