I’ve been reading a lot about how residual neem oil in distillate will turn it black and how it is attributed to being sprayed to close to flower but is it safe to use early in the growing season?
I am coming across several hemp pests like army worms and Japanese beetles but the only EPA listed pesticides for hemp are neem oil-based products. If my plants are only in their 3rd week of growth would neem show up in the biomass? I’m hoping to only have to do maybe 2 applications in the next 2-3 weeks until my plants are larger and I’ve disrupted the pests life cycle enough that it isn’t an issue.
@squig thanks for the advice! I am looking at using a BT spray for the army worms but that won’t do anything for the Japanese beetles which almost destroyed my elderberry crop last year. I wish I could use some beneficial insects but on a 10-acre plot that’d be expensive and probably not effective. I am attracting some naturally occurring beneficial insects like soldier beetles
Obviously pest pressure is location specific, but fwiw none of the bugs that just nibble leaves did any serious damage for me. The plant outgrows the damage. I do have strips of mowed grass between plants, which I think is a lot better than being the only green thing in a tilled field.
The bugs that did do real damage for me were caterpillars, which crawled over the buds, leaving slime and excrement that then rotted the bud away with a brown fungus. Preventative bt on the buds is a must for me.
Is diatomaceous earth a viable option for plants earmarked for extraction? I’ve used it for my personal smoke and it worked great. Mixed with water in a spray bottle, sprayed all over the plants every day for a week, then rinsed it off with water next time I watered.
Honestly when DE gets wet it becomes way less effective. DE in its dry form will cut up soft bodied and hard bodied insects and cause them to die. But when DE gets wet it will clump together and not work as well. Generally speaking you’d apply DE to the top of your pots/ soil/ coco/ etc. and once it gets wet you re-apply fresh DE
I dont doubt de is better when dry, but some home gardeners do use it as a spray. It has to be filtered a little so it doesn’t clog the sprayer. Outdoor plants get wet from dew at night anyway.
@Medicine.grower - @Autumn_Ridge_Hemp commented above that they use on their buds as a preventative spray for caterpillars so I’m assuming its safe to use during flower. I’m planning on using a neem oil based product during veg and switching to a BT spray once flowering starts
IME any full spectrum extract i have come across that ever came in any contact with neem had the most awful burnt rubber smell when dabbed this was BHO though . I would avoid neem products at all costs . It even ruined the flavor, smoothness , and quality of my first crop . The flower was greatly diminished in quality from a early spray in flower . A little background it was outdoor that received tons of rain so it should of washed off very early on but did not . Now i swear by products like plant therapy, green cleaner , and flying skull nukem . They are pricey but proven and effective . You could also try using the ingredients that are in these products and making your own recipe at your own risk trying on a sample plant so you don’t do more harm than good . All the products i listed are OMRI listed and have been used on cannabis for years . They are mainly made of soap and essential oils .