Help Emulsifying Neem oil

waterproof808

Well-Known Member
Therm-x 70 was by far the best emulsifier I found for neem oil. Find an old blender at a yard sale or thrift store and you will have a perfectly emulsified solution.
 

getogrow

Well-Known Member
What brand of neem oil are you using? Are you letting it get warm so it's liquid? I put mine in a bowl of hot water for a few minutes if it's started to get too thick. It will get solid at too cold of temperature and needs to be heated up so it's easy to pour. I also mix it into warm almost hot water.
Im using the same old health an beauty blend from ebay , i been buying it from the same folks for years. You mention it getting solid and so do others.....i seem to recall something like that years ago.... For the last 5-10 years i been storing it in the cabinets where its kinda warm but i do not recall one time where its gotten solid or even close to it. (62 or 63 degrees is prolly the coldest it gets on a cold winter day with heat turned down)
Im gonna have to switch to a "weed brand" neem like dyno. i ruined 3 more batches yesterday to make one. Its working but its taking way too much saop. Tessa is up there using the same old 1/2 tea to 3 tables and im using 1 table to 1 table. or 20ml to 15ml. Thats not right , i been playing with neem too long....something aint right.
i dump 20 mls into a metal cup.....pour a teaspoon or so of dawn. mix with a drill and homemade mixer. I can tell now by looking that its not going to work so i add 2 more teaspoons of soap and boom its emulsified.
First thing im going to do is buy some more neem oil from a damn weed company (first time ive ever had to go with a weed company for anything)
 

getogrow

Well-Known Member
I had the same issue (I'm an old head too and live and die by neem oil) and realized I had forgotten about Coco wet. It's like dawn dish soap but organic. You can add a ton of it and it won't hurt the plants.
I use silica as an emulsifier.
These are what im looking for ....i have too much ocd to use them as a replacement for soap until i get the problem figured out, thjen i do want to switch to a different emulsifier. My buddy says pure yukka is a great emulsifier. I need to get something i dont feel bad using so much of. ive seen soap damage on plants and i dont want that.
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member
I just fill the spray bottle with water, measure the neem, pour it in, add some dawn, put the sprayer on, and shake it up. It's mixed and I start spraying. I've never mixed the neem with soap and then add it to the water. I've done it the same way for years using different brands of neem oil and never had any problems. Sorry but I don't have answer to your issue.
 

xtsho

Well-Known Member

at least 12 years i been using this....
I don't see why you'd be having any issues with that product. It's just pure cold pressed neem oil. Odd
 

getogrow

Well-Known Member
I just fill the spray bottle with water, measure the neem, pour it in, add some dawn, put the sprayer on, and shake it up. It's mixed and I start spraying. I've never mixed the neem with soap and then add it to the water. I've done it the same way for years using different brands of neem oil and never had any problems. Sorry but I don't have answer to your issue.
ive always done it your way till a couple years ago , i noticed it wasnt mixing right. (it may have never mixed right and i just never noticed) So i started doing it my way just to make sure its mixed. That and i was always noticing "burns" from the neem. we both know it takes a lot more then im using to burn a leaf......and of course the burns were uneven as hell. usually burnt towards the end of the bottle. So i knew it wasnt mixing.
Thanks for your help bud! its always good to see you posting. You have been one of the backbones of this forum for many moons. thank you sir!
 

Richard Drysift

Well-Known Member
Im old , i thought normal folk sprayed with neem ? Geez time flys.
So, as a preventative, you ammend the soil with need seed meal ? Supposedly that will get into the plant and detour the mites ? thanks

Does anyone use pure neem ?
Yes. Neem seed meal. Just put it in the soil as you would D-lime or fertilizer and let it set for a month before use. It’s found in popular soil recipes like coots mix but like anything else it takes time to break down and become absorbed.
I used to have issues with thrips but have not seen any since amending with neem. I still have a bottle of neem oil left over from when I used to spray which works well as a treatment against insects. It is collecting dust. Neem seed meal is more of a preventative measure.
 

getogrow

Well-Known Member
Ok , i figured out the problem. It was the neem oil. i got some dyno gro and it smells different and actually breaks up in the soap pretty easy. I tried using yucca as a emulsifier and it didnt really work as good. I only went up to about a tsp of yucca powder before giving up and using a tad of soap.

just like ol school now , just throw it together and shake. Thanks Xtsho
now i think im gonna grab some neem meal and throw it in the mix and hope for the best. These mites are mean.
 
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