Controlling Whiteflies Naturally With Citrus

Isolate whitefly-infested plants to prevent the pests from spreading. Place them as far away from other plants as possible. If you cannot isolate the affected citrus, you must regularly inspect and treat all plants in the vicinity.

Place one to three glue traps around each citrus plant affected by whiteflies. The glue traps catch any whiteflies that land on them. Replace a glue trap when more than 75 percent of its surface is covered in whiteflies.

Remove whiteflies from the leaves and fruit of infested citrus plants with a vacuum hose each morning. Whiteflies are slow moving in the morning and not likely to escape. To kill the vacuumed whiteflies, encase the bag or dust compartment in plastic wrap and freeze it for 24 hours. Discard the dead whiteflies.

Fill a spray bottle with garlic oil and coat both sides of the citrus plants’ leaves in a thin layer. Garlic oil kills young whiteflies, known as nymphs. Spray the leaves with garlic oil once daily until the infestation has subsided.

Release live parasitic wasps to kill the whitefly population. The female wasps lay eggs inside of young whiteflies, but they are no threat to humans or pets. Within 10 days, the eggs hatch and kill the whiteflies. While some of the Encarsia formosa might get stuck to traps, they are available for purchase in quantities of 1,000 or more. Release at least 100 Encarsia formosa per infested citrus plant, once weekly, until the infestation subsides.

Release at least 50 live ladybugs for each infested plant once every other week until the infestation subsides. Ladybugs feed on young whiteflies, helping to eliminate their population.

Place about 200 lacewing eggs near each infested citrus plant to control the whitefly population. The hatched lacewing larvae must feed voraciously to grow. They eliminate whitefly young, preventing the infestation from spreading.