Re: [gardeners] Our beautiful October garden

Bargyla Rateaver (gardeners@globalgarden.com)
Thu, 25 Oct 2001 18:42:05 +0100 

should have to do nothing but improve the soil---well, make sure the plants get
water and light too

"Carol J. Bova" wrote:

> Hi Folks...
> I missed the start of this, so I hope it applies.  Our local L.A. county ag
> office told me the only way to get rid of the giant white flies attacking
> about 50 of the cemetery's 40 year old hibiscus was to get rid of the
> hibiscus.  There is absolutely no chemical control for it they said.  We
> decided to try to hold onto them as long as possible, since the giant white
> flies didn't attack anything else, so we cut back the worst of the infested
> areas, gathering up every leaf and twig, then washed the remainder with
> soap and water. (Boy, did the grounds crew love that job....not!)  About a
> month later, we handpicked as many additionally infested leaves as
> possible.  Then hit the leaves with a low level on our pressure washer with
> water only.  Result: two years later... only lost 2 plants, and impact on
> the balance is negligible (as of a couple of months ago... haven't been out
> to look at them since then!).
>
> FWIW,
>          Carol
>          Sunland, CA
>
> At 11:04 PM 10/19/2001 -0400, you wrote:
> >Ron, the chief entomologist of the State of California (I believe I
> >have given him his proper title) is named Baldo Villegas. It just
> >so happens that he is a fine friend, and we are currently in conversation
> >on the subject of how to rid a California garden of white flies.
> >
> >Baldo's answer is:  get rid of the hibiscus.
> >
> >There are apparently a number of varieties of white flies, and each
> >one would require a different chemical or you would be wasting
> >your time. This entails bringing a leafy sample complete with
> >tell-tale white flies in to your Cooperative Extension for identification
> >(generally not free of charge), and from there they could try to
> >suggest what to use, no promises.
> >
> >You will have to weigh your desire to keep the hibiscus against your
> >despair of the white flies.
> >
> >Penny, NY

--

Bargyla Rateaver
http://home.earthlink.net/~brateaver