neem oil for mites

DirtyDiana

Active Member
I just sprayed my plants with neem oil, and I am curious if they are supposed to stay drenched, or is it normal for them to dry up pretty quickly? Also is ok that I sprayed the flowers? I tried hard not to drench by the flowers but that was very hard. I used neem with dawn for dishes, per bottle directions.
 

DirtyDiana

Active Member
No response yet, but I was thinking some more. If the neem oil dries so fast, and there is no liquid left on the leaves, does the initial spraying get them, and they have the affect of the neem from the spray? Or is it supposed to stay moist? I am super confused, and hope I did this right
 

toquer

Active Member
when i spray my plants they don't stay wet very long. Even when i take them outside and use the hose and get them soaking wet, laying over, like seriously wet. They won't stay wet very long, maybe 5 minutes if i'm lucky. when i use the pressure sprayer which is typically every monday i use a surfactant ((sticky from HN) likely just dish soap and a tiny bit of water soluble N), and whatever i'm foliar feeding that day, also neem as a preventative early in flower to hold out to the end. But i again hose them down so that they are covered on both sides of the leaf. They are totally wet and this takes only a few minutes until it is no longer wet to the touch. Where leaves rest against each other and cause a lack of air flow this is where there is still moisture. That moisture will last a long time unless the leaves are manually seperated. But if you've got a bug problem and are using neem, you'll likely need to hit them again with neem in 3 to 5 days. a third application will help ensure death. but depending how far you are into flowering, you might not be able to kill them all as if they've gotten inside the flower itself, then you can't spray that deep so once then they'll migrate back out to the leaf again. another method that helps in addition is to bring your temps way down...like way down to the low 60's. best to do this for about 3 days as it helps kill the ones that the neem can't get to. but if you're in hydro...don't try this as you'll then end up with PM. if you are in soil then you've got a period of time where you can allow for the soil to become drier so that PM isn't as easy to get an infection of. Also if you feed additional zinc you can sustain a drought longer. but the bugs die in the cold and with the neem as a foliar then they're dead for good.
 

DirtyDiana

Active Member
when i spray my plants they don't stay wet very long. Even when i take them outside and use the hose and get them soaking wet, laying over, like seriously wet. They won't stay wet very long, maybe 5 minutes if i'm lucky. when i use the pressure sprayer which is typically every monday i use a surfactant ((sticky from HN) likely just dish soap and a tiny bit of water soluble N), and whatever i'm foliar feeding that day, also neem as a preventative early in flower to hold out to the end. But i again hose them down so that they are covered on both sides of the leaf. They are totally wet and this takes only a few minutes until it is no longer wet to the touch. Where leaves rest against each other and cause a lack of air flow this is where there is still moisture. That moisture will last a long time unless the leaves are manually seperated. But if you've got a bug problem and are using neem, you'll likely need to hit them again with neem in 3 to 5 days. a third application will help ensure death. but depending how far you are into flowering, you might not be able to kill them all as if they've gotten inside the flower itself, then you can't spray that deep so once then they'll migrate back out to the leaf again. another method that helps in addition is to bring your temps way down...like way down to the low 60's. best to do this for about 3 days as it helps kill the ones that the neem can't get to. but if you're in hydro...don't try this as you'll then end up with PM. if you are in soil then you've got a period of time where you can allow for the soil to become drier so that PM isn't as easy to get an infection of. Also if you feed additional zinc you can sustain a drought longer. but the bugs die in the cold and with the neem as a foliar then they're dead for good.
Thanks toquer. The room is in the basement so it is pretty cold down there, actually the past few days it has been too cold! I am 2 weeks into flowering now so I think as far as that goes I should be good? I was down there singing to my girls this morning and they looked really good. I know the shot strip thing is working because all of my ladybugs are dead, which is fine because it doesnt look like they helped at all anyway. But I plan on doing the neem oil again in a few days, so you suggesting it reassures me. Thanks a bunch!
 
Top