Hi Tui, I have a problem with many, many white fly in our mainly flower garden. I have done a spray of neem oil & a follow up, but not much success. I even increased the mixture, do you have any suggestions please. Regards, Bruce.

Hi Bruce, white fly are sucking insects that are prevalent in spring, summer and autumn and can be very hard to control as they multiply rapidly, the secret to control is being able to break the lifecycle. Use a natural plant based botanical spraying oil which is safe to use around beneficial insects such as ladybirds and bees, ensure the underside of the leaf is well covered as that is where they hide, ask at your local garden centre for a suitable control. Plant companion plants in your garden that repel white fly such as nasturtium, marigolds and sweet basil. Make sure your garden is well watered during the growing season to keep plants actively growing as this helps keep insect pests at bay, mulch around your plants to help conserve soil moisture and add organic matter back into the soil. Feed your plants with a balanced all purpose fertiliser such as Tui General Garden fertiliser or Tui Novatec Premium fertiliser. Research on greenhouse crops affected by white fly showed that they were attracted to plants with certain nutrient deficiencies, whitefly attacked greenhouse tomatoes when magnesium and phosphorus were deficient. As an overall tonic for your garden feed your plants with Tui Organic Seaweed Plant Tonic this helps plants build up resistance to pests and diseases by strengthening the cell wall of the plant, it is harder for sucking insects to pierce the leaf surface.