Growing infestation of small tiny white dot like "flies" on indoor plants

iainharris1392oe207aC1

Got a bit of a problem - we are inundated over the last few weeks with an increase in what appear to be tiny little white dot like beasties that leave behind a very sticky residue on all of hour house plant leaves. They are on the soil layer too. Last year it was black flies and they got everywhere. They don't seem to be too fussy either - we have successfully grown a large avocado plant and have several others on the go but these little blighters are all over everything. Worried about our wee chilli plants too. Any suggestions to what these critters are and how to deal with them (short of taking a flamethrower to them) would be greatly appreciated. Many thanks in advance. 

Dovefromabove

Hi @iainharris1392oe207aC1 and welcome to the forum 

Could they be whiteflies?

https://www.rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=193

iainharris1392oe207aC1

Thanks for the response. The don't have wings - they are tiny little white dots almost and they cover the leaves and the stems of some of our plants and leave a sticky residue almost like aphids but they are even smaller than aphids. Is there a generic product that would help dispose of pests or is it best to be particular about any sort of insecticide?

iainharris1392oe207aC1

wild edges

The white things are just shed skins from aphids. You'll see little green lumps clustering around new shoots and flowers. A soapy water spray will clear them up in no time but you may have to repeat a few times when they reappear. Clean the sticky residue off or it can go mouldy. Again just wipe it down with a warm soapy cloth.