Project RELACS – Improving inputs for organic farming. The greenhouse whitefly, Trialeurodes vaporariorum causes direct damage to plants by piercing their tissues, as well as indirect damage, by transmitting viruses. Mineral oils are usually applied to control the greenhouse whitefly but should be replaced with more sustainable solutions.

The combined use of disruptive vibrations, orange essential oils (EO) and other plant extracts (PE) significantly reduces the greenhouse whitefly fitness and infestation rates.

Synergistic effects of vibrations and plant-derived products (EO+PE) reduce greenhouse whitefly infestations more effectively than separate application of plant-derived products and vibrations. This synergetic approach also allows to reduce the total number of EO+PE treatments per year and even has a stronger effect than that of a pyrethroid insecticide used as a positive control.