We all know what a big menace whiteflies are becoming for California gardeners. White flies were’nt were common in the past few years but in recent times, as whitefly populations grew immune to insecticides, their population has increased significantly. These suckers (pun intended!) suck the sap out of a plant to the extent that they succumb. I lost a lot of bean plants to whiteflies this summer. Somehow cold temps dont seem to affect whiteflies (yet) so I decided to get rid of the white flies near my (still growing) eggplants and okra. I noticed that whiteflies specifically target eggplants, beans, okra and squash (the veggies with plump and fleshy leaves).
So I decided to get some white fly traps, which are yellow in color, attract the white flies and cause them to stick to it and not escape – great organic way to repel pests? Or is it…read on…
Sticky Whitefly Aphid Trap
Sticky Whitefly Aphid Trap
Amazon is wonderful when it comes to gardening products. After seeing some whitefly traps, I decided to buy the Seabright Laboratories 15 pack whitefly aphid trap from Amazon.
I had not used products from Seabright Laboratories before but this product looked solid and it seems they have a great range of other products as well.
1. What’s in the box:?
There are three packs of five whitefly traps (15 total). Here’s what it looks like:
Please note that the wire ties actually come with the pack although they don’t advertise it clearly.? I first started out with my own ties and half way thru I realized that it actually had the green ties. You can see it sticking out in green in the photo above.
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2. How to use it:?
Note: before you start using it, I advise wearing latex gloves or some protective gloves to avoid the adhesive sticking to your hands. Although its easy to wash it off, its better to protect your hands. They should probably add this note in the font and also the fact that the wire ties are included. Just remove the tiny, punched hole unfold the carboard trap SLOWLY. If you unfold too quickly, this is what happens:
Once you unfold it, tie the ties and hang it at strategic locations. Tip: Shake the leaves gently so that the whiteflies fly out and get stuck. In a few days they will automatically be attracted to the yellow color, stick and die:L
White Flies stuck to trap
White Flies stuck to trap
Here’s some traps tied to my okra plants:
White Fly Trap Tied To Okra Plant
White Fly Trap Tied To Okra Plant
And some to my eggplants:
Whitefly trap tied to eggplant
Whitefly trap tied to eggplant
3. Does it work:
Yay! It does really work!! I saw some whiteflies flying towards it and getting stuck within a few hours of hanging the trap. Here are some of these suckers:
See them stuck to the yellow adhesive? Yup! It works!!
4. Conclusion and Rating:
My review concludes that using Whitefly traps is an organic and effective way to control these pests, I encourage every gardener to use it. Insecticides have very less, if any effect on white flies. Malathion is one chemical that I tried which comes close to killing some, but it only kills about 1 in 5, so its actually useless. Whitefly traps like these are the way to go!?It also looks like the adhesive also resists water which is a good thing if you have sprinklers on.
I give this product 4 stars out of 5
I rated one star less only because of some missing documentation – this is a GREAT product!
As I mentioned I always buy my gardening products from amazon as they have the best rates. These days amazon also has faster shipping from local warehouses. I got mine in two days. So do check out this product on amazon: Yellow Sticky Trap? – 15 pack
That’s all for now! Happy fall gardening!!
It is very difficult to handle with nitrile or latex gloves and impossible to wash off with soap and water if you opt for bare hands. I tried everything from acetone to Goo Gone and some of it is still there. All in all, maybe the whiteflies aren’t so bad…