How to Use Neem Oil to Control Pests & Diseases
How to Use Neem Oil to Control Pests & Diseases
Learn more: https://www.epicgardening.com/neem-oil/ Neem is critical tool for many organic gardeners. I use it here and there in my own garden, though as a general rule of thumb I try not to spray if possible. Learn what neem is, how to use it, and what it is and isn’t effective against!
Preventative 0.5% Neem Solution
- 1 tsp (5 ml) of pure, cold-pressed neem oil
- 1/3 tsp (1-2 ml) of insecticidal/true soap
- 1 quart (1 L) of warm water
Concentrated 1% Neem Solution
- 6.5 ounces (200 ml) of pure, cold-pressed neem oil
- 5 teaspoons (30 ml) of insecticidal/true soap
- 4 gallons (20 L) of warm water
00:00 - Intro
00:47 - Background On Neem
02:40 - Uses And Interactions
04:41 - Powdery Mildew Treatment
05:27 - Safety Facts
06:02 - Recipe For Neem Application
07:46 - Outro
IN THIS VIDEO
→ Cold Extracted Neem Oil: https://www.ainacompany.com/aina-shop…
→ Neem Cake Fertilizer: https://www.ainacompany.com/aina-shop…
→ Sprayer: https://amzn.to/3lpBHvi
→ Dr. Bronner’s Soap: https://amzn.to/3hDU52f
→ Neem Studies: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/…
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Content
0.6 -> The substance in this little bottle right
here just might be the secret to your
4.051 -> pest and disease issues in the garden.
Kevin Espiritu here from Epic Gardening.
7.24 -> Yes, it is neem oil my friends.
8.611 -> I can't believe I haven't done an
episode on neem oil because it's so
13.561 -> often recommended.
14.431 -> It's so popular and there's so many
different recommendations for it.
17.551 -> So in this video, I'm going to talk
about first of all, what is it?
20.311 -> What's the history behind this compound,
this substance, this magical elixir,
24.001 -> if you will? And we'll go
into some recipes, some
things you should use it for,
27.331 -> some things you shouldn't use it
for. And at the end of the video,
30.301 -> I'm going to show you kind of like
my secret little treat about neem
35.4 -> that isn't even a liquid. Something
special that you can use that is very,
39.061 -> very sustainable as well.
40.65 -> So cultivate that Like button and I
will boost the strength of your neem by
44.371 -> 2,000%. And let's get into the video.
47.49 -> Where did this stuff come
from? It came from a tree.
51.061 -> It is pressed out of a tree. The
tree is called Azadirachta indica.
54.69 -> It is grown in the Indian subcontinent,
56.491 -> where it grows in a wide
variety of growing conditions,
59.671 -> although it does prefer
a high temperature.
62.4 -> But it can kind of tolerate
somewhat desolate soils
from a nutrient perspective.
67.26 -> And it grows really prolifically. It's
easy to propagate. It's easy to grow.
71.49 -> And as we'll see,
72.81 -> it is the reason why it is
so easy to find neem oil.
77.25 -> But not really high quality neem oil,
which I'll talk about in a second.
80.82 -> Neem itself, or products
made from the neem tree,
83.67 -> have been used for 2,000 plus
years in traditional medicine.
87.66 -> In food uses, which I'm
not going to speak on,
90.54 -> as well as uses in modern
times in the garden.
93.63 -> So the way that the oil itself is
made is by collecting the seeds,
96.6 -> splitting them open, and then
pressing them. As you can see,
99.151 -> this one says cold extracted, high
purity neem oil. So cold pressed,
103.83 -> much like you would make many
other types of vegetable oils.
106.89 -> And what you can then do is take the
remains and press them again or work with
111.871 -> solvents to create even
more oil extraction.
115.2 -> The problem is the neem oil quality
tends to be lower in that case.
118.92 -> So you're going for a cold extracted,
high purity neem if you can get it.
123.09 -> So here's the real thing, it's
where you can kind of get scammed.
125.79 -> Not really scammed, but it's a buyer
beware situation. The active compound,
130.201 -> the main active compound,
is called Azadirachtin,
132.78 -> named after the actual plant
itself. Chicken or the egg,
135.87 -> I don't know which one
came first. Nevertheless,
137.521 -> that's the active compound
that has the most impact,
140.43 -> specifically on pests in the garden.
142.71 -> But there are over 300 secondary compounds
that you're not going to get unless
147.481 -> you get 100% cold extracted neem oil.
150.45 -> Any other type of product that's
sort of a subset or a derivative
155.371 -> of that is not going to have all
of those secondary compounds.
158.461 -> Which as we'll see in the second,
are pretty darn important.
160.92 -> So let's say you're out here in the
garden, I'm in my herb patch right now.
163.891 -> And I see some bugs,
165.66 -> some pests that I don't want
on my lemongrass right here.
169.68 -> What do I do with neem oil to make them
go away or to have the neem oil actually
173.76 -> have an effect on it? Well Azadirachtin,
which is the main compound,
177.03 -> must be generally sprayed onto the
actual tissue of the plant that the
181.901 -> bugs are eating. They
will then eat the tissue,
185.051 -> which gets the Azadirachtin into their
actual system at which point it's able
189.881 -> to interact with them in the way
that ends up eventually killing them.
194.2 -> If you're wondering, hey,
195.041 -> can't I just spray it right on the
bugs that I don't want in the garden?
197.891 -> You definitely can do that.
199.061 -> It's better that they ingest the
actual neem oil which contains the
202.84 -> Azadirachtin. Because it tends
to, as the main killing agent,
207.37 -> suppress their appetite. So they
don't feel that they are hungry,
211.06 -> thus they don't eat, thus
they end up actually dying.
213.94 -> Now here's the interesting
thing. If you get cold pressed,
216.56 -> a hundred percent cold extracted neem
oil that has all of the secondary
219.971 -> compounds, the sort of whole
food of the neem world,
223.51 -> then you're going to get some other
things that can happen to pests.
226.091 -> You'll get repelling of larva and adults.
228.52 -> You'll get just poor
formation of eggs and larva.
232.09 -> It sort of can disrupt the entire
biological entity that is the pest itself.
236.95 -> Now I know what you're probably thinking,
237.611 -> couldn't that just affect
all the beneficials as well?
And the answer is, yes,
241.751 -> it actually can.
242.68 -> Nature doesn't know that I think
that's a pest and I think this one's a
246.911 -> beneficial, right?
247.781 -> So if there's a larval form of some sort
of caterpillar that you might actually
251.261 -> want in the garden, this is why
you really shouldn't be using it,
254.83 -> as a blanket statement,
across the whole garden.
257.411 -> You should use it if you
absolutely need to use it.
259.66 -> I barely ever spray neem oil, let alone
spray anything else in the garden.
263.32 -> But this video is designed for if you
have to use it, let's use it right.
266.62 -> And let's use it responsibly.
268 -> One caveat I'll put on that is it doesn't
appear to affect things like spiders,
272.081 -> butterflies, bees, those
types of beneficials.
274.451 -> Mostly the larval form of
things that you would want
279.011 -> eventually, can be affected. And
so still just use it sparingly.
283 -> But these pumpkins here,
unfortunately, were not so lucky.
285.131 -> I was away for a few days. I saw some PM
on the pumpkins. I said, you know what,
289.721 -> I'll deal with it when I get back?
Famous last words, as you probably know,
292.991 -> if you've ever suffered from
this terrible plant disease.
295.54 -> It'll just rip through a plant.
And so it destroyed these pumpkins.
299.08 -> And here's what's interesting.
300.101 -> Neem oil has been shown very
effectively to control powdery mildew.
304.481 -> And the way that you'll typically do it,
306.43 -> at least the study that I'll
put in the description did it,
308.62 -> was taking a milliliter,
310.27 -> a single milliliter per
liter of water of 70% cold
314.53 -> extracted neem oil.
315.851 -> So I don't necessarily think you have
to be perfectly precise there. You know,
319.331 -> maybe a little dollop in a liter
of water, shake it up and spray.
323.26 -> It seems to be extremely, extremely
effective at preventing powdery mildew.
328.32 -> So the beauty of neem oil is that it
is completely derived from a naturally
332.531 -> occurring plant. It is not a
broad spectrum pesticide. I mean,
336.011 -> of course it does kill things that
you may not necessarily want to kill,
339.311 -> but that's why you use it sparingly.
340.9 -> It's not going to mess with the soil
life underneath dealing with the roots,
344.68 -> that whole soil food web that's going
on. It is safe for dogs, cats, kids,
349.511 -> obviously not in huge quantities,
350.831 -> but it's not like immediately
toxic at low dosages.
353.56 -> It doesn't mess with the waterways.
355.24 -> You don't have to support a company
you don't like, that sort of thing.
357.89 -> It makes it a really effective
thing to use in the garden.
360.94 -> Now let's talk about a couple
of recipes that you can use.
363.35 -> I've got two recipes for you.
364.641 -> One is a preventative measure that you
should use every two weeks or so if you
369.051 -> suspect you might be dealing
with a budding pest or
disease issue that neem oil
373.671 -> can treat. And so that's going to be
a mixture of a teaspoon of neem oil,
378.92 -> a third of a teaspoon of insecticidal
soap, and then a quart of warm water.
383.901 -> We'll put it up here
with a metric conversion.
385.7 -> So that's the first one you can use for
preventative measures every two weeks.
389.33 -> This next one is basically double the
strength and also a larger batch quantity.
393.891 -> So this is something if you
have an existing problem,
396.38 -> you're going to use it every week and
you're going to do it until the problem
400.28 -> goes away.
400.761 -> Or at least gets to the point where you
feel like you're completely fine with
404.69 -> just letting it be.
405.74 -> This one's six and a half ounces of cold
press neem - a hundred percent if you
408.801 -> can get it. Four teaspoons
of insecticidal soap,
412.13 -> I'll put a link in the description
for the one that we like.
414.17 -> As well as four gallons of warm water.
416.931 -> Now let's talk about how to
actually mix that mixture together,
419.481 -> whichever recipe you're using.
420.68 -> So to mix it together you're going to
want to mix your insecticidal soap with
423.591 -> the warm water first, in a sprayer. I'll
toss a sprayer in the description too.
427.52 -> Then mix in your neem oil slowly
and try to incorporate it,
431.72 -> cause remember oil and water. The
soap is important in this mixture.
434.841 -> Not only as an insecticidal
deterrent but also because it helps
439.431 -> blend the water and the oil. But
still, as you mix that neem oil in,
443.901 -> in your sprayer,
444.57 -> make sure you're shaking it as you're
actually spraying it on the plant matter.
448.37 -> And make sure when you're
actually spraying you spray
both the top of the leaves
452.69 -> and the underside as well
as any stems or crevices.
455.6 -> Because we all know these pests can be
really sneaky and you want those early
458.871 -> larval forms, when they
come out of their egg form,
461.15 -> to actually ingest the neem
by ingesting the plant matter.
464.84 -> And it has to be coated for that to
happen. If you've watched this far,
467.691 -> congratulations, because you
now get the secret weapon.
470.54 -> What is the secret weapon? Well, it
has nothing to do with neem oil at all.
473.901 -> It is the debris, the trash that is
left over after you press the neem oil.
478.751 -> Look at this right here. This
is called neem cake fertilizer.
482.24 -> So it is just the compressed and
sort of chunked up seed debris that
486.951 -> comes from the neem after you press
it. Now, why would you use this? Well,
489.891 -> it's plant matter. So there's going to
be some organic nutrition within it.
492.771 -> In this case, the one that I have,
494.3 -> which is from a company
called Aina Company,
498.351 -> I'll put it in the description, good
friends of mine. They're out in Hawaii.
501.47 -> That's where I get mine. It's a
5-1-1, so pretty high in nitrogen.
505.13 -> But there's a couple interesting
things that it seems like it does.
508.88 -> And it's why I put it in the planting
hole of my plants rather than scatter it
512.09 -> over the cross, over the top of the
soil. It just seems to be more effective.
516.5 -> So number one, it seems to
inhibit nematode growth,
520.88 -> at least the negative ones. Those that
can be very deadly underneath the soil,
524.751 -> attacking the roots,
all that kind of stuff.
526.73 -> It seems to decrease their population.
That's really, really good.
530.09 -> The other thing it seems to do is
inhibit bacteria that do a process called
534.321 -> nitrification,
535.02 -> where they form nitrates and sort of pull
nitrogen out of the soil for a little
538.351 -> bit.
538.89 -> And so being a 5-1-1 high nitrogen
fertilizer and having that sort
543.811 -> of quality to it, it seems like what
it does is it supercharges itself.
547.86 -> It makes its own nitrogen more available
by inhibiting the bacteria that would
552.091 -> pull it out of the ability for the
plant to actually uptake it. So,
555.451 -> really interesting qualities.
I have absolutely loved this.
559.531 -> I've gone through many bags here and
it's become a really good staple here at
564.391 -> the Epic Garden. So neem oil, neem
cake fertilizer, my secret weapon.
568.17 -> I'll put some links in the
description. Hope you enjoyed this.
570.301 -> Leave any questions or
Comments down below.
572.25 -> Good luck in the garden
and keep on growing.
Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdD5EH5gWYI