I've read mixing neem oil in when you water is an excellent way to fend off pests, I'm looking for opinions and ratio and aprox. how long to build up & be effective? TIA, Seymor Skagneti
Neem oil kills pests by suffocating them with its evaporating fumes. I don't think adding it to your water will do much.
Seymour, If you mix 1 tsp/qt of neem oil to water and add a few drops of Dr. Bronner's liquid soap as a surfactant, you can spray your plants 2x a week and have good control over mites. There is research [T.L. Senn Ph.D. Seaweed and Plant Growth] that liquid kelp interrupts the adult/larvae cycle of spider mites, so if you have some, adding a tsp to the mix is helpful. I wouldn't water neem oil in personally, but I use neem seed meal (A.K.A. neem cake) as an amendment in my soil. It works as a fertilizer and as an anti-fungal/anti-pest component. You can also make a tea/extract with neem seed meal to use against mites in the late flowering stages. HTH chunk
Neem oil is not a systemic insecticide. It is a contact killer, used weekly to prevent mite outbreaks. Mix 1/2 tsp/gal and spray every 5-7 days. Silicon can also be mixed with this spray at 1/2 tsp/gal to toughen the cell walls of the leaves. The best treatment for soil is with Neem seed meal mixed in the soil media or top dressed on the pots.
Thanx chunkdaddyo, I will look into using meal instead of oil, and for the others that were half wrong , here is an excellent article on Neem Oil use & beneifits, Urban Garden Magazine | Neem Oil I advise all to review it. Exert re:soil drench Soil Drench •To make 10 liters of drench-able neem. Add 1 liter of water to a container. Add 20–30 ml of liquid soap, or suitable emulsifier, and agitate well until the soap/emulsifiers completely dissolve. •To this solution add 250–350 ml of neem oil and agitate well until a pale yellowish white emulsion is formed. •Add this prepared emulsion to 9 liters of water in a bucket and stir thoroughly. The neem solution is now ready to pour onto the growing medium. Apply enough for a small amount of run-off to occur. Please Note: Drenching potting soil with neem will adversely affect the beneficial biology of the rhizosphere. If you need to drench the root zone with neem, a follow up application with a good quality actively aerated compost tea will help to re-inoculate the beneficial bacteria, fungi and protozoa. Neem Oil’s Effect on Plants Neem oil not only coats the plant foliage after spraying, it is actually absorbed into the leaf material and can be transported around the plant systemically. Neem’s liminoid compounds (mainly azadirachtin) can be taken up by the roots after root zone applications, thereby reaching leaf and stem material throughout the whole plant. This reinforces the anti-feeding deterrent properties or neem oil, which makes the whole plant rather unappealing to invading pests. Due to this persistence in the plant, neem oil products should not be used on plants that are approaching maturity. As a general rule, avoid spraying or soil drenching neem oil on plants that have five weeks left before harvest. As mentioned above, neem products have been used topically and ingested for medicinal use by humans for thousands of years and are completely non-toxic. However, neem has a very bitter taste that can, if used too late in a plant’s life cycle, be passed into the developing consumable produce. Best Regards, S.S.
Hi seymore, I just purchased and mixed up 2 Tbsp in one gallon of water. I keep it stored in both a spray bottle and storage container. It is recommended to spray the foliage both up top and below. It is best to spray them when the lights are out or dimmed since it is oil, it may burn foliage under direct lighting. Your recommended method sounds good posibbly to combat root rot, just a thought.
Neem oil really works. It gives off an odor that repells near all foragers and suckers. If smell doesn't deter the pest, when they begin to eat the neem oil makes them vomit uncontrollably and die from dehydration. Neem oil resemble natural hormones that reek havoc with there real hormones. It may make one species of insect stop mating, another might forget how to fly. Wild stuff. I use it up till 2 weeks to harvest. Soil drenched can be used continuously. Neem seed meal used as top dressing or soil amendment give your plants a continuous supply and provides an barrier to burrowers thoughout it's life. I've not read anything about suffocation, though.
DankSeeker Here's a fair discussion of the various triterpenes (nee limonoids) in neem as well as karanja trees. Adding neem meal (cake) to the soil facilitates the nitrification cycle as well triggering specific DNA responses in the plant. Pre-mixing neem oil is a guaranteed way to greatly diminish the effectiveness of these oils. According to NeemResource (the organic neem & karanja supplier in America) recommend using within 2 hours of mixing and I try and use it within 30 minutes of mixing. HTH LD
DankSeeker Here's a fair look at the various triterpenes (limonoids) found in neem tree products. Neem meal (cake) is also a solid amendment for its contribution to the nitrification process in soil. Parker Group (India) is responsible for the majority of neem oil exports out of India and their web site might have information that you could find helpful or at least entertaining. HTH LD
Hey LD, you're the one that got me started with the neem oil and meals. Good stuff. In fact, you have been a great influence in my organic endeavour. Teas and worm composting, just the tip of the iceburg. ty In fact here's my organic garden you have unknowing helped create:http://forum.grasscity.com/organic-growing/800140-my-garden.html
DankSeeker For a heavy infestation this miticide is beyond effective and best of all it's cheap. 1 lb. of organic rosemary branches and remove the individual leaves from the branches. This is an important step. Take the rosemary leaves and put into a food processor with an equal amount of pure water and puree this mess. Add 2 each habanero chilis, 10 cloves of garlic (leave the skin on) and an equal amount of fresh ginger (very important component) Once you have this mess pureed place into a 5-gallon paint bucket and fill with 4 gallons of water. Add pureed mint (however you get there) and try to get at least 3 cups of mint puree - go with diversity, IMHO Add a cup of EM-1 or Gil Carandang's BIM rice lacto serum. I've also used papain & bromelain for the slow, cold fermentation method. (BioAg.com uses a similar to extract both humic and fulvic acids from their rock source(s). You'll also want to add a carbohydrate source - I prefer and use palm sugar as it's minimally processed. Easily sourced at Southeast Asian markets - especially Vietnamese and Thai markets. You MUST use organic sources because conventional/transitional forms will always contain preservatives which will arrest this process. Let this mess/mixture ferment down to < 3.5 pH - lower is even better. Once you hit your acidic numbers strain the plant material from the liquid and toss into your worm bin or compost pile. With the liquid apply as a foliar spray using 2 oz. (i.e. 1/4 cup) to 1 gallon of water and hit it every 3 days until you have the mites arrested and killed. Follow up with weekly applications of either neem or karanja oil at the prescribed rates. Result? End of mites, powdery mildew, aphids, white flies, gnats, et al. I sent some to a friend in North San Diego County to test and he confirmed that it is extremely effective against white flies. I can confirm that it's effective against 3 types of spider mites and gnats. This IS safe to apply to your soil as well. HTH LD
Sorry, don't mean to hijack, but I love to pick LDs brain when I get a chance. You could use biochar in place of a sugar based carb.Making biochar is a process that releases alot of heat and I've been think tankin on using the energy to benefit the garden. Ideas would be appreciated For those curious what biochar is:Make Biochar Here's a simple stove design: http://dome-school-biochar.wikispaces.com/file/view/how+to+make+Dome+School+Biochar+Stove.pdf
old thread i know but i wanted to correct your statement for others that research neem oil..it is indeed a systemi, i use it for drenches ever 30 days and my pest problem is history. i also use neem meal in my soil mix as well