Whiteflies: Okay How Do I Kill Them?

Here is a link that provides good information about whiteflies and an interesting concept that using Sevin, as I did, will flare-up and not fix the problem. (UPDATE 7/8. The Sevin killed them)
msucares.com

Basically, it suggests Sevin and other insecticides don't work and kill the beneficially insects that feed on them. Well, I used Sevin spray yesterday and the day before. I will have to check this evening to see if they persist. The one thing to note is that the infestation was/is big. So, if I did kill any benefecial insects, they weren't doing a thing to help up otherwise.

Like I wrote earlier, I never had whiteflies. This has to be the worst year for bugs and now 2 weeks without rain. Tough gardening this year in Maryland. Soon the blight will or will not show its ugly yellow spots.

Here is the complexity of the problem, what do I use? This article suggest Sevin is fine.
This link has some great pictures and details about the whitefiles and treatment http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/mg254

Here is a bit from the above link:

Who wants to bet I have this variety. I'll be making some home-made soap tonight.

If the whitefly species is hard to control with these products, then it may be the silverleaf species, or QBiotype. Soap or oil sprays are the most effective for homeowners to use against this particular whitefly and are safe to people and the environment. Follow label directions. Thorough coverage on the undersides of the leaves to the point of run-off is especially important when using soap or oil sprays. If a commercial soap or oil is not available, a homemade mixture can be made by mixing 2 tablespoons of dishwashing liquid (do not use those containing a degreaser or an automatic dishwashing soap or detergent) and 2 tablespoons vegetable cooking oil per gallon of water. Repeat at weekly intervals as needed.

Whiteflies on My Kale: Argh!

What a year. I just went and watered my garden. All without splashing soil and wetting leaves. My concern is not to splashing soil and transmitting  early blight. What do I find? White flies on my kale. I have never had them before. This has to be the worst year for bugs and disease since I have been gardening here. I took out the heavy artillery which is Sevin dust or is it Sevn dust. Anyway, I use that for all my bug killing issues.


I also removed the tomatoes that were showing signs of distorted leaves. I planned plots for next year for tomatoes. I will be moving or partially rotating crops next year. Luckily, I have 9 huge healthy tomato plants.

Florida Basket Tomatoes and Self Water Container

Here is the semi self watering container I built. The construction blog is a few blogs back. The container is two buckets. There is pebble reservoir in the system.

The tomatoes are Florida Basket tomatoes. I have three planted in there. Yep, three. The container held its own for 4 days last week when I was away. Sunny and 90+ degrees. The deck gets 8 hours of sun. The plant was slightly stressed. I will be giving it some Miracle Grow and keeping it moist. You can see all the tomatoes on it. I will be growing a lot of these next year. I highly recommend the Florida Basket variety for deck containers.

Tomatoes, Cucumbers and Perennials

Well I am lucky enough I guess to have multiple beds. Here are 3 tomatoes plants that are doing extremely well, my cucumber wall and the perennial bed I use to attract insects. Hopefully beneficials ones.

Tomato Mosaic Virus

My Tomato and It's Distorted Leaves

I continue to search for the answer to my distorted leaves symptom. I'm sure it is mosaic virus. I found it at this web-site below. The third picture there is what my leaves look like. It is a virus. It is spread by insects but also by human hands and tools. It can stay in the soil.

During June I noticed an increase of insects. I noticed a plant I bought had curled/distorted leaves. I also noticed the same problem with plants I bought last year. Both from the same store. The insects probably spread the virus. Realistically to plants I also sold.

My options are to pull infected plants and let those beds rest a year. I could steam the ground, yeah right. I've decided I will solarize them. I will have time to do this next year before planting in there. I will also plant - plants that don't get mosaic virus in those beds.

All my seed starting gear will be soak in a bleach solution and put away. I will only be using peat-moss next year for starting seeds. The peat-moss isn't sterile but it is dried at a good temperature and thus it has never had insects or weed seeds in it when I have used it in the past. Used only 100% peat-moss that is. Why do this? The mixed soils that aren't sterile could be the cause of the problems I am having. I used a mix of peat and other materials this year. They were Sta-Green which sucks and Miracle Grow soils which I like. Sta-Green was too woody and I think the cause of insects. Though I have no proof. June was really bad for bugs.

www.semena.org has pictures and the information below is from that site.

Symptoms:

Typical symptoms include a light and dark green mottling of the leaf tissue and stunting of the plant. Foliar symptoms can vary from a chlorotic mottling to necrosis as well as upward leaf rolling and stem streaking depending on which strain of ToMV infects the plant. During cool temperatures leaves may develop a "fernleaf appearance where the leaf blade is greatly reduced, while during high temperatures foliar symptoms may be masked. Occasionally the fruit will show disease symptoms which vary from an uneven ripening to an internal browning of the fruit wall (brown wall). Brown wall typically occurs on the fruit of the first two clusters and appears several days prior to foliar symptoms. Under certain environmental conditions some varieties with resistance (heterozygous) to ToMV will show necrotic streaks or spots on the stem, petiole, and foliage as well as on the fruit.

Conditions for Disease Development:

ToMV has a wide host range including many agricultural crops and weeds, all of which can serve as inoculum sources. It is readily transmitted by machinery or workers from infected to healthy plants during handling. Infested debris from a previous crop can lead to infection when the roots of the new tomato plants come in contact with the debris. Chewing insects can transmit the virus, but are not considered a major source of infection. Tomato seed can carry the virus, but actual infection is thought to occur when plants are thinned or transplanted.
Control:

The use of ToMV resistant varieties is the best way to reduce losses from this disease. Avoid planting in soil from previous crops that were infected with ToMV. Steam sterilizing the potting soil and containers as well as all equipment after each crop can reduce disease incidence. Before handling containers or plants be sure all workers wash with soap and water. Sterilizing pruning utensils or snapping off suckers without touching the plant instead of knife pruning help reduce disease incidence. Direct seeding in the field will reduce the spread of ToMV.