Neem Oil

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coolfire1952s Springfield, MO(Zone 6b) Aug 02, 2011

My tomatoes are infested with tiny little worms that are eating the leaves and also the fruit. A friend told me to use Neem oil on my plants and that it would take care of just about every other kind of plant with bug problems, also. My plants look stressed to me and the temperature here has been in the 100's everyday. I am concerned that I may damage my plants with the Neem Oil spray. Has anyone used this with good results? Is it organic? I have read pros and cons about this oil. Some say it's great stuff but then others say it has killed their plants! What to do??!!

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plantfreak78 Rolesville, NC(Zone 7b) Aug 02, 2011

The short answer is, if it's larvae you're treating you should use Bt, a bacteria (Bacilllus thuringiensis) that causes the larvae to die once they ingest it. It's organic, it shouldn't burn your plant if it's applied in the evening and it's perfectly safe for humans and pets as long as you wash the fruit before eating it. It's sold under different product names. The one our nursery carries is called Thuricide.

The longer answer: Neem oil is essentially organic (it comes from the Neem tree) but the problem is the oil. Any oil can burn a plant if applied in excessively hot temperatures, even if they're organically derived. Additionally, members of the family Solanaceae (e.g. tomatoes, peppers, eggplant) tend to be more susceptible to damage when sprayed with oil even in mild temperatures.

So back to my original answer: go with Bt, not neem for this senario.

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