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Neem Oil

Posted: Thu Mar 10, 2011 10:48 pm
by lopho.williamsii
I found some mites in my seedlings. They are between 8-10 months old. Is it safe to use neem oil on seedlings that are less a year old?

Has anyone used this on their seedlings?

Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2011 1:41 am
by PoC
I don't really have an answer to you but are they spider mites? Not all mites are harmful to seedlings from what I've seen.

Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2011 5:20 pm
by lopho.williamsii
Yes, they look like Spider Mites to me.

Posted: Fri Mar 11, 2011 5:52 pm
by dvg
Not all mites are harmful.

There are soil mites that don't cause harm to our plants.

But I can appreciate your concern if those are indeed spider mites, as they can do a tremendous amount of damage in a short amount of time.

I've used Neem oil on my more mature cacti, but I won't go as far as to advise if it is safe for seedlings.

One thing you might consider though, is bagging up you seedlings into a large ziplock bag or some other type of sealable clear enclosure and putting a piece of a used pet flea collar in the sealed bag with your plants.

You can even purchase a flea collar and just cut off a piece of it.

Try to ensure that the flea collar piece stays dry and don't put it on the soil surface that your plants are in.

The fumes from the collar will fill the inside of the sealed bag and should be sufficient to take care of any of your unwanted pests.

dvg

Posted: Sat Mar 12, 2011 1:28 pm
by lopho.williamsii
Thank you! That is a great idea and will definitely try it out.