South Floridian’s started hearing a lot about Whitefly back in 2007 when the ficus whitefly invaded the area and quickly started destroying ficus. As the preferred cuisine for these insects, there has been so much damage to ficus in South Florida that even ordinances were passed requiring property owners to eradicate an infestation if they had one. Since 2007, other species of whitefly have wreaked havoc on South Florida as well, such as the Rugose spiraling whitefly and Bondar’s nesting whitefly.
Why are Whitefly so destructive?
Florida’s warm climate is the perfect environment for Whitefly, with their numbers increasing the warmer it gets. Using their needle-like mouths, Whiteflies love to eat the underside of leaves. By doing so, they consume most of the nutrients from the ficus or plant. An infestation can leave plants yellow, wilting, dropping leaves, can cause a stunt in the plant’s growth and can even cause death of the plant. In fact, a previous article on Whitefly in the Sun Sentinel shares how you need to eradicate Whitefly quickly, as large, dense hedges can be completely stripped and killed in less than 8 weeks time.
While you will typically see the ficus whitefly position itself on ficus hedges, the Rugose and Bondar species loves to eat cocoplum, gumbo limbo, mango, a wide variety of palms (especially coconut palms and areca), black olive, wax myrtle, and even live oak.
Labeled nuisance pests because of the sticky substance secreted by Whitefly called “honeydew,” it is important to eradicate and prevent these insects before they destroy your greenery and damage your outdoor furniture, concrete or wood, as the “honeydew” can encourage the growth of mildew in the Florida warm climate.
If you believe your ficus plants or other plants, trees and palms mentioned above are showing early signs of infestation of Whitefly such as yellowing of leaves, leaves that look dry, or leaves that are falling off early, let a Pride Fertilization team member determine how severe the infestation is and what treatment options are available to you. Call us today or request a quote directly online through our website.
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