Tuesday, July 14, 2015

neem oil

there is continued evidence of japanese beetle attacks on the pole beans...you can see by the leaf damage ( and i saw one but i squished the little devil before i thought to photograph it )...so it was off to the lawn and garden center to purchase some neem oil and a sprayer...normally i am against the use of insecticides , however neem oil is a bio-pesticide made form the pressed seed of the neem...an evergreen native to the indian subcontinent...it is particularly useful in battling infestations of mealy bugs, aphids, cabbage worms, and japanese beetles...it also controls some fungi and is not harmful to ladybugs and honey bees if not sprayed directly on them or on their food source...fortunately the beetles seem to only be after the beans and there are no blooms on these yet so hopefully i can get them under control before i harm any bees ( honey or leaf cutter...see fernita...i read up on it first ) and i will not be spraying any blooming plants...don't want to mess with my pollinators...more as the battle continues.

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