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Neem as Soil Drench Systemic
Here's a USDA summary on neem oil soil drenches for control of root weevil:
http://www.nps.ars.usda.gov/publicat..._NO_115=124481 It's rather technical, but it boils down to fairly high saturations seriously retarding the growth rate of root weevil larvae. Neem in feed baits, however, worked better without having to change the character of the soil. Most claims that neem as a soil drench functions as a systemic pesticide come from industry propoganda & gardeners who've believed mere labels. A few good studies exist which suggest that when soil drenches when used for specific purposes they may have some positive benefit. A general soaking for no reason than there MIGHT be insects to get rid of is not something that should ever be done to a healthy garden, though packagers & manufacturers of neem products would sure like you to do it anyway. Because neem is relatively recent in American gardening, it may seem odd to realize that in Asia Minor neem tree growers & extract manufacturers are the equivalent of the old Rubber Barons, politically very powerful, regarded as Brahmanic religious leaders even when they are primarily businessmen seeking riches, & funding even major universities in India for the sole purpose to find out nice things, & cover up bad things, about the Neem Barons' source of billions. Last year when Australia decided to put it on the list as a poisons as a Schedule 5 toxin (equivalent of RoundUp) to be used with caution (and as Schedule 7 dangerous poison in high concentrations), the Rubber Barons got their lobbying "experts" & religious wackos out by the hundreds to pose as organic farmers & ecologists whose only desire to was to keep access to this toxin unrestricted. Toxic information can be downloaded from he http://www.health.gov.au/tga/ndpsc/neem.htm Use of neem as for any other chemical pesticide or fungicide should be as needed or for specific purposes, for example: Spring surface-coating of neem oil has also been used under roses to reduce the amount of blackspot that reaches the rose leaves, but seems to be a matter of gluing the spoors to the soil rather than outright fungicide. I wouldn't use it as a systemic insecticide as soil drench or for any other purpose, as it would harm as many benificial as harmful insects, & cast an imbalance over the garden that would in the long run cause population explosions of harmful insects. That's certainly what happens in gardens that make themselves reliant on chemical pesticides, & no reason to suppose neem by right of being a "natural" chemical would be any different. For example, a North Carolina State University study found that flea beetles which attack some root-vegetables such as radishes can be controlled with neem soil drench, though what would work better is parasitic nematodes, which neem will also kill -- better to encourage a healthful nematode population than to kill the beneficial with the harmful. If one starts using neem or any other insecticidal product willynilly even when there is no evidence of harmful insects, that leaves mainly what is beneficial to kill. Organic gardening should not just mean finding "natural" toxic chemicals with which to continue the same unhealthful practices encouraged by the pesticides & chemical industry generally. ----- ----- A RELIGION CALLED NEEM WORSHIP Throughout India today it is believed that small pox has vanished because of the use of Neem, due to the protection Neem imparts from Sitala the Pox Mother. Anyone thinking straight would say that small pox vaccinations had something to do with it too, but that's not the common belief. Malaria, measels, & most other diseases are treated with neem. It is the first-choice of cure for measils & chicken pox all sorts of illnesses & skin conditions, treated by means of bathing in neem, & pretty much everyone believes in it though it has no ability to treat these illnesses. If a sick person recovers (when the otherwise untreated disease runs its course), than Mahadevi did it, because She is Great! If the sick person does not get well, must've ****ed off Mahadevi somehow, she can be one mean mother after all with human blood all over her fangs. Nearly everything out of India about Neem is inspired by this faith, & even scientists must recite the litany "It has been used for thousands of years without ill effect." Yes, & neem garlands have been woven for the necks of shrine divinities for thousands of years, & that's why India still exists but Rome has fallen. The chemical toxin in neem is called azadarachin (ADA) & is by no means harmless to people or animals. If you read the small print on the neem labeling, those are not put there because the manufacturer was feeling cuddly & wanted to warn against extremely unlikely possibilities; they are forced by law to include these warnings because the product is toxic. There are many other probable problems with Neem that have not been sufficiently studied outside of religiously-motivated neem-baron-financed studies in India, so the list of things to worry about may get longer over time. Here are some of the harmful effects the manufacturers have already copped to: 1) Neem easiily damages & occasionally kills plants, & is especially harmful to impatiens, hibiscus, some roses, dianthus species, & olive trees. 2) Neem is not recommended for use on edible plants or in areas where food is prepared, because poisonous when injested. (In India they eat it as a religioius sacrament to the Goddesses Sitala & Durga & Marriamme, use it in all sorts of herbal medicines, but these are not safe uses.) 3) Harmful when absorbed through skin (old recommendations to rub it on your arms & legs as a mosquito repellant are no longer on the labels; it is still nevertheless to be found in skin creams & shampoos imported from India). Much contradictory information can be found on the web about the safety of skin contact -- promotors want to say its safe for ANYthing -- but on the label itself, the only place where the information counts legally, it states categorically that it is harmful when absorbed through skin. 4) Harmful to bees & many other pollinators. 5) Contaminates water, banned for deliver use in irrigation systems. What is clearly the case is that the standard industry claim that "Neem's natural properties pose no danger of toxic reactions" is a falsehood. At best it is a matter of degree of toxicity. Many other problems may turn up in the near future as testing continues in America and Australia withut the Indian Neem Barons' political mightiness securing exclusively positive findings. Some industry claims are already known to be disengenuous. It is widely asserted that birds that eat insects killed by neem are not harmed. What they don't mention is that birds that eat seeds & berries that have been sprayed with neem ARE harmed. An Indian study indicated neem might benifit the livers of rats that had had their livers experimentally damaged -- a study conducted by a man who believes that he can go to a special heaven called Suryalok & live there for three times longer than the age of the earth, if only he plants a neem tree -- & the result of this study is that neem is now marketed world-wide as a cure for every conceivable liver ailment. EPA is behind the curve on this one, having relied on too many India "studies" unquestioned even when they literally begin with with prayers to the Goddess of the Neem Tree, at health & horticultural institutes whose "scientists" & "doctors" all have theology degrees exclusively. I kid you not. EPA granted tolerance exemptions for clarified hydrophobic extracts from neem oil on food & produce (Reg. No. 11688-8), on the basis of studies conducted & selectively submitted by neem manufacturers. This was in 1995 & the EPA has still not sought out independent evidence of safety, as the Australian government HAS done & found the safety claims more than a little suspicious. EPA was suspicious enough to leave neem off the list of mosquito repellants that can be sprayed on the skin. This restriction against use annoys the neem promoters a great deal, who have produced literature proving citronella is a deadly toxin but neem is safe. Reality is that extracts of pine, citronella, or neem all have the possibility of grim effects especially if used outside clearly defined dilustions & approved purposes. Neem manufacturers want you to believe all the warnings against trival products are extremely true, but none of the warnings against their own product are true. They'd like to be able to tell you to eat it, bathe in it, & incredibly even stuff it up your ass -- which they do tell people to use it for in India & Africa, but cannot legally tell Aussies & Yanks to do the same. In America, the EPA won't allow it, even though, as the neem promoters keep squeeling, it's been eaten, bathed in, & stuffed up the asses of people in India for thousands of years, & that litany is all they think anyone should know. The Neem Tree as earthly embodiment of the adeviam, or Mahadevi (Great Goddess), is inherently expected (in India) to also be dangerous, as Mahadevi is the Great Slayer as well as the Great Healer. In India it is no big deal that by using neem for fifty different things every day of your life might cause injury, as one risks the wrath of ones Adeviam in order to earn Her Blessing. Indian research on the Neem is rational in the same way that "scientific" archeology done on the actual Noah's Ark is oh-so-credible credible because it was undertaken by archeologists from Brigham Young University. The Brigham Young mythifiers were motivated by the Book of Mormon; the hindu mythifiers are motivated by the Vedas. The first purpose is religious; the second goal is to find out something nice, that can be pounded into a scientific context, that conforms wholy to the religion. The primary Great Mother of Neem is named Sitala, though Durga also sometimes bares a Neem leaf in one of her many hands, & just about any god or goddess (but especially those associated with death & illness) can be honored by being garlanded with neem leaves & berries & flowers. Sitala has fangs & a ferocious face & she causes pox diseases, drought, & general harship, but she also has the power to avert pox diseases, drought, & hardship. After funerals, for strictly superstitious reasons, a neem leaf is chewed to ward off deathly spirits, & neem is used for all kinds of spiritual cleansing & as proof against demons, & burned so that the smoke will scare away demonic microbes. "Scientists" end up recommending the scattering of neem leaves at the doorways of houses after a funeral or family illness or as a healthful fumigant to kill germs. Neem propogandists such as at www.neemfoundation.org (which funds neem research IF it conforms closely to the Neem Foundations glowy religious believer-attitude) & scores of others have flooded the world wide web with intentionally misleading information (it was a conscious decision by by the Neem Barons to do this, emulating the long-term Monsanto program to flood the net with misleading, paid-for, false, & selective data). Never trust any information that is not backed with a specific study from independent university health sciences departments or horticultural extensions or toxicologists. In the end it may hold up as way safer than similar chemicals if one must resort to chemicals. If it were a choice between pine sol or neem, I'm willing to believe neem would be the better choice -- but the evidence is not that promoted by companies & organizations with financial & religious motivations. More non-religious studies are going to be required before we know for sure. The horticultural studies I've read on neem have found it useful in some few specific cases, most of which find it less useful than other alternatives however (it can treat powdery mildew for instance, but not nearly so well as can a spray of dilute milk). In India the REAL value of neem is in scattering demons. All other uses in cosmetics, shampoos, herbal remedies, baths, & agriculture are informed by this belief that it gets rid of demons & death-spirits. In the west, we are likely to find its uses somewhat fewer. -paghat the ratgirl -- "Of what are you afraid, my child?" inquired the kindly teacher. "Oh, sir! The flowers, they are wild," replied the timid creature. -from Peter Newell's "Wild Flowers" See the Garden of Paghat the Ratgirl: http://www.paghat.com/ |
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