[Aroid-l] Spider Mites and Neem Oil

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Thanks again to everyone who helped my buddy and I out with the mite issue. He is purchasing predatory mites and I am as well. As an invertebrate oriented person, I want to see these things.

 

There were many emails with questions about neem oil. Neem oil is from the neem tree of India. The oil is smelly and kills most insects, mites, spiders and the like pretty much instantly. I am told that in the parts of India where the tree grows, the locals brush their teeth with the twigs as the oil kills bacteria quite well. That is as may be, but I would not want neem breath, or that flavor in my mouth.

 

It can be purchased (in California) straight or as a concentrate. I use it to douse new plants before entering them into my greenhouse. I prefer diluting the stuff slightly, because if it is used straight it will kill leaves on my Amorphophallus, Alocasia, Colocasia, Anchomanes, Ulearum, Spathocarpa and Scindapsis. It really seems to wipe out mealy bugs quite well. My son and I are Star Trek fans, and since we love bad puns, our neem oil spray bottle is labeled Leonard Neem Oil.

 

Happy days,

Christopher

 

D. Christopher Rogers

Invertebrate Ecologist/Taxonomist

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