Hi. Some time ago I moved to a house that had an overgrown avocado tree. I had kept the plant large, without adding any chemicals. So far, so good, the best avocados around. Now the plant is rapidly losing all the leaves and it looks like a whitefly infestation. Can I still save her and what do you recommend I buy? I prefer organic, but anything that works is good. Thank you so much for any advice that can save my tree. Have a great day. Nivia
Once you get to the point of noticing the tree is succumbing to the whitefly, you really can’t expect the organic options listed in our WHITEFLY CONTROL article to help. They’ll only work for what we call a “remedial” infestation. So for advanced problems where trying to save the tree is the goal, you must act in an aggressive fashion. This involves the combination of liquid sprays and systemics (soil drenching).
For the foliage (the liquid spraying), VEGETABLES PLUS should be applied at the rate of 1 oz per gallon of water using a good PUMP SPRAYER. This product has a 7 days to harvest window so you can safely use it even as the avocados are growing.
Use a good pump sprayer to get the product distributed over as much of the tree as possible. Whitefly like to hide on the bottom side and in doing so, will many times avoid the “drip” of treatments so you must be thorough.
Now once the systemic kicks in, you won’t have to spray anymore so in general, you should only need the Vegetables Plus for 4-8 weeks. We find weekly treatments for the first month are the norm to keep the whitefly from returning. Then as the second month kicks in, you should notice the whitefly disappearing and not coming back (assuming you treated with the systemic listed below).
For the systemic, you’ll want DOMINION FRUIT AND VEGETABLE CONCENTRATE. This product is mixed with water and applied as a soil drench inside the trees drip line. Once in the ground, the root system will absorb the active and distribute it throughout the tree’s foliage. This will lead to the death of any insect feeding. And though this material is strong enough to kill insects, it won’t pose a hazard to people or animals who consume the harvest.
The only “con” of the Dominion is that it will take 4-8 weeks to get absorbed enough to start working which is why you need to spray with the Vegetables Plus. This way you can stop further damage until the Dominion is in place and effectively saves the tree.
Lastly, since systemic Dominion will last 6-12 months, you should get into the habit of applying it 1-2 a year so you never have to risk loosing this valuable tree again.
Give us a call if you need more help. Our toll free is 1-800-877-7290 and we’re open 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM Mon-Thur; 8:30 AM to 5:00 PM Friday and 9:00 AM to 1:00 PM Saturday, Eastern Standard Time.
Jonathan
Customer Care
https://bugspray.com
1-800-877-7290
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