I've had good results using neem oil as a soil drench as opposed to spraying it on the foliage. The price of a bottle of neem concentrate seems high, but a little goes a long way after dilution. I mix it 2 tbsp/gal of water with 1 tbsp of castile soap and pour about 2 cups around each plant every three or four weeks. The roots take up the neem, and it circulates throughout the plant, so it affects all foliage-munching pests. I'm not sure that I've ever had a whitefly infestation. Either because I've prevented it with the neem, or they just aren't prevalent in my area. I do know that squash bugs and tomato hornworms are a given here, and I've kept them to a manageable level for several years with the neem drench. You can spray it on the plants, as well, but, even in dilution, I've had issues with the oil browning and killing some leaves, especially when it gets hot. Also, using it as a soil drench means no harm done to beneficial insects, since only the critters that bite into your plants will ingest the neem.
Interesting. I might give that a try if my last attempt at control fails. I’m really hoping the companion plants do the trick. We luck out here in that there’s no hornworm (yet). Some squash bugs and cucumber beetles, but the whitefly does the most damage for us.
I too use neem oil (only have sprayed the plants). Could you tell me how long after you plant do start your treatments and do you use this method for all of your crops? Squash bugs are my nemesis. Thank you in advance!
@@SerenityHomestead If I'm direct seeding, I'll wait until the plants germinate and get a few true leaves before I put any neem around them. I'm scared of smothering them with a splash of oil. When transplanting, I've had no issues starting them off with a reduced amount of neem drench. And yes, I do apply the drench around any plants that I expect to be targeted by chewing insects. I tend to not worry about onions and carrots. For sweet corn, I've found that I still need to spray with spinosad to ensure that I don't get earworms. Good luck!
I did have a significant white fly infestation year before last when the winter was too warm, dry and mild. I didn't combat it just waited it out and the next year I expected to have a battle with them but we had had a good snow, rain and cold and I didn't see any the following summer.. I am quite new to gardening and am constantly growing new plants (flowers and natives) so maybe my plants attracted the enemy to white flies. I'm not sure what happened. I garden organically so I wasn't spraying anything. I'm glad to see that Marigolds can help!
We never get a winter cold enough to fully kill off pest populations. We maybe half a dozen frosts per winter. I was happy to learn there’s some science behind French marigolds repelling them. They’re nice to look at too.
![Noob To Max With DRAGON REWORK In Blox Fruits [FULL MOVIE]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/LnBMOinoOvA/mqdefault.jpg)
In case anyone is interested in the research into French marigolds as a whitefly deterrent. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6396911/
I've had good results using neem oil as a soil drench as opposed to spraying it on the foliage. The price of a bottle of neem concentrate seems high, but a little goes a long way after dilution. I mix it 2 tbsp/gal of water with 1 tbsp of castile soap and pour about 2 cups around each plant every three or four weeks. The roots take up the neem, and it circulates throughout the plant, so it affects all foliage-munching pests. I'm not sure that I've ever had a whitefly infestation. Either because I've prevented it with the neem, or they just aren't prevalent in my area. I do know that squash bugs and tomato hornworms are a given here, and I've kept them to a manageable level for several years with the neem drench. You can spray it on the plants, as well, but, even in dilution, I've had issues with the oil browning and killing some leaves, especially when it gets hot. Also, using it as a soil drench means no harm done to beneficial insects, since only the critters that bite into your plants will ingest the neem.
Interesting. I might give that a try if my last attempt at control fails. I’m really hoping the companion plants do the trick.
We luck out here in that there’s no hornworm (yet). Some squash bugs and cucumber beetles, but the whitefly does the most damage for us.
I too use neem oil (only have sprayed the plants). Could you tell me how long after you plant do start your treatments and do you use this method for all of your crops? Squash bugs are my nemesis. Thank you in advance!
@@SerenityHomestead If I'm direct seeding, I'll wait until the plants germinate and get a few true leaves before I put any neem around them. I'm scared of smothering them with a splash of oil. When transplanting, I've had no issues starting them off with a reduced amount of neem drench. And yes, I do apply the drench around any plants that I expect to be targeted by chewing insects. I tend to not worry about onions and carrots. For sweet corn, I've found that I still need to spray with spinosad to ensure that I don't get earworms. Good luck!
I did have a significant white fly infestation year before last when the winter was too warm, dry and mild. I didn't combat it just waited it out and the next year I expected to have a battle with them but we had had a good snow, rain and cold and I didn't see any the following summer.. I am quite new to gardening and am constantly growing new plants (flowers and natives) so maybe my plants attracted the enemy to white flies. I'm not sure what happened. I garden organically so I wasn't spraying anything. I'm glad to see that Marigolds can help!
We never get a winter cold enough to fully kill off pest populations. We maybe half a dozen frosts per winter.
I was happy to learn there’s some science behind French marigolds repelling them. They’re nice to look at too.