Whiteflies on tomato plants
Greenhouse whitefly is the usual whitefly on greenhouse tomatoes, but silverleaf whitefly turns up too, so check the pupae before choosing a parasitoid. Black parasitised pupae appear within about four weeks of the first release; leave the lower leaves on until the wasps have emerged. Encarsia searches poorly on hairy-leaved varieties. In the garden, UC IPM does not generally recommend releasing it: hosing, reflective mulch under young plants and soap or oil sprays are the tools there.
At a glance
- Damage
- Clouds of white adults, sticky leaves, sooty mould
- Type
- Sap feeding
- Settings
- Under glass, Garden, Indoors
- Threshold
- No threshold set for greenhouse whitefly (UC IPM)
- Release
- Encarsia formosa
- Rate
- About 0.3 /ft² weekly from planting, 0.4–0.6 /ft² once whitefly is seen (UMass)
How to confirm it
Tap the plant: white adults lift off in a cloud and resettle, wings held flat. Flat, pale oval scales sit under the lower leaves; the oldest are raised and fringed with long wax filaments.
Identification, lifecycle, degree days and every control option are on the full Greenhouse whitefly profile. Not sure it is this pest? Answer four questions about the damage.
Work it out
How many do I need?
Carries Encarsia formosa and tomato through so nothing is re-entered. Open the calculator →