neem seed meal and fungus gnats

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vancerz

204
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anyone ever use this to stop fungus gnats in there soil or does anyone even have experience with using this period in there soil? if so how much do you mix into the soil or is it done via top dressing?

NPK is (5-1-2)
 
Neem seed meal and fungus gnats
M

mrbong73

580
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vancerz,
I have the same brand of neem seed meal. I do use it in my soil and as a top dress and as a soil drench.
I have found that it will help with the fungus gnats. I had them pretty bad a couple weeks ago in the indoor garden as well as my potted rose plants outside.
I top dressed each container with around 1/4 cup.
I also put about 1/2 cup in 3 gal or so water, let it sit or bubble it then use it as a soil drench. It took a day or two but no more gnats.
Letting the soil dry out a bit helps a ton also.

UP is the man when it comes to neem and karanja seed products and oils.
Hopefully, he will pop in with some knowledge.

mrb
 
V

vancerz

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Cool thanks for the feedback! I got air pots its almost impossible to let it dry enough to kill the gnats its there wet dream the whole pot acts as a fungus gnat hive. I dont have a problem with the big pots I can let them dry out for days at a time, but these little ones blow the roots up so I was really hoping I could benefit from adding it into my soil feeding my plants and killing them at the same time.
 
P4012157 2
U

Udyana Peace

133
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vancerz

In use neem seed meals for every plant that I grow - medicine, fruit, trees, vegetables, flowers, etc.

The specific product that you are asking about is from Dyna-Grow which distributes a very fine neem seed oil and this seem meal is the residue from the manufacturing. Dyna-Grow imports the seed meal (aka 'cake') and distribute it through a license agreement with Down-To-Earth. I used this brand for 3 or 4 years and would do so again if the organic product became unavailable.

Tip for fighting gnats (fungus and otherwise) - take 1 cup of neem seed meal and 1/2 cup of kelp meal. Put it into a mesh bag and drop it into 5 gallons of clear water. Let sit for a couple of days.

Apply as a soil drench and as a foliar spray. If you have an air pump then use an air stone and bubble it for 36 - 48 hours. You don't have to do this step but I've found that if the particles are bouncing around they seem to break down further than just sitting in water.

Something like that.

UP
 
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primeform

688
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gnatrol if your not against using pesticide. fungicides are supposed to kill the food gnats eat. ive heard good things about hydrofungicide but its a sterilizer and will kill any good stuff like root excel. other sterilizers like physan 20 and DM zone would have similar effects of wiping out the gnats food supply.
 
U

Udyana Peace

133
0
Vancerz

This link is to an article from the University of Walkato's digital libary collection in New Zealand. It's probably the best analysis of neem available to the general public.

HTH

UP
 
V

vancerz

204
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i cant + rep you anymore UP. ill check the link for sure and bubble that kelp and neem. if you stop back by whats your thoughts with karanja especially it + neem mixed into soil, seems like a couple people use the two together around the net.

thanks primeform right now gnats are not a major problem just a nuance i had no idea about fungicides killing there food supply though thanks!
 
B

Bubblemang

Guest
I found this from UP regarding karanja oil, maybe it will help:
I'm answering your PM on this thread because perhaps others can benefit from the information.

Dyna-Gro Neem Seed Oil is a very fine product and is easily sourced around the country. Unfortunately when discussing neem oils the discussion almost always revolves around a single compound in this oil - Azadirachtin

This is pretty stupid since Azadirachtin is only 1 of 320 compounds found in neem and karanja seed oils. Specifically this compound is a terpenoid - fair enough.

Having said that, Azadirachtin is only one of 20 terpenoids found in neem and karanja trees. It would be like discussing the benefit of eating citrus fruits and simply focusing on Vitamin C - pretty stupid.

The Dyna-Gro Neem Seed Oil is a very fine product and one that I've used for several years. The level of Azadirachtin specifically is 1500 ppm as per the Dyna-Gro company. And it's a cold-pressed oil which retains much of the beneficial compounds vs. the chemical extraction process used on garbage like Azatrol and Azamax.

The neem tree products from The Ahimsa Foundation (NeemResource.com) is organic. The product comes out of Southeast India in the ancient neem groves going back to the 16th Century. The Azadirachtin levels in this specific product is 4500 ppm - i.e. 3x the levels in the Dyna-Gro Neem Seed Oil

It's human food-grade, fair trade and cheap, cheap, cheap. If you hit their web site look at the horizontal menu bar across the page and hit 'Sample Packs' of which there are 3 deals available. All of them a killer pricing.

Here's the mix that I use with their products to completely, totally, absolutely prevent mites, PM, thrips, etc.

1/2 tablespoon of organic neem oil
1/2 tablespoon of organic karanja oil
1 tablespoon of Dyna-Gro Pro-TeKt (liquid silica and is the perfect emulsifier for these oils)

Mix in a 'rock glass' until you get an even solution. Add this in small amounts to 1 gallon of TEPID water (i.e. 65F - 75F) and slowly. Higher temps diminish the effectiveness of these oils. Once you get that done you now need to add a surfactant to make this mix 'stick' to the leaves and branches.

I recommend using liquid yucca extract (again you want to get organic human food-grade meaning no preservatives) - this is available at T & J Enterprises in Spokane, Washington.

Once you have the oils and liquid silica in the spray tank add 1 oz. (2 tablespoons) of the yucca extract. Close the tank and shake as hard as you can to activate the saponins in the yucca extract.

Hit each and every leaf on the top and bottom (especially) until it looks like you haven't watered your plants for a couple of weeks, i.e. leaves hanging down and generally looking pretty sh*tty. Shut down the lights and let them sit in the dark until the next 'on cycle'

Repeat every 4 or 5 days for at least 3 applications. This will break the adult-egg-larva cycle much like dealing with fleas on you dogs and cats perhaps.

If you want you can also use organic aloe vera juice and I add 1.5 ounces (3 tablespoons) to each gallon of the neem/karanja and water mix. George's is a good product and certainly inexpensive enough. It's organic and has NO preservatives. 90% of aloe vera products do use one of the following or all of them: sodium benzoate, citric acid and potassium sorbate. Cute, eh?

Both of these neem and karanja oils are the finest that I have been able to find. If there's anything better I would be happy to check it out, i.e. I'm not closed-minded on this deal.

I can't recommend these products enough and at the price in their sample packs vs. Dyna-Gro and ESPECIALLY the sh*t from a company called 'Einstein Oil' this product provides bottom-basement pricing. Einstein Oil is $65.00 for 1 pint or $520.00 per gallon.

The organic neem oil from The Ahimsa Foundation is around $75.00 per gallon. Heh......... UP
 
B

Bubblemang

Guest
For U Peace:
http://i1194.invalid.com/albums/aa378/MattRize/ahimsaneem.jpg
 
M

mrbong73

580
28
Here's some info I found on Neem. Believe it or not.

[cite]

Neem has much to offer in solving global agricultural, environmental and public health problems. It has been recognized as a valuable instrument for sustainable development. Products derived from the seeds of the Neem tree act as powerful Insect Growth Regulators (IGR). They also help in controlling several nematodes and fungi. Neem products are very effective in the control of larval (instars), through pupal stages. They reduce insect populations.

Neem products are extensive grower tested and university proven effective against aphids, thrips, whiteflies, leaf miners, mealy bugs and a host of other key insect pests. Neem products also act as natural insect repellants. Azadirachtin and other bitter compounds in Neem make insects stay away from treated plants. Many insects prefer to starve rather than feed on neem treated plants. This helps minimize overall damage to plants, especially from adults.

Neem can help reduce usage of chemical insecticides and more importantly can reduce overall insecticide usage, as Neem actually affects insects’ tolerance to other insecticides and can make them more vulnerable at lower rates. The currently preferred active ingredient of Neem – Azadirachtin has shown no evidence of insect resistance. Growers can use it with absolutely no fear of resistance when used either continuously or in combination with other insecticides.

Neem products are safe for the workers. They are no handling risks and no minimum re-entry time interval is allowable. Neem is non-phytotoxic and has no adverse effect on beneficial insects. Neem is ideal for both conventional and IPM programmes and can be used throughout the entire crop production cycle. It can be dipped, drenched, mixed with liquid fertilizers in drip systems and applied with all spray equipment including thermal fog and ultra low volume systems.


And more:

Active neem constituents can be absorbed through plant roots and systemically move upward through the plant through xylem tissues (Gill and Lewis 1971, Larew 1988, Nisbet, et al. 1993, Osman and Port 1990). This works best when sufficient quantities are applied to the root zone. Systemic effects are much less apparent from foliar sprays. Different plant species also differ widely in their ability to have systemic effects from neem. Neem constituents last much longer within the plant than when sprayed on the leaves. However, over time they will be diluted by growth. [cite]
 
B

Bubblemang

Guest
Where did Professor UP go? I went and bought this neem cake, how much was I supposed to use? I just eyeballed a couple handfuls into my mix. It smells good, which I find off because normally neem oil makes me queasy.
 
U

Udyana Peace

133
0
Bubblemang

By volume I mix equal parts of neem meal/cake, kelp meal and crab meal (crustacean if it's available as it's both crab and shrimp from the Oregon Coast - goes quick).

Mix these meals together and add 1.5 - 2 cups to 1 c.f. potting soil. Less if you're recharging the soil from a previous garden cycle.

HTH

UP
 
U

Udyana Peace

133
0
Bubblemang

On this last round of soil mixing I decided to take the advice of JK, CC1, et al. and added 10% top soil and 10% forest floor humus.

Which resulted in some flying gnats and while harmless are very annoying. I top-dressed each plant with about 1/4 cup of neem meal and watered it in. 4 days later the adult-egg-larva cycle had been broken and the gnats were wiped out.

"We don't need no stinkin' Gnatrol!"

UP
 
KILLERCHEF420

KILLERCHEF420

700
143
:evilgrin0031:Thanks for the help guys i had this very same question and posted my own thread and everything and then i found this lmao i guess i should have looked a little harder anyway you guys are a wealth of knowledge thank you very much for all the info here take care and stay high farmers

PEACE
KILLERCHEF
 
Seamaiden

Seamaiden

Living dead girl
23,596
638
I'm still seeing a lot of threads and queries regarding control or eradication of fungus gnats, in both the organic and chemical spheres. I'm bumping this thread because of my recent observations and experiences. I decided to experiment with a few things using my usual soil food web methods as they do not conflict with my organic production regimen.

First, I use yellow sticky traps to monitor numbers and types of bugs flying around.​

Second, I have, and still use mosquito dunks in my rainbarrels. This is as much for the actual mosquitoes as anything else. Using this water does NOT confer any fungus gnat control at all.​
Third, I have tried two different brands of microbe/mycorrhizal inoculants, side by side with a third non-treated control (all non-treated controls failed to sprout, so they move no further in my comparisons), in both seed sprouting and growth comparisons. Unfortunately, a slight disaster mixed everything up, so I can no longer distinguish between the two comparison groups (those planted using one inoculant vs another).​
Fourth, last week I began using Greenlight Neem oil, which I've had for at least 5yrs and is now chunky and... frankly it looks like yellow vomit when I pour it out of the bottle, but in any event it's what I found at my local Lowe's and is commonly available. I use a cheap, but effective stick blender to get this VERY WELL EMULSIFIED. I use a few drops of cheap non-antimicrobial dish soap to help keep it emulsified and in suspension. I have used TWO treatments, and the numbers of adult fliers have been cut down by over 90%. So much so that I have to disturb all areas to find any flyers.​
I used the Neem at the recommended rate of 2oz/gal (I'll need to double-check that against container directions), emulsified, and I used it on seedlings, including my veggies that had only just begun to emerge. Absolutely NO damage to the plants, but the room has a freshy, lemony scent.​
I know a lot of people are constantly battling various pests, and for me it's damn near constant with the FGs because they're just here, in my local environment and so there's no getting away from them. While they've never caused much observable damage, they are a pain in the ass and can possibly lead to other problems. Because I've got a room full of new seedlings, they need the media to be kept moist, no drying out, which obviously leads easily to a fungus gnat infestation.

So, Sea says spend $20 on a cheap stick blender and get to emulsifying your Neem oil, and you won't look back. :)
 
caligirl

caligirl

111
43
i have always had issues with either gnats, pm, mites or mold until i started using neem/karanja spray weekly as preventative up until they go into flowering. I have also watered with it on especially prone plants. This stuff works wonders and the plants love it!
 
Soil Watch

Soil Watch

6
3
I am also a Neem and Karanja believer, and use it up until the girls are ready to get pretty. Then its time for the native Beneficial Nematode: Steinernema feltiae. Granted, shipping is a bit expensive if you buy them through conventional outlets, but I get mine through a commercial outlet called Everwood Farm that has a co-op shipping program (they also carry DTE Neem seed). These little buggers are awesome! I even use them in my worm bins - and if you have a vermicompost bin you know what I mean - and a couple other species that control everything from house flies to grubs to fleas and ants around the garden and lawn areas. If you haven't used them, check it out.
 

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