How do I get rid of white flies?

[radstusky]

I've been battling these small insects that are infesting the plants in my panther's cage, mostly on the hibiscus but also on the ficus. I believe they're called "white flies" but actually they're in the order of true bugs, hemiptera. In any case, does anyone have some idea about how to get rid of them? I've been vacuuming them up and using my small steam cleaner to try to keep their population in check, but to no avail. I may have to just replace the whole plant if this keeps getting worse

Does anyone here have some experience with white flies?


Here's a picture that I took a couple months ago, the problem is much worse than this now.

 

[Kansascity]

Try spraying it with anti bacterial soap and rinse it half to death and see if that’ll do the job. I would do it outside though. I know its a pain in the ARSE, but thats whai I do whenever I see a nat issue etc. Good luck!

 

[ponders]

Get a praying mantid cocoon and let it hatch in the cage. The baby praying mantids will enjoy gobbling the white flies up for you and your cham will eat them when they get bigger!

 

[radstusky]

Try spraying it with anti bacterial soap and rinse it half to death and see if that’ll do the job. I would do it outside though. I know its a pain in the ARSE, but thats whai I do whenever I see a nat issue etc. Good luck!

I may try something like this, except that I don't think I could take the cage outside. It's kinda big and would just barely fit through the door! It has a fully planted bottom which makes it quite heavy, although it is on casters.

Get a praying mantid cocoon and let it hatch in the cage. The baby praying mantids will enjoy gobbling the white flies up for you and your cham will eat them when they get bigger!

I actually have some baby mantids right now that just hatched, but I think that these white flies are probably too small for them. I thought of putting them in there, but they'd just get lost I think and then I'd never find them.

 

[ponders]

I actually have some baby mantids right now that just hatched, but I think that these white flies are probably too small for them. I thought of putting them in there, but they'd just get lost I think and then I'd never find them.

Give it a try anyways. They will go where the food is and will polish off the white flies. I had a bonsai up on a second story deck that had white fies and a mantid crawled up there and lived on that bonsai until all the whiteflies were gone, then it moved on.

 

[Leroux2008]

they look like mini white aphids XD I cant wait until my mantis eggs come in 0.0 im superrr excited!