Topic: White fly infested Kale

[Icyberjunkie]

My kale are absolutely covered in white fly to the extent I get great white clouds of them that i can shake off.  Trouble is when they are off and the leaves are washed there are lots of little whitish bumps on the leaf.

Last time I thought it was damage caused by the fly so cooked and ate it anyway.  This time I noticed they wiped off.

Have me and the family been eating immature whitefly?  :o
Is there a friendly way of getting rid of the little sods?  ???

Iain

[busy_lizzie]

They are a bother on some of my brassicas too Iain. Spraying with a soap solution can be helping, but as long as they aren't too bad I tend to live with them. I have them  particularly on my brussel sprouts but they don't appear to do any real damage. busy_lizzie

[DERYCK32]

Hi
I have only just joined this website, and after reading about white flies all I can say is after growing veg for almost 50 years you will have a lot of trouble getting rid of them. My knowledge for what it is wearth is over the years there are a least 3 different white flies as years ago there was only 1. They do attact sprouts but as another person has said they dont spoil the sprouts but one does get covered in them when picking

[supersprout]

I must have read somewhere that hoiking the floppy lower leaves off brassicas can keep whitefly down, cos I believe it ::) The idea is to get a howling gale going thru the stems so they don't find it cosy. I have done it this year and there was a big difference between the bed I'd cleaned up and the uncleaned bed two weeks later ... ;D

[cacran]

I have just got an allotment with a few Brassicas left in. Sprouts and Brocolli. I have noticed these white flies all around that area. Next year I will try taking the lower leave off as you advise. Will all these flies go when I have pulled up all the crop? Are they the same sort as the ones that attack Carrots? I have heard that they only fly to a certain height, if they are. Not that that will do me any good with the brassicas, I guess.

[theothermarg]

No that is carrot fly. white fly is still around as the weather has been so mild.
best thing to do I,v found if you don,t want added protein with your greens is to give them ashort soak in salted water
margaret ::)

[cacran]

Thank, will try that. What about the ones that are just flying about, will they go when I have pulled out the rest of the crop?

[rdm51]

Hi All
  have found this product for whitefly, i am trying it out on my fuchsias, read the website and see what you think.
  www.sbproducts.co.uk
  Bob

[cambourne7]

isit not a little early to have white fly

[cacran]

 I don't know if it is early to have whitefly or not but there are tiny white flies flying all over the area where my brassicas still remain, so I fugured they were whitefly ( I am new to all this!) Maybe it is because we have not had a very long spell of cold this Winter.the little blighters might be confused...lol!

[Trevor_D]

Yes, the winter's been mild. We've all got whitefly: you can reduce their numbers, but if there is a way of getting rid of them I've never found it. Shake well before bringing the stuff home, soak it for a bit, then eat the ones which refuse to drown. (I bet they die in boiling water, so you only need to worry if you're vegan!)

Trevor