Hi, I have an indoor grow tent with several peppers and fruit vines, last night I noticed I have a decent white fly infestation. It isnt out of control yet (I don't believe), and I discarded the most affected plant, but wondering if anyone has had luck bringing them under control with the yellow sticky traps?

Insecticidal soap doesnt seem to do much as they fly away when the leaves are disturbed, so I'm upgrading to imidacloprid based on another thread I saw here, but ideally I would rather not use too many chemicals since a few of the plants are beginning to fruit.

Any other suggestions? This is indoor, but in a relatively closed environment (there is an exhaust fan but no pets are allowed in the room), so no risk to pollinators. I understand it may be difficult to wipe them out entirely, but so long as I can get the population down to where the plants remain healthy I'll be happy.

Thanks!

There is no such thing as a "decent" white fly infestation. All white flies are indecent, right down to their teeny-tiny mitochondria! I'm normally a tolerant person, but....

I had those commercial traps on the little green sticks and they were somewhat effective if I placed enough of them at enough points. But there are only a few cards in a box; you run through them in no time. I used to make some almost as good: smear petroleum jelly and insecticidal soap on strips of yellow paper. It has to be yellow; the pink wasn't nearly as attractive to them. I never managed to clear up the infestation completely, only to keep it under sort-of control.
Haven't had any since we changed over to hydroponic.
A site called Grow Veg that I can't link because I haven't been here long enough has some ideas I didn't try, but you might like to. Vacuuming was one I hadn't heard in this context before - makes sense though.

White fly hormone traps are generally used to see if you have an infestation and monitor its severity: they aren't meant to trap all the males, and most populations have some parthenogenic females so they will just propagate anyway.

Insecticidal soap is only mildly effective against white flies (and even less against scale insects) but before switching to a neonicotinoid insecticide like imidacloprid you may want to t-r-y insecticidal mineral oils. I've had excellent results against scale insects but with white flies it's a bit of a gamble.

ElPolloDiablo said:White fly hormone traps are generally used to see if you have an infestation and monitor its severity: they aren't meant to trap all the males, and most populations have some parthenogenic females so they will just propagate anyway.

Insecticidal soap is only mildly effective against white flies (and even less against scale insects) but before switching to a neonicotinoid insecticide like imidacloprid you may want to t-r-y insecticidal mineral oils. I've had excellent results against scale insects but with white flies it's a bit of a gamble.

Thanks, will take a look. Since it's an enclosed room (4 x 4 feet), I think I've managed to cut their numbers somewhat, traps have probably caught 30 or 40 over a few days, and when i shake the plants i only see a handful take flight.

I saw a few suggestions of putting your plants in garbage bags and just going to town with neem oil / insecticidal soap, might try that on a few