White flies from cotton plants are eating my lantana?

by Cheryl
(Casa Grande, AZ)

Lantana flower

Lantana flower

Last spring I planted colorful lantana outside my back wall. Usually pest resistant in other areas I lived in, but I now live near cotton fields.

And the bugs destroyed them. I used soapy water, just water, and neem oil. But they were so infested I was making absolutely no head way.....Is there something to prevent this from happening again, or are there other colorful ground cover that the bugs don't like?

Comments for White flies from cotton plants are eating my lantana?

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Mar 05, 2019
 Bugs!
by: Jacki Cammidge, Certified Horticulturist

Lantana is a hard plant to keep the bugs off - and I doubt if it's to do with the cotton fields.

I don't grow Lantana even as an annual because of the incredible persistence of the white fly and other pests. Unfortunately, there is no way of preventing it (other than not growing it). Once you have them around it's super hard to get rid of them.

There are other ground covers that might work for you, such as Mesembryanthemum (Livingston Daisy) or another succulent, Carpobrotus edulis (sometimes called Hottentot Fig). These are nowhere near as susceptible to white fly. They are drought tolerant and easy to grow, so look for those as options.

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