Friday, April 20, 2012

Neem Spray

image from ag.arizona.edu

Trying to get rid of pesky bugs in your garden naturally?

Who wants to use harsh chemicals on veggies knowing that they will be eating them in the near future? NOT US! We've tried a lot of different organic pesticides to keep these pesky little buggies out of our garden, but they never work and sometimes even damage our plants (sorry Thai hot pepper, RIP.)
Not to worry, we have found our saving grace in the form of neem oil. Neem oil is pressed from the seeds of the neem, which is a type of evergreen native to India, and is perfectly safe for organic gardening.
Potency of your spray can vary on how persistent your bugs are, but we would suggest about a teaspoon of oil to a quart of water to get started. Combine the ingredients in a spray bottle and spray directly onto the leaves of the plant, followed by wiping off the bugs with cloth. Just remember to shake up your bottle every time you spray because the oil and water will separate. Bye Bye spider mites!
The only thing we have noticed that neem isn't taking care of is ants. At the moment we are urban gardening, so everything is in pots on cement. To get rid of the ants all we did was soak a q-tip in 100% pure tea tree oil and run it along the  rim of the pots and voila, no more ants!
Repeat treatment once a week or more if necessary.
Hippie gardening y'all!
 

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