Gardener’s Corner

A friend stopped by the other day and we were visiting about her Hibiscus plant. She had taken it in from outdoors or the winter. She said she noticed a white spots on the underside of the leaves and then when the plant was shaken little white things would fly out onto the window. They are Whiteflies.

I thought I would share the information I found about Whiteflies with our readers, in case you are having the same problem, not only with your Hibiscus but with other houseplants as well.

Whiteflies are tiny, heart-shaped flies that rest in very large numbers on the undersides of leaves. When the plant is disturbed or brushed up against, the flies will fly out in a great, sudden cloud. These annoying insects aren’t only a nasty surprise for plant owners, their nymphs and various larval stages attach to the plant’s soft tissues and feed on the plant. They also secrete honeydew, which raises the risk of fungal diseases and attracting other pests.

Whiteflies are nothing if not prolific. They hatch from tiny, cone-shaped eggs into small scale-like insects that can travel along the plant’s stems. The scales molt into nymphs, which then go through several more growth stages before going into a brief resting stage then emerging as adult flies. During almost every step of their development, they continue to feed on the plant. The whole lifecycle takes about 30 days, but this varies depending on the temperature. In warmer weather, they reproduce more quickly, and in colder weather, their growth cycle is slowed.

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