If there is any post you gardeners read today, it should be about the benefits of treating your garden with NEEM OIL!
Some benefits are as follows:
Neem oil cannot be absorbed by garden plants or vegetables. No, it will not make your veggies taste yucky.
Its does not target bugs that don't chew on the leaves so butterflys and bees are safe!
Organic, natural and NO PESTICIDES.
It can be used for a myriad of bugs and pretty much keeps Aphids, Japanese beetles, Caterpillars, Mites and other leaf eating bugs at bay.
I use the brand below in the photo. Cant say much for smell because basically it smells like fermented or rotten peanut oil but it works and I have experienced no problems with it. My garden is the most beautiful it has ever been this year and I have Neem oil to thank for it.
Keep in mind Neem is a bit expensive but it you don't mind paying between 12-15 bucks for a bottle then you should be good. I bought one at the end of June and have used it about 5 times so far. I was excited to share this because it has made a world of difference in keeping those darn Japanese Beetles off my hard planted work.
I use neem oil in our greenhouse, It is most effective if you use it as a preventative measure. As you stated it target leaf eating/sucking insects. I don't recommend it as a knockdown method once you have an infestation of anything, especially mites.
Ive never used it to knock down an infestation just preventative but that's really good info to know. Thanks!
I just did this on my cultures which had an aphid situation that got out of control; I ended up using 1500 lady bugs. I really wish I had taken pictures to post the before and after, but I was in such a rush to get it done as I didn't want the eggs to hatch and become larvae. If you're not in a rush I recommend using purse.io with bitcoin as I could have gotten 1800 for the same price that I paid for 1500, but as mentioned time was of the essence.
They started breeding as soon as I took them out of the fridge, and soon went to town devouring all the eggs in the next days. The heat was too much for them so many of them fled but hopefully left behind a fair amount of their eggs behind.
Neem is great as a preventive measure and a must when transplanting but it needs to be re-applied when it rains or every 2 weeks, which can be tiresome when dealing with large acreage of crops. But I agree its still one of the best solutions, though in the most healthiest of gardens/farms your soil and the surrounding ecology should be able to support the proper microbiology and beneficial insects to ensure a good yield.
I use this brand with success on several farms now: