# Neem Oil - How well does it work?



## ElectricRabbit (Jan 6, 2014)

How well does Neem Oil work? I currently have 4 strawberry plants. I don't know if it's because I stink at gardening or if it's because of all the bugs on them (or both) that they don't seem to be getting any better. :bored: 
I am trying to expand my garden. Building a raised bed and a trellis this summer so I can get ready for next spring or any winter veggies I can plant. Still haven't decided. I bought 1,500+ ladybugs and they're all gone now. Gone or dead unfortunately. My dad didn't tell me about the pesticide he used for the lawn and me being naive I practically poured the lady bugs to their deaths. 
But because I have my strawberries in pots they don't touch the pesticides on my lawn. I'm getting some bugs on my potted tomatoes too. 
I heard that neem oil works well in killing pests. I want to buy Dyna-Gro Pure Neem Oil Natural Leaf Polish but I want to know if there is something better for my problem. I want to try and be organic so any organic solutions would be nice. I also have a few questions. 
If I buy the Neem Oil: 
- Do I spray it onto my plants or the soil?
- Do I have to mix in something else? 
- Why wouldn't it be good by itself? 
- How long do I have to treat my plants? 
- I'm putting in new soil in my raised bed. Should I spray the top of my soil so bugs won't hide in there? 
- Does it kill earth worms? 


Sorry for all the questions runforhills: ) but thank you for the answers! :grin:


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## RedDirt Cowgirl (Sep 21, 2010)

First identify what kind of bugs are eating your strawberry plants. Neem oil is basically for smothering certain kinds of pests like scale and mites, mostly indoor or greenhouse pests that are practically microscopic.

Buying lady bugs should be outlawed - they are harvested from their cold weather hibernation/refuges and when they wake up it's time to fly away! You just had the same experience everyone does. Better to look after the ones you already have - in their "caterpillar" stage they eat tons more pests!

Even organic pesticides can work against you, but pyrethrin is a good short term killer, it's found in most Safer brand potions. DE can help keep pillbugs and earwigs in control. It's dangerous to users if you ever breath in the dust, silicosis is the result.

If you can talk with your local master gardeners they should know exactly what's going on in your area right now (bugs come and go too), and give you a solution that's proven to work. It's the best home agricultural asset we have, IMO.


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

Neem oil will not kill beetles, that's for sure. I tried it in my peas and it did nothing. Zilch. It will kill bees, though, so don't spray it on anything that is flowering.


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## ElectricRabbit (Jan 6, 2014)

RedDirt Cowgirl said:


> First identify what kind of bugs are eating your strawberry plants. Neem oil is basically for smothering certain kinds of pests like scale and mites, mostly indoor or greenhouse pests that are practically microscopic.
> 
> Buying lady bugs should be outlawed - they are harvested from their cold weather hibernation/refuges and when they wake up it's time to fly away! You just had the same experience everyone does. Better to look after the ones you already have - in their "caterpillar" stage they eat tons more pests!
> 
> ...


I'm pretty sure I have white flies. They're super tiny, don't look like aphids, and are pretty active all the time. I've never found a gardening group, club, etc in my area but I will look harder. I would prefer a liquid rather than dust because I have heard of things like that. I heard a garlic extract is good too but does it give my plants a garlic flavor? 



PrettyPaisley said:


> Neem oil will not kill beetles, that's for sure. I tried it in my peas and it did nothing. Zilch. It will kill bees, though, so don't spray it on anything that is flowering.


I don't have bees around my neighborhood. I spend a nice amount of time outside when I can and have never seen a bee at my house. I do have wasps though but they are a very small population. I've only seen about 4 at once and it's only when I water my yard.


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## PrettyPaisley (May 18, 2007)

We had that problem last year ... No bees. Or at least not many to speak of but since we got veggies something had been pollinating. 

There is a recipe using garlic, dish detergent and pepper you could try. I've never used it but I've seen it on blogs.


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## RedDirt Cowgirl (Sep 21, 2010)

Whitefly is hell - but getting the plants out of pots may help them. I always go to UC Davis for pest control - Illinois has a good ag extension program too. 

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/r734301011.html

So you're right, Neem oil would be effective if it's the same as "Neemix" - sounds like to me. It's expensive, and you can't eat the fruit when you spray. And spray and spray. Garlic extract is fine for the plants, the fruit won't taste of it unless you spray them too. It's one of those "can't hurt ya" things, not terrible effective. Same with hot pepper oil, it seems to work in some situations when you don't want to eat poison.


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## gweny (Feb 10, 2014)

I use neem oil with much success on my fruit trees. Just a couple of treatments at the right time seems to do the trick. It's good for mites, but also against some fungus.

Some other organic solutions I use...
Apple cider vinegar, dawn, orange oil, hot pepper wax, cinnamon, tanglefoot and beer. Each is best for a specific problem / pest. Just using them all till something works would sure screw the whole Eco-system up! Or even using something the wrong way or at the wrong time. It's best to identify the problem first. 

None of these things work half as good as just maintaining a healthy Eco-system (good soil, large variety of plants and animals).
Worm castings, compost, Mychorrizol and mushroom spawn also help. I liken them to daily doses of vitamin C that one might take to boost immunity; but for plants.


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## mskrieger (May 1, 2012)

Neem oil works in two ways:

1) When leaf-eating insects ingest it, it makes them stop eating and disrupts their maturation, so they don't mature into adult insects that lay eggs and repeat the cycle.

2) It's full of fatty acids that feed the symbiotic bacteria and fungi that live on your plants and help them defend themselves from disease-causing bacteria and fungi.

That's why it works so well on fruit trees when it's sprayed at the right times (usually in the spring, when the leaf- and fruit-eating insects are just starting up, and the fungal ecosystem is still waking up from the winter.)

I think it might help your strawberries too (it certainly helps my rose bushes!), but you have to spray it at the right time of year. I highly recommend a read of Michael Phillips' book "The Holistic Orchardist" if you want all the details. He's discussing it in the context of fruit trees and bramble berries (raspberries and blackberries) but you may find it a useful read to figure out timing and the whys and wherefores.

--

Elseways, I agree with Gweny--maintaining a healthy ecosystem with good soil and lots of habitat for beneficial and predator insects will help the rest of your plants a bunch. And hopefully if you create it, they will come. Last year I put a houseplant outside that was dying of scale. A week later it was covered in ladybugs and then their larvae. And that scale was GONE!


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## ElectricRabbit (Jan 6, 2014)

mskrieger said:


> Neem oil works in two ways:
> 
> 1) When leaf-eating insects ingest it, it makes them stop eating and disrupts their maturation, so they don't mature into adult insects that lay eggs and repeat the cycle.
> 
> ...


Thank you! I will definitely read it.


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