Can anyone give me some advice!! I have some fruits and veggies growing! I read that neem oil will help with the little white flies! Well not my plants are struggling! I would like to know if there is anyway to save them !! I have attached some pictures!
I don't understand how this is possible. As Neem tree extracts never harm any plant... It could be that you may have been given a fake Neem product. Otherwise this isn't making much sense to me. I have posted about Neem trees and their products twice here at GardenStew. So there is lots of useful information in these links which may be helpful to you. https://www.gardenstew.com/threads/neem-tree-uns-tree-of-the-21st-century.23195/#post-212098 https://www.gardenstew.com/threads/neem-tree-leaves-in-3d.36321/#post-330131 Products of Neem tree aren't cheap. Which is why I am sure fake products must be paddled in the markets also... Of course, one sure way to get around all of this is - Strat growing your own Neem trees. And make your own insecticide out of the leaves and fruit of Neen.
Thank you !! I'm confused as well!! Everything I have read said it was safe ! It hasn't killed my plants completely, so I'm really hoping I can keep them alive!! I have also read that DE would do the trick! Have you tried it by any chance??
First of all, stop applying Neem oil to all the plants. Fake or not, if you suspect that it's the cause, then obviously we need to stop that until we figure out exactly what the real issue is. I again have to say that either you have a mislabeled product, or an outright complete fake. It's actually very difficult to fake anything of Neem in my part of the world. As everybody knows what Neem smells like. So getting that exact same smell in anything else - Not easy... However in the Western world, hardly anybody knows what Neem smells, taste, or what the tree looks like - So on the West somebody paddling a fake Neem product might stand a chance. But not so over here in my region. And I have no idea what you mean by DE... In electrical engineering DE means dielectric, without which capacitors can't be made - But how is that applicable here? Digital Encryption? Wow! I never realized that plants had also become tech savvy. However it's the year 2020. So what do I know? Depleted Explosive? No, let's not go there - In fact let's not ever go anywhere near THAT! Diatomaceous Earth? Detected Energy? So are we now in a physics class?
Where are the white flies ? Didn`t see anything ! Where are you located ? Tomatoes look more like early blight ! Are you using potting soil or what ? Give all details !
have you fertilized your plants? those tomatoes are lacking nutrients in my opinion. the others look as if they are just too dry. are you watering them and if so is it rain water, well water or city water? I would not apply neem or any other oil of anykind to any struggling plant. the gentlest thing to try is a stiff spray of water from a garden hose. not hard enough to damage the leaves but hard enough to dislodge any critters, then dawn dishsoap in a solution of water and spray that on if the plain water didn't get the critters off. Dawn dish soap, vegetable oil and soft water. Mix 2.5 tablespoons of the Dawn dish soap and 2.5 tablespoons of vegetable oil with 1 gallon of warm soft water. the plain blue dawn. you should always use soft water or even rain water when diluting pesticides. Hard water contains minerals, which interfere with the insecticidal soap, reducing its effectiveness. apply this before resorting to neem. neem only interferes with the reproduction cycle of insects, it does not kill them as you would think an insecticide would traditionally work.
Neem extracts make the insects forgetful and lazy. Which is why they forget to reproduce, and at other times forget to eat as well... Neem actually disrupts the insect's perception of time, which normally is governed by the sun and moon. So this is how they think that they have already eaten just an hour or so ago - But in reality they might not have eaten anything for days. That's how insects starve to death, and also forget to reproduce. Neem by itself is not toxic, it's more like an LSD type of a designer drug for insects. And of course, Neem is totally harmless to humans, animals, and birds, (as well as other plants and trees) - It's actually very beneficial, as it's a natural anti fungus. Which again forces me to say, that I seriously doubt if Neem oil is causing your plants to suffer. More likely, other additives (to increase the mass of Neem oil), plus different chemical solvents used to extract Neem oil - Is more likely to be the cause... Best beneficial results are obtained from cold pressing of Neem. However, the yields aren't great. So chemical solvents are then used for further extraction. Now if everything is done right, then there should be no problem. But when it comes business, time is money - So cutting corners isn't all that uncommon... Therefore you either have a poorly made or hurriedly extracted product of Neeen, (which might have some of those harmful chemical solvents). Or an outright fake product. Do please let us see the packaging of whatever product of Neem you have used. If for nothing else, at least it will serve as a warning for other members over here. Regarding which brand we should never use.
3 years ago...I ordered what I thought was pure neem oil. It killed everything after one use. Well, after a bit more research...I found out that what we should be looking for as the very first ACTIVE INGREDIENT is azadirachtin. After ordering cold compressed neem oil, you can tell the difference. Sorry about the bold...couldn't get it off..lol.
Some of those plants actually looked dead. I would throw out the dead ones and start over. Follow watering instructions carefully. If you have started them indoors, only slowly introduce them to the outdoors. It is easy for plants to get sunscold. Or windburn. Starting in the shade for a few hours is a good idea. Be sure to use fresh soil in starting over. & Don't overwater or underwater. I agree with others: a spray with a gentle hose if the white flies appear is a good start, followed by soapy water. DE is good for beetles I believe. But only used after you see beetle damage. If you have slugs, a little DE placed on top of the soil around the plant will help. BTW, S-H, DE here is diatomaceous earth. All the guesses you thought of were impressive and comical.
My first impression was that the plants were starving. I wonder if they were getting enough plant food. Some of those plants are somewhat heavy feeders and therefore will require feeding regularly. How are they looking now? How often do you water those plants?
