i ask ...

doesnt neem oil.. smother them ..

if so ... its done is job.. what difference does it make if you now wash off the extra ...

it isnt the la brea tar pits .. wherein new ones will waddle in and get stuck in it .. eh??? ... lol ..

that said.. i am surprised oils are used in summer .... or is this one specifically rated for such ...??? curious minds want to know!!! seems like you have the same potential to smother the plant as the bug ????

i am hungry for knowledge.. and not familiar with such.. feed me!!!

ken

Neem doesn't have any residual effect. You have to hit the bugs with it to kill them so washing the dead bugs and neem off won't hurt anything.

buyorsell, thanks!

Ken, based on everything I've read, neem oil is harmless to plants, birds, animals and people. It is supposed to be an effective fungicide as well as an insecticide. It has been used in India for a long, long time.

From Wikipedia:

Formulations made of neem oil also find wide usage as a bio-pesticide for organic farming, as it repels a wide variety of pests including the mealy bug, beet armyworm, aphids, the cabbage worm, thrips, whiteflies, mites, fungus gnats, beetles, moth larvae, mushroom flies, leafminers, caterpillers, locust, nematodes and the Japanese beetle. Neem oil is not known to be harmful to mammals, birds, earthworms or some beneficial insects such as butterflies, honeybees and ladybugs. It can be used as a household pesticide for ant, bedbug, cockroach, housefly, sand fly, snail, termite and mosquitoes both as repellent and larvicide (Puri 1999). Neem oil also controls black spot, powdery mildew, anthracnose and rust (fungus).

Neem oil will not hurt the plants unless applied in the heat of the day. Aphids can be washed off with plain water applied with some pressure, and for that reason I never use oil for aphids. Al

Bull*** Neem oil *effectively* controls blackspot....do you really need to ask me how I know?

I am quoting from a different post here on Garden Web...

"Some users of insecticides feel the need to observe the instant results of their efforts in order to be convinced of the effectiveness of what they are using. The application of neem derivatives does not provide this immediate gratification. There is virtually no knockdown (instant death) factor associated with its use. Insects ingesting or contacting neem usually take about 3 - 14 days to die. Its greatest benefit; however, is in preventing the occurrence of future generations. It is also interesting to note that in studies it was found that when doses were given, purposefully insufficient to cause death or complete disruption of the metamorphic cycle, up to 30 surviving generations showed virtually no resistance/ immunity to normal lethal doses, so it appears that insects build no �resistance� to azadiractin. "

The post about Neem Oil that I quoted from is really worth a read. It was posted by someone named AL FASSEZKE. Search his name and you will find it.