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Cole_Robbie · November 18, 2017

I'm out in a big field, and I feel like the entire property is infested with bugs. I haven't used beneficials. Met52 has been great for controlling the whiteflies. It's just hard to kill them all. I can try malathion. I don't use it, mostly because I have a bee hive adjacent to the greenhouse, but the bees don't fly below about 50 degrees F.

I can't find much about the technique, but a high enough temperature will kill anything. I could try taking out the plants on a sunny day, then seal up the greenhouse and turning on the heat. If I could hit 130 or so, that should take out the bugs.

Here is a link with some research to heat shock of whiteflies:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3061596/

November 18, 2017	#83
Cole_Robbie Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Illinois, zone 6 Posts: 8,407	I'm out in a big field, and I feel like the entire property is infested with bugs. I haven't used beneficials. Met52 has been great for controlling the whiteflies. It's just hard to kill them all. I can try malathion. I don't use it, mostly because I have a bee hive adjacent to the greenhouse, but the bees don't fly below about 50 degrees F. I can't find much about the technique, but a high enough temperature will kill anything. I could try taking out the plants on a sunny day, then seal up the greenhouse and turning on the heat. If I could hit 130 or so, that should take out the bugs. Here is a link with some research to heat shock of whiteflies: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3061596/