Too much neem cake or oil bad for soil/plant?

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Ekid5 Pleasanton, CA Apr 06, 2018

PLEASE HELP! I can't seem to find any information on what happens if I've used too much neem cake. Will it hurt my plants? I can't seem to get rid of the fungus gnats. I've mixed a bit too much neem cake into the soil but I can't help spraying neem oil to the top of the soil when I see so many flying around. It's been a war for about a month now.
Any information or suggestions much appreciated, thanks.

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abrahamx Clinton Township, MI Apr 06, 2018

Never heard of neem cake till now. I have always used neem seed meal along with just about every other meal in my soil mix. I know it makes a hot mix that I let cook for a month or so before using. Not sure how much of that is the neem. . I know gnats like moist soil. Dont water till the soil dries out alot or as much as you can get away with. Also a small layer of sand they do not like. They lay egs or whatever in the soil and the sand makes them think the soil is to dry. You can even use a colored decorative sand if you like.

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Ekid5 Pleasanton, CA Apr 07, 2018

Thanks for the advice. Neem cake and neem seed meal, I think, are the same thing. I do have 2 inches of fine sand on top but still see them crawling around. Diluted hydrogen peroxide seems to help too but still not enough to get rid of gnats. Guess I'll have to wait till summer when everything can dry out all together. I'm just upset because of all the time and money I spent on seedlings and plants... Ugh, never thought gnats can cause so much damage

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Kell San Leandro, CA(Zone 9b) Apr 07, 2018

I have used Mosquito Dunks very successfully against fungus gnats. Just google it for the different ways you can apply it.

I bought the dunks, crumbled it in water and let it sit for awhile before I poured it on my soil. I see they also now have a Mosquito bits.

https://www.summitchemical.com/2012/05/biological-mosquito-control-also-kills-fungus-gnats/

https://smile.amazon.com/Summit-Responsible-Solutions-Mosquito-Bits/dp/B0001AUF8G/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1523126357&sr=8-4&keywords=mosquito+dunks

https://smile.amazon.com/Summit-responsible-solutions-185502-Mosquito/dp/B0002568YA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1523126357&sr=8-2&keywords=mosquito+dunks

I read you can use hydrogen peroxide too which might be a cheaper way.
http://freeplants.com/fungus-gnats.htm
Good Luck

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