has anyone used horticultural oil or neem sprays on their gesneriads? I have some mites (not spider mites) on a few plants, including a nematanthus, so I will be spraying with neem. I use a coconut-based spreader instead of dishwash with my sprays
What I'm not sure about is whether the fuzzy leaved things like AVs would survive the treatment. I'm tempted to do preventative spraying on everything.
For people who might be curious, it's possible to do soap sprays on african violets. In fact, you can mix up a tub of soap solution with warm water and dump the entire foliage in it. Two key things to remember: WARM water, and dry the crown when you're done.
horticultural oil or neem
I found that the violetshowcase says neem is okay on AVs (and does not harm the blossoms - wouldn't count on that, but hey....), so I guess I'm going to try it.
I spray all my av's with a neem solution once a month. I think it's good for them. They look great afterwards (gleaming). I have several friends who do the same.
Paula
I've also read that neem oil was helpful to avs
Nanna
What solution mix do you use, Paula?
Nanna
Here's some information from an article in May June issue of AV.
"NEEM oil is a natural product that is pressed from the seeds of the Name tree. This tree, native to eastern India, has a 4000 year history as a medicinal herb. It is no-toxic to humans, but is an effective insecticide, miticide, and fungicide for plants. It also works great for powdery mildew, and there is minimal damage to open blossoms."
"Mix 4 teaspoons of pure NEEM oil to 1 gallon of warm water, plus 1 teaspoon of liquid dish soap. The liquid dish soap acts as an emulsifier to aid in mixing the oil and water. Shake well. This can be watered in or as a foliar spray directly to the leaves" (I don't know what watered in means)
The author of this article had plants with tight centers that refused to bloom. There were no signs of insects that she could see. She removed damaged leaves and treated her plants once a week for a four-week period. "The color of the leaves began to improve, and they became stronger."
The article did not mention anything about the plant blooming again. But it did produce several suckers that she potted.
She continued using the NEEM on all of her plants once each month.
Nanna
That is basically the mix I use as well (I've been using it on other plants) except that I use a coconut based emulsifier instead of the dishsoap. I find that it is more effective (at emulsifying) and the reports have it that the dishsoap is what the succulents hated (I thought it was the oil that did them in, but apparently it was the soap).
Watered in usually means water the soil, but if you are treating pests on the leaves, spraying would be better. The spray should coat the entire surface (leaves and stems) to be fully effective.
Great information. Thanks.
Can you "water in" a wicking well? If so, how much do you use?
Nanna
I got a Dmail with a couple of questions, but I thought I'd post here because I found a nice summary of info on neem:
http://www.ipmofalaska.com/files/neem.html
According to that, you can add it to the water and expect it to have some effect. However, you would not get the added benefit of smothering the insects.
When I spray, I use warm water. As I said above, I do not use detergent as an emulsifier, but use a coconut based solution. This is primarily because some of my other plants do not like the detergent. There are also some more recent reports that the detergent works against the oil (detergent usually breaks down oil), so it's not be best combo to use.
At any rate, make sure to dry off the crown after spraying. When I spray with neem, I put the plants right back under the fluorescent lights - have not had a problem with burning. I do not put them back if they are really close to the lights, though. And also, I haven't used them on AVs yet, so no direct experience with them... yet. Hoping to get to it this weekend.
Any thoughts on whether it would be good to add epsom salts or anything else at the same time that you spray with the neem solution?
oh, I always have thoughts....
My guess would be no - that it wouldn't be very effective. After all, neem is an oil, and the idea with spraying it is to coat the plants (I mean the bugs). In fact, some people recommend spraying off the oil after a few days with a soap spray. It would seem that the oil would interfere with foliar absorption of the epsom salts...?
That makes sense.
I was just trying to combine tasks! LOL. I used a combo garlic & epsom salt spray in my garden earlier this summer, and that worked out fine.
Sounds like the thing to do here might be to spray with neem, then follow up in a few days with epsom salt & soap?