whitefly on sprouts

[Hyacinth]

Neat trick Roy 8) Am now on a yellow cardboard hunt :)

[Hyacinth]

[busy_lizzie]

I went over to the lottie yesterday to pick some sprouts and I definitely needed a mask as I too got covered in them, as well as breathing some of them in, there was so many of them.   :-X busy_lizzie

[Drive-by abuser]

Hi
Best and cheapest method i use is a diluted solution of washing up liquid in a fine spray bottle,  (the pressure type, that you pump) you won't be able to get them all, but it does reduce numbers and is very cheap and quick.
brian

[Barnowl]

I never know how much washing up liquid to use. Is there an optimum measure?

[Busby]

Oddly enough, although I've never had as many white fly as this season nor have I ever had such a good crop of firm and tasty sprouts.

I spay regurlarly with cold water, this batters the white fly to the ground and many of them just stay down.

[Hyacinth]

Washing up liquid ???  What's it made of? Isn't soft soap & water spray a more 'organic' method? But...I'll go along with a plain water blast or just drown the little bs when I wash the sprouts - assuming I ever get any firm ones. Have stamped down the soil really well, staked them & done Roy's vaseline trick - after consulting the Yellow Pages 8) - just knew I'd got some yellow card somewhere ;D

[Roy Bham UK]

Have stamped down the soil really well, staked them & done Roy's vaseline trick - after consulting the Yellow Pages 8) - just knew I'd got some yellow card somewhere ;D

;D Now that's what I call a keen recycling lotty person ;D Bet you can rip em in half too :o ;D

[Squashfan]

I use a bit of washing-up liquid, maybe a small squirt and fill the bottle up with water. Your sprouts look great, Tim! Now, how to kill all those $%£@! snails nestled in the sprout leaves...

[Curryandchips]

I have a tiny bottle of washing up liquid I keep in the shed. When I spray, I put a few drops in the spray bottle, which acts as a surfactant, and enables the spray liquid to adhere to the plants (or pests). The amount of washing up liquid is trivial, and the bottle (0.25 litre size) has not yet been refilled in the 6 years I have had the plot.

[MattyJC]

Thanks for starting this subject, mine are covered with the little fellas, no damage though, cant believe the amount for the time of year, guess its where it has been so mild. I did spray mine with "bug away" or something similar, earlier in the year but the packet says only to spray them once, so I'm 1 - going to try some of your ideas and 2 - hope for a frost soon!
The good lady is just boiling the first picking ready for tea!!

Regards

Matt

[Busby]

Not 'boiling' MattyJC, not literally I hope!

Here's the way my wife does them - and they are always delicious: Prepare the sprouts, put a thingy of butter into a heated pan and tip the sprouts in when the butter has melted. Then add about a half a teaspoonful of flour (sprouts for two people), then a little salt. Move the sprouts about so they get well covered in the butter mixture then add about one cupful of water and leave to simmer and finish. Just stirring occasionally. 

Same with sprout tops, carrots, cabbage, etc., no need to boil at all!

[Busby]

I don't know where 'thingy' came from, I wrote 'thingy'.

[Busby]

Strange: I didn't write 'thingy' this time either - I wrote k n o b.

[Roy Bham UK]

 ;D Spelt knob ;D Tee hee.

[Roy Bham UK]

 ;D I don't know where knob came from I wrote knob ;D what's going on?

[Robert_Brenchley]

The program has a nasty dirty mind and censors anything it imagines to be smutty. So there are a lot of harmless words like cock, pussy and knob which get turned into 'thingy' or 'woman thingy'. Which is a lot more suggestive once you realise what it's thinking!

[MattyJC]

I don't know, "thingy of butter" has a certain ring about it!
Thanks for the suggestion, I passed it on to the good lady....looks like ill be having a go at the weekend!

Regards

Matt

[Hyacinth]

....looks like ill be having a go at the weekend!

sometimes it doesn't matter how you spell it ;D

[cornykev]

When I took over my lotty I had a look at neighbouring lots to get some ideas of what to grow. When I saw sprouts next to me I thought they take up a lot of room and the whitefly it was everywhere when I asked my neighbour Sid how does he control them he replied with great difficulty,  even when he dug them up they was still in the soil. I'm with Roy on the vasaline or grease on the cardboard trick I never grew them so missed out I do love a sprout but my lot dont eat them so I rarely eat them, I suppose I'll have to wait till christmas around  me mum and dads. Might even have a thingy of butter on them.

                        May the corn be with you.    :o

[Rosyred]

Alot of my sprouts don't seem to be forming very well or are very small. Do you think i'll get some for Christmas dinner?