Treatment Planner
Whiteflies Treatment Plan
Why one treatment never works: Whitefly eggs resist most treatments and nymphs hatch continuously over two to three weeks. Insecticidal soap kills only mobile stages, never the eggs, so one spray is guaranteed to be followed by a fresh hatch. You need sustained treatment across at least one full lifecycle.
How bad is it?
A visible cloud on disturbance, nymphs on leaf undersides, honeydew starting.
Expect this to take 3–4 weeks
Week 1
TriageCut the population hard and start trapping adults.
Check for: Trap catches will be high this week. That is the point — it tells you the adult population and gives you a baseline to measure against.
Week 2
Follow-upKill the nymphs that hatched after week one.
Check for: Trap counts should be measurably lower than week one. If they are flat or rising, coverage on the leaf undersides is the thing to fix.
Week 3
CleanupCatch the final hatch.
Check for: Few or no adults rising when you disturb the plant, and near-zero trap catches.
Weeks 4–5
MonitoringVerify before you declare victory.
Check for: Zero adult catches for 14 straight days means the infestation is cleared.
Still not working?
Still catching adults after five weeks? Whiteflies are strong fliers and readily arrive from outdoors — check window screens and any plants you move in and out seasonally. Indoors, look for a second infested plant you haven't isolated. Persistent greenhouse-scale problems are the case for Encarsia formosa, a parasitic wasp used commercially against whitefly.
Read the full whiteflies guide →Other treatment plans
Not certain this is what you have?
Use the diagnosis tool first →Get seasonal plant care reminders and pest alerts.