There are tiny white bugs on the underside of the leaves of my climbing rose. And they are eating holes in the leaves. It was recommended by a respected local rose grower to spray with Neem Oil, which I have done. Some of them kind of fly off when I spray. What are the bugs? And does anyone have any other good solutions to get rid of the bugs? (Boy, it's time consuming to try to spray all the leaves, top and bottom, on a large climbing rose!)
could be aphids or could be thrips. neem oil is proper treatment for thrips. aphids you can just spray with water from the hose - the pressure just blasts them away. you could also use a treatment for roses to deal with insects - that will deal with both types, and a few others, too.
Thanks. I know they're not aphids, because I know what those are. So I will continue with the neem oil.
The nursery said they are white flies. I took a sample down there. How do I get rid of those? I have been using the neem oil, but every day I check and there seem to be plenty of those little white guys flying off when I move a branch. Does anyone have any advice?
i'm sorry, i have never had to deal with white flies, so, i don't know what the proper treatment is. did you google for info about them?
If they are white fly, they are easy to get rid of with "yellow strips" which are sticky yellow pieces of paper with the right attratant on it. They are readily available. I use them on my house plants and in the green house.
Neem Oil is one option for decreasing your white fly population, as well as the sticky yellow strips that Dunc mentioned. Frequently spraying the underside of the leaves may help as well as using a small hand vacuum cleaner to suck the bugs off of the leaves. I've even heard of people using reflective foil that they put under the plants, like a mulch, that creates enough light under the leaves to where the bugs don't like it and take flight. Then of course there's biological control by using predator insects, but unless if you have a nursery, going to that extent may seem a bit too much.
It's an old thread, and the problem has likely been dealt with, but just wanted to add this one factoid for anyone else reading this thread in the future. To my knowledge, neem oil is not a registered pesticide in Canada (perhaps this has changed, but I doubt it).
