I am using Neem oil extract (Azadirachtin 3.2%) and insecticidial soap for the longest time already, but today I did found some info that might interest you if you're also using Neem and/or insecticidal soap for spraying:
* When you use a Neem product as I do, a Neem oil concentrate with 3.2% azadirachtin (the active insecticidal compound in Neem), and the product is labelled with "EC", this stands for "Emulsifiable Concentrate". This means that the "neem oil" is dissolvable in water and does not require an emulsion.
* When you spray neem, your water/spray solution should have a ph of 4-6. (So you might need some drops of pH down for your water)
* You should NOT pH down insecticidal soap. A mix made from insecticidal soap (made from potassium salts) normally has a VERY high pH of maybe 10 or more. Again: I read several times on manufacturer pages (!) not to pH it down <8 since this could harm plants. (This contradicts some posts I read on forums where people claimed that someone "burned their plants" because their insecticidal soap spray had a high pH like 10 . <--- not true. I spray for a very long time with non-pHed soap and never burned plants with it, ever)
* Since your insecticidial soap spray mix is supposed to have a high pH, but Neem needs a rather low pH of 4-6, this also means it is not optimal (or might not work at all) to mix insecticidal soap and neem. (Which I always did in the past since I thought insecticidal soap would be the ideal emulsifier for neem oil!). So if you mix, and you pH it or you don't, it will affect either the one or the other. Either the pH too low for the soap (possible plant damage), or pH too high for neem. But you don't have to emulsify neem with insecticidal soap anyway, since a good product which is a "Emulsifiable Concentrate" doesn't need to, just use water.
* How this applies to normal cold pressed "Neem Oil" which people can get, eg. available in beauty stores or on ebay etc, is a different story! I do not recommend that people use this type of "Neem Oil" from ebay etc. at all and also wrote that already in a guide. For various reasons: not knowing about the recommended dosage using it as a pesticide is one. Not knowing whether your "Neem oil" even contains the active compound can be another. (There is some "neem oil" which doesn't - it's worthless). If it is a "natural Neem oil" and does not contain an emulsifier like a commercial neem offered as an insecticide, you cannot dilute it in water since it's an oil. (TLDR: Don't buy Neem oil for beauty etc. purposes since you don't know what you'll be getting, you don't know whether it has the active insecticidal compound in it and don't know the proper dose to use it as an insecticide.)
Commercial neem based insecticides, like Azamax etc. which contain "98% of other ingredients", these "other ingredients" are likely emulsifiers, wetting agents etc...which makes these products easy useable for water.
* If your water is too hard so your insecticidal soap percipates/flakes, use distilled water.
* You should not mix insecticial soap and neem (like I did before) and store the mix and use it. First, because of the above reasons, second, because both things should be used right away. Keeping it for a few hours is maybe ok, but it will degrade within a few days. Always make fresh sprays.
TLDR:
* Spray neem using water, not mixed into insecticidal soap.
* When you spray insecticidal soap, do not pH down the soap and do not mix neem into the soap.
* It's best when you alternate spraying insecticidal soap and Neem, on different days, but don't use them together in one spray.
(It makes sense when you use insecticidal soap first to kill adult bugs, and then a day or two later spray neem. Because if you do it the other way around, you might wash off the neem, which you don't want! And then repeat every week until everything's under control)
* When you use a Neem product as I do, a Neem oil concentrate with 3.2% azadirachtin (the active insecticidal compound in Neem), and the product is labelled with "EC", this stands for "Emulsifiable Concentrate". This means that the "neem oil" is dissolvable in water and does not require an emulsion.
* When you spray neem, your water/spray solution should have a ph of 4-6. (So you might need some drops of pH down for your water)
* You should NOT pH down insecticidal soap. A mix made from insecticidal soap (made from potassium salts) normally has a VERY high pH of maybe 10 or more. Again: I read several times on manufacturer pages (!) not to pH it down <8 since this could harm plants. (This contradicts some posts I read on forums where people claimed that someone "burned their plants" because their insecticidal soap spray had a high pH like 10 . <--- not true. I spray for a very long time with non-pHed soap and never burned plants with it, ever)
* Since your insecticidial soap spray mix is supposed to have a high pH, but Neem needs a rather low pH of 4-6, this also means it is not optimal (or might not work at all) to mix insecticidal soap and neem. (Which I always did in the past since I thought insecticidal soap would be the ideal emulsifier for neem oil!). So if you mix, and you pH it or you don't, it will affect either the one or the other. Either the pH too low for the soap (possible plant damage), or pH too high for neem. But you don't have to emulsify neem with insecticidal soap anyway, since a good product which is a "Emulsifiable Concentrate" doesn't need to, just use water.
* How this applies to normal cold pressed "Neem Oil" which people can get, eg. available in beauty stores or on ebay etc, is a different story! I do not recommend that people use this type of "Neem Oil" from ebay etc. at all and also wrote that already in a guide. For various reasons: not knowing about the recommended dosage using it as a pesticide is one. Not knowing whether your "Neem oil" even contains the active compound can be another. (There is some "neem oil" which doesn't - it's worthless). If it is a "natural Neem oil" and does not contain an emulsifier like a commercial neem offered as an insecticide, you cannot dilute it in water since it's an oil. (TLDR: Don't buy Neem oil for beauty etc. purposes since you don't know what you'll be getting, you don't know whether it has the active insecticidal compound in it and don't know the proper dose to use it as an insecticide.)
Commercial neem based insecticides, like Azamax etc. which contain "98% of other ingredients", these "other ingredients" are likely emulsifiers, wetting agents etc...which makes these products easy useable for water.
* If your water is too hard so your insecticidal soap percipates/flakes, use distilled water.
* You should not mix insecticial soap and neem (like I did before) and store the mix and use it. First, because of the above reasons, second, because both things should be used right away. Keeping it for a few hours is maybe ok, but it will degrade within a few days. Always make fresh sprays.
TLDR:
* Spray neem using water, not mixed into insecticidal soap.
* When you spray insecticidal soap, do not pH down the soap and do not mix neem into the soap.
* It's best when you alternate spraying insecticidal soap and Neem, on different days, but don't use them together in one spray.
(It makes sense when you use insecticidal soap first to kill adult bugs, and then a day or two later spray neem. Because if you do it the other way around, you might wash off the neem, which you don't want! And then repeat every week until everything's under control)
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