NEEM OIL

jackman · November 26, 2006

Can I get some answers on this product? They advertise as a insecticide and a fungicide.

username5 · November 26, 2006

It is both, but your results with it may vary from others and from year to year.

I find that it is safe to use on most anything, but stay away from it if you use sulfur as a fungicide as any oil is bad with sulfur.

I can only offer anecdotal evidence and some of my experiences haven't been 'textbook'. I will need to use it longer to see how consistent the results are.

I used it on asian pear trees early on to combat a mystery fungus that was back for it's second year and it offered some control. I later switched to a sulfur based fungicide and it gave better control.

I used it on hostas that are always slug eaten. I was out of sluggo and figured, 'what the heck, why not?' I was amazed that the slugs didn't touch the hostas for about a month after application. I have never heard it said that it keeps slugs at bay so I don't know if it was just coincidence or not, but I will try it again next year.

I used it on grapes and it seemed to prevent early season bugs from chewing on the leaves and prevented any fungal issues on the leaves. Then again, it might have been coincidence.

I have also used it on crops under heavy attack such as bush beans that millions of mexican bean beetles had found and it wasn't at all effective in controlling them. Had I started using it before the beetles showed up it may have kept them at bay.

I could give more examples of how I have used it and what it may or may not have done, but to sum it up I have found neem oil (or products with azadirachtin) to be great at prevention (for fungus and pests) and not real good as a curative.

Since it is a very safe product to use health wise I don't feel bad using it as a preventative and I can always resort to something more toxic if I have to.

I typically have problems growing curcubits due to insects introducing wilt so have avoided growing curcubits for a couple years. I am going to go with some varieties having some resistance to wilt next year and will be spraying them with neem every week or two and I am hopeful I may get a good crop and healthy plants.

I would recommend neem as a great general garden preventative and would not recommend it as a curative for anything.

jackman · November 26, 2006

Thank you very much. Sounds like it is worth a try.

November 26, 2006	#1
jackman Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: TN Posts: 23	NEEM OIL Can I get some answers on this product? They advertise as a insecticide and a fungicide.

November 26, 2006	#2
username5 Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Zone 5 Wisconsin Posts: 117	It is both, but your results with it may vary from others and from year to year. I find that it is safe to use on most anything, but stay away from it if you use sulfur as a fungicide as any oil is bad with sulfur. I can only offer anecdotal evidence and some of my experiences haven't been 'textbook'. I will need to use it longer to see how consistent the results are. I used it on asian pear trees early on to combat a mystery fungus that was back for it's second year and it offered some control. I later switched to a sulfur based fungicide and it gave better control. I used it on hostas that are always slug eaten. I was out of sluggo and figured, 'what the heck, why not?' I was amazed that the slugs didn't touch the hostas for about a month after application. I have never heard it said that it keeps slugs at bay so I don't know if it was just coincidence or not, but I will try it again next year. I used it on grapes and it seemed to prevent early season bugs from chewing on the leaves and prevented any fungal issues on the leaves. Then again, it might have been coincidence. I have also used it on crops under heavy attack such as bush beans that millions of mexican bean beetles had found and it wasn't at all effective in controlling them. Had I started using it before the beetles showed up it may have kept them at bay. I could give more examples of how I have used it and what it may or may not have done, but to sum it up I have found neem oil (or products with azadirachtin) to be great at prevention (for fungus and pests) and not real good as a curative. Since it is a very safe product to use health wise I don't feel bad using it as a preventative and I can always resort to something more toxic if I have to. I typically have problems growing curcubits due to insects introducing wilt so have avoided growing curcubits for a couple years. I am going to go with some varieties having some resistance to wilt next year and will be spraying them with neem every week or two and I am hopeful I may get a good crop and healthy plants. I would recommend neem as a great general garden preventative and would not recommend it as a curative for anything. __________________ We don't inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.