Neem oil in hydroponics plants is a great way of getting rid of pests and insects that may be dangerous to the plant’s health. The neem oil can thus be used on all sorts of plants grown in a hydroponic system whether in a soil drench or as a pesticide, insecticide, or just as a preventative measure.
In this article, we will take you through all the information needed for using neem oil in a hydroponic plant system so let us get started.
Contents
What Is the Best Way to Use Neem Oil in Hydroponic Plants?
The best way to use neem oil in hydroponic plants against insects and bugs is by first inspecting the hydroponic plants, and ensure you pick the right time. Then you may start preparing the neem oil spray, spraying the neem oil, and finally, applying aftercare.
Hydroponic plants are plants that are grown in a water-based mineral nutrition material and not soil. This is a very interesting approach to plant growing and can be utilized indoors and outdoors for many different plant types.
The nutrients used for hydroponic plants can come from various sources of organic, inorganic, or commercial nature. For the best way of using neem oil spray for hydroponic plants, following is a four-stepped process for you to follow:
1. Inspect the Hydroponic Plants
The first step in the process is to inspect the hydroponic plants for any diseases, infections, and infestations. This will help you understand what sort of work you need to put in for keeping your plants healthy and thriving.
Hydroponic plants catch the same infections as the soil plants do which is why neem oil works great for them. The hydroponic plants are very similar to the soil plants except for obvious reasons which is why the infections are also quite similar.
The part-specific diseases like root rot or leaf spot also occur in hydroponic plants like the way they occur in soil plants. This is the reason why many of the preventative and diagnostic treatments used in soil plants can be used on hydroponic plants.
Make sure to handle the hydroponic plants with much care because as the soil plants have soil for support these plants do not and if their root system has not developed well yet, the plant can break easily. In short, you should also be mindful that the plant is one that can go through issues and neem oil is one to help.
This will also let you know if neem oil can work on these plants or if you will need to get a more potent, industrial insecticide to get rid of the infections. Hydroponic plants are grown in a greenhouse or in a contained environment.
The hydroponic system is exposed to much more insects, bugs, and impurities than the soil system which is why you need to inspect the plants while wearing protective gear where gloves will come in very handy. You can also opt for eyewear and overalls. Wash your hands after you have inspected the hydroponic systems.
One thing to keep in mind here is that the disease or the infection in the plants has two different places to grow from, one is the actual plant site and the other is the reservoir where the water is supplied to the hydroponic system.
So after you have thoroughly checked the plant, have a deep look at the reservoir just to be sure. If the reservoir is the problem, you will need a more potent insecticidal or industrial spray than neem oil, to be keen of the matter.
2. Pick the Right Time
Choose a dry and sunny day for spraying the plants as this will help the neem oil work better. Start by spraying the plants from the top then make your way down to the roots of the plant.. After carefully and generously spraying the plants with neem oil, leave the plants be for some time.
The worst time to use neem oil for hydroponic plants is when there is the least amount of sunlight and the weather is windy. At this time the neem oil will not stay on the surface of the plant and consequently won’t work against the disease or the pests.
The best time to use neem oil on any sort of plant or tree is during the day, when the sun is shining bright, and there is no forecast of rain for at least two days or so. The rain washes away the neem oil which will result in a useless spray and a waste of time.
So when you plan on spraying the neem oil spray, make sure to first get a good look through the forecast and eliminate the rainy and windy days. Choose a warm day with maximum exposure to sunlight for an enhanced effect of neem oil on the plants.
3. Prepare the Neem Oil Spray
The second step in the process is preparing the neem oil spray that will be sprayed on the plants to remove the insects and their infection. The neem oil has a slippery nature and insecticidal properties which is why when it is sprayed on the insects they lose their grip on the plant and fall away and secondly, are affected by the insecticidal properties of the neem oil.
Neem oil is a natural oil that has the power of a pesticide and insecticide, all packed into one powerful oil and extracted from the neem seeds and tree. The natural antimicrobial chemical compound found in neem oil is called azadirachtin and is very potent against very wide and diverse varieties of insects and bugs that may harm your plants or pets.
Neem oil is thus a very effective and easily available remedy and the best thing about it is that it is non-toxic to humans which makes it safe to use, so you can use this organic oil with all confidence.
In case, you want to spray the neem oil plants with edible fruits or vegetables on them, it is best to use the neem oil that has the least amount of chemicals and preservatives in it.
This will ensure that your plants are not getting sprayed on by any chemicals that prove to be toxic later on. If you are using such a spray, make sure to wash your sprayed-on fruits or vegetables very nicely before consuming them, as some of the hydroponic plants can be fruitful ones too, so be keen when you are applying.
Additionally, you can also choose to make your own neem oil spray at home. You can do this by getting a gallon of water with two to three tablespoons of neem oil and a dishwashing liquid in a container, but make sure that it doesn’t have excessive chemical substances that may harm the targeting plants.
Mix all of these ingredients together until a solution is formed. You can use this homemade solution like you would use the store-bought one, but this solution might not have a long shelf-life as the other one because it is devoid of any and all preservatives.
4. Spray the Neem Oil
The following step in the process is to spray the plant with the solution of neem oil, either homemade or store-bought. The first thing that you will need to remember here is that protective gear is of utmost importance.
It will save you from getting any bugs or insects on your clothes and later on to your skin because it may cause allergies. Wear eye goggles, gardening gloves, overalls, a face mask if sprays are involved, and gardening boots if you plan on going inside the garden with taller plants.
For spraying, the container should have a nozzle with adjustable hole sizes because this will make the spraying much easier and non-tiring. You will also be able to use the spray more widely and with consistency throughout the plant, and it will get the issue on the plant on a greater scale.
The most important point here is that you do not put the spray inside the main water reservoir. The best practice would be to spray it near the infection, and you would be causing the plants further stress and that should not be the case.
You can use rosemary oil and lavender oil for your hydroponic plants in addition to the neem oil. Neem oil has a very strong and bitter smell which is why adding a couple of drops of oils that are pleasantly fragrant adds a good touch to the oil spray.
The rosemary oil is similar to the neem oil in a lot of ways as they both have string insecticidal properties. The lavender oil on the other hand has no insecticidal properties but it has a very nice fragrance that helps in elevating the fragrance of anything that it is added to.
If you want to experiment, you can add any sort of essential oil in your spray for hydroponic plants and see how it goes, this is because this oil can be a pungent one, so you can mix a couple of drops and it will be okay. Make sure that you test the essential oils on a small portion of the plant before applying them heavily on a broad number of plants.
5. Apply Aftercare
The final step is to apply the aftercare so that no more plants are affected. After neem oil has been applied, you can add nutrients to the water to replenish the plants. Make sure that the dead insects are taken out of the water before they start rotting and polluting the water.
The neem oil should be stored in a cool and dry place with an air-tight lid on after use otherwise there is a very high chance that it will lose its integrity and go bad. Hence, you cannot use it after a long time that you have mixed the oil with some water and soap. But you must also be sure that you would spray once or maximum twice a week, till the issue is property tackled.
Remember that the neem oil will take some time to work on your plants so be patient. It is best that you make a schedule for reapplying the neem oil on the plants every few days. This will help in a consistent supply of oil to the plants.
Conclusion
In this article, we talked about the simplest way of using neem oil for hydroponic plants but in case you missed anything, here is a short conclusion of the important points in the article:
- The best way to use neem oil in hydroponic plant bugs is by first inspecting the hydroponic plants, preparing the neem oil spray, spraying the neem oil, and finally, applying aftercare.
- Hydroponic plants are plants that are grown in a water-based nutrition material and not soil.
- The infection or the infestation may originate from the plant itself or from the reservoir.
- Neem oil is most commonly used in systems where the plants are planted in a soil medium but surprisingly enough this oil insecticide works very well in hydroponic gardening systems as well.
- The natural antimicrobial chemical compound found in neem oil is called azadirachtin and is very potent against very wide and diverse varieties of insects and bugs.
Here we come to the end of the article: how to use neem oil for hydroponics plants. We hope that this was an informative and useful article for you to read. Happy gardening!
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