Neem Oil Recipe Make Your Own
Neem Oil Foliar Spray – What is Neem Oil?
Neem is a very popular medicinal tree in India, especially in South India. The oil that is made out of pressing the seeds and the fruits of the neem plant is called the neem oil. It is used as a natural insect repellant as well as for several other medicinal uses. The oil comes in golden yellow, dark brown, reddish brown or yellowish brown colour and has a very strong odour. It is very bitter in taste as it mainly contains triglycerides that have plenty of triterpenoid properties. The most common methods of getting neem oil are cold pressing and solvent extraction.
How Does Neem Oil Kill Pests in the Garden?
It is always a big challenge to find non-toxic, safe and natural pesticides for the plants in your garden. One of the most popular oils that you can use to control the pests in your garden is neem oil. It can be extracted from many parts of the neem tree, but the oil extracted from the seeds of the neem tree is the most effective. It has anti-fungal and pesticide properties and helps in greatly reducing the threat of pests on the young plants. Spraying neem oil will boost the young plant growth. The oil has a shelf life of just one to four days in water and about 3 to 22 days when used in the soil.
The neem oil insecticide is very effective on plants when it is applied directly to the soil. As the neem oil reaches the plant’s vascular system, it will have a telling effect on the insects that are feeding on the plant. The Azadirachtin compound will make the insects to reduce its feeding or even cease the feeding of the plant. It will also help in preventing larva development and also reduces the mating behaviour of the insects. The oil will coat the breathing holes of the insects and thereby it will kill the insects.
Neem Oil Uses as a folia Spray
The neem oil is an active ingredient used to prepare Unani, Ayurvedic and traditional medicines. The neem oil formulations are extensively used to prepare bio-pesticides that aids in organic farming.
- Neem oil helps in repelling a wide range of pests like beetles, caterpillars, mites, thrips, aphids, mealy bugs, leaf miners, gnats, mites, locust, whiteflies, etc.
- A 1 percent solution of neem oil fungicide is useful and very effective against rusts fungi, mildews, black spots, root rot and sooty moulds.
How to Make Your Own Neem Oil Spray for Plants?
You should use a high quality cold pressed neem oil to prepare the neem oil insect spray. To prepare a litre of neem oil, you need to follow this simple procedure:
- Take 1 to 2 ml of insecticidal soap or mild detergent (baby soap is better) and mix it with a small quantity of warm water and then add it to the water container.
- Now add the concentrated cold pressed neem oil little by little 1 teaspoon and stir or whisk it vigorously so that the oil and the soapy water solution mix well.
- Add more water to make up 1 litre of liquid.
- Pour the prepared neem oil into an insect sprayer and shake often, spray it on the undersides of the leaves. Use it within 8 hours of preparation. Do not spray in full sun.
If you have more, you can add it to the soil around the roots.
