How often to apply neem oil, is a matter that all plant care novices want to find out. As leaf sprays, the neem tree oil cannot be used more often than twice a week.
We have discussed various forms of using this oil on plants and how often to use them. Read on to learn why neem oil works for only a few hours once it is mixed with water.
Contents
How Frequently to Apply Neem Oil on the Plants?
Neem oil can be applied as often as once or twice a week on plants. This is after it has been diluted using the correct quantity of water. When soaking the soil with an oil and water mixture, do it as often as once every three to four weeks.
In addition, you must also consider that the neem oil mixtures need to be made as often as they need to be applied to the plants. Mixing fresh spray right before spraying plants with it would be best. This is because these sprays only have a concise shelf life of about eight to 12 hours.
– As Foliar Spray
A neem oil spray on the leaves can be applied a maximum of two times per week. The condition of the plant under pest or fungal attack determines the frequency of application.
In case of an acute attack of pests or fungus, spraying two times a week is recommended. In case of a mild to moderate problem, stick to spreading just once every seven days.
It is a mistake to think that applying this oil on the leaves daily is more effective. Instead, it will block the pores called stomata through which a plant breathes. Using more than once a week will also form a thicker layer over the plant, which heats up during the day and burns the leaves.
– As Soil Soak or Drench
This oil can also be used directly on the soil as a neem oil soil drench. A large volume of water, about two to three cups, can be used around the base of each plant. This soak can be given once every two to three weeks and not more than that.
If you suffer from pests in the soil like fungus gnats or woolly aphids, reapply the oil drench after two weeks. If you want to prevent any future attacks, then apply after every three to four weeks. Oil and water soaked in the soil are taken up by the plant’s roots and act as a systemic pesticide.
– In Pure Form
Some people like to use Q-tips to pour drops of undiluted oil directly on pests visible on the plant. Not only is this too much hard work that takes a lot of time, but it is also dangerous. Never use this method more than once a week because that is how long it will take for the drops to dry out.
Wait until the night before trying this method; otherwise, the droplets will boil under the sun and cause foliar burns. After 12 hours, a neem oil and water spray lose its pesticide and anti-fungal action.
A solution that is older than a day will not be able to eliminate pests like a fresh solution. You must go for a second or a third application each consecutive week. Old keys are even downright harmful to the plant due to accumulating disintegrated products.
How To Apply Neem Oil In Spray Form?
Apply neem oil in spray form over the leaves using a nozzle bottle. Set the nozzle to mist settings so the plant is only lightly misted. Apply all over the plant, especially under the leaves and sheaths of the stems, once a week.
– Buy the Best Ingredients
The first step is ensuring you have all the right ingredients at home. Investing in the best quality ingredients means you will have to use neem oil sprays less often. We always order the real neem oil for leaves, which should be pure and a hundred percent cold pressed and unrefined for plant spray.
For emulsifying agents, either liquid soap or silica powder is suitable enough. If the pest infestation is severe, an insecticidal soap is better suited than a dishwashing one. Otherwise, you can order a small packet of silica powder and keep it premixed with water. Lastly, one gallon of clean, filtered water must be collected in a bucket.
– Emulsify Neem Oil
Many of you tend to miss this critical step in which oil is broken into smaller pieces. This helps it to mix with water and form a robust solution against pests.
You should begin by checking the option, so pick whether you want to use silica powder as an emulsifying agent or liquid soap is totally up to you. In addition to this, you must also remember that the silica powder must be dissolved in water first and then mixed with oil. The quantity of both the oil and the silica solution must be equal.
Then, you can go ahead and take a glass of slightly warm but not boiling water and then add the oil and emulsifier to it. You will know that emulsification is complete once the oil droplets floating on water disappear entirely and this way it would be the right mixture you need.
No matter how well it was emulsified, the oil will eventually separate from water and form a floating layer of its own. All you need to do is shake the water jar vigorously to mix it back.
– Mix One Gallon of Water
How to mix neem oil for plants is one of our most frequently asked questions. Take a large plastic bucket and fill it with one gallon of water. Then add to it one to two tablespoons of good quality oil like captain jack’s neem oil or the neem bliss oil, pure cold-pressed neem oil. Mix everything and use it within six to eight hours maximum because that is how long it would last.
The problem is that more than one gallon of water is needed to let go to waste. Mixing smaller quantities of oil and water for pest control in a few plants would be best. The ratio specified by experts is one ml of oil per 100 ml of water for a safe yet effective mixture so that you would be keen and detailed about the measurement.
Once this oil is mixed with water, it begins to disintegrate quickly. It doesn’t matter whether you use simple neem oil concentrate or dyna-gro pure neem oil; they all have a short shelf life. Once mixed in water, the resultant mixture is only safe for use within the next 24 hours.
Using a neem oil insecticide spray within six to 12 hours of mixing is best. After that, it loses its effectiveness until it becomes useless after 24 hours. If the day is scorching and the mixture is exposed to sunlight and humidity, it will expire even faster. That is why it is better to make a small volume of spray to be used once because storing it is not an option.
– Spray Right
Neem oil kills all harmful bugs while saving beneficial insects when used as often as once a week on indoor plants. The key is to pour the mixture into a spray bottle and use it from a distance of seven to eight inches.
Now, after you have sprayed on it, the plant should be lightly glistening but not dripping with the spray. If the plant starts producing flower buds, avoid spraying on them.
How to Apply Neem Oil in Drench Form?
To apply neem oil in drench form, it needs to be first emulsified with liquid soap. Mixing with a gallon of water makes one tablespoon of neem oil safe for plant use. Once all three ingredients have been mixed, use it within six hours maximum.
– Mix an Effective Drench Solution
Buy neem oil from a manufacturer that is approved by the concerned authorities and sells quality products. We like to use southern ag triple action neem oil for our soil soaks. It is 100 percent organic and pure oil that works its magic after just one to two soaks.
Buy the most miniature bottle because you must finish it within six to eight months of opening. Pour one tablespoon into a cup of warm water along with one tablespoon of dawn dishwashing soap.
Mix both of them well until the oil droplets dissolve entirely, and now you will see how this is the right mix that you have to be using. After this, you can pour this mixture into one gallon of clean water to be used as a soak, and you are ready to use the oil and soak your soil to tackle the issues.
– Choose the Right Plants
You cannot pour your mixture over the roots of sensitive plants like herbs or lettuce. In suchh a case, if you pick lettuce and similar vegetables have fragile leaves that get burned each time neem oil is applied, and this is why you should know which plants you are using them on and which you are avoiding.
They also cannot tolerate this oil if you keep carnivorous plants for ornamental purposes, so keeping this in mind, you should know that it is for the sake of th plant’s health, hence limitations should be kept. Lastly, any plant that has started flowering should avoid all neem-based products, because this matter as well can hinder the blooms.
– Test the Plant First
If you cannot determine if your plant can handle this solution properly or not, you shouldn’t just decide to avoid it. In that case, mix only a small amount of oil-based spray and pour it over the soil.
This is when you must wait one day to see if the plant responds negatively to the soak. As you do so, check the state of the plant, and how you have diluted the mixture, accordingly, you must manage the next step. If it does well, no burns are showing, that is when you may go ahead and proceed with spraying.
– Applying Neem Oil Over the Soil
Unlike foliar sprays, you can use more oil when soaking the soil. Three to four cups of the mixture made can be poured around plant’s base. That is why drenches are only applied after two to three weeks because they take longer to be absorbed by the plant.
Pour each cup slowly and give it time to be absorbed before pouring a second cup. Keep in mind that this is different from watering the plants. In short, check it well again and if your plant needs water, it should be watered before its soil is drenched.
Conclusion
Neem oil is an effective pesticide for houseplant pests like spider mites. Let us summarize how often it should be used for the best results:
- Once or twice every seven days, spraying over leaves and stems is enough.
- Once every three to four weeks, spraying in a large quantity over the soil is enough.
- When applied too often, this oil has a negative effect and might cause leaf burns.
So, what are you waiting for after reading this neem oil guide, go ahead, make a mixture and use it to eliminate those pesky pests from your plants.
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