****** - Verified Buyer
4.5
I am glad I found this product. Last year I used the ready to spray Neem oil version and it was not economical but this one is a concentrate and lasts much longer. Neem oil is supposed to interrupt the reproductive cycle of Japanese Beetles. Given that one adult female lays so many eggs I am very grateful for Neem Oil to reduce their viability, in practical terms this means less grubs eating your lawn roots and less adults next year unless you are near a public park that gets watered and fertilized heavily or a neighbor is allowing them to multiply in his garden then the adults may still visit your grape vine leaves or cherry tree leaves I noticed also had the lacy look as in very damaged leaves overnight. I remove the damaged leaves by the way because they also like to revisit that area and finish what they started and also leave a brownish honeydew on the underside of grape vine leaves for other Japanese Beetles to get attracted to and so I get rid of these leaves as much as the plant can spare for survival. Since I am growing grapes they need a certain amount of leaves to stay on the vine so its important to reduce the adult beetles as soon as you see them do their damage. They love sitting on sunny leaves I noticed. I prefer the Neem Oil extract or any Neem Oil product over heavy chemical solutions handsdown to treat adult beetles and the grubs. Only thing, Neem oil does not work overnight or in a one time application like certain chemical solutions for grub control in the lawn but I have to reapply it often. After every watering basically while they are very active the Japanese Beetle adults so they do not want to lay their eggs into my lawn. What I do, I use a half quart spray bottle I like, fill it almost up with water, estimate about a teaspoon of this neem oil extract and add it to the water and then add a few drops of dish soap, shake it up and I am ready to go, any time of day if you use a very diluted version or if more concentrated only when the garden is already watered and temps are cooler as in morning/evening. I noticed an immediate reduction the next day then I saw a few adults again the following days but since I keep at it, they are becoming discouraged, probably because they want to make healthy babies and this may interrupt their reproductive cycle somehow I read. They love grape vine leaves the most in my garden, also raspberry and hops leaves, tart cherry tree leaves and even Virginia Creeper leaves and turn leaves into skeletons if allowed to proceed in no time. Then they look for a lush lawn to lay their eggs and the cycle continues until you discourage them sufficiently that they may look elsewhere. I left my lawn longer this year they do not like that and also let it dry out much more than usually and when I water the lawn I spray the lawn with it too afterwards not just the grape vine leaves etc. Sure its a lot of work, spraying this daily while the adults are active but I am seeing results and it's a much better alternative to chemical treatments. Also as a bonus this does not smell as strongly as straight neem oil and it comes out better in a spray bottle without clogging it. And I noticed that it reduces mite damage on my veggie plants as well as mildew on my lilac leaves is gone. So to summarize I do not use it as concentrated as I could but pretty much daily one half quart spray bottle mix gets emptied, I have a nice size garden with lots of plants, during the months like July/ August when Japanese Adult Beetles do the most damage in my garden. They only started last year but in no time I had a lot of beetles sitting on my grape vine and the leaves looked horrible within a couple of days last year. So I researched what the beetles were and what would be effective and a safer alternative to chemicals and got the ready mix Organic Neem spray I found locally as well as the Organic Insect killer with Pyrethrin. I preferred the Neem oil since it does not necessary kill insects instantly like Pyrethrin so Pyrethrin is even more harmful for beneficial insects but both bottles were gone in no time. The Pyrethrin was good reducing damage from smaller insects on my veggie plants leaves but not economical enough for the Jap beetles and of course I also have a yogurt plastic container with lid filled with soapy water to shake the Jap Beetle adults into as needed then close the lid since Neem oil seems too weak to kill them instantly the recommendation is to drown the adults. You are still supposed to spray the adults you see sitting on a leaf directly with Neem Oil Extract because it affects the health of their eggs they plan on laying into the ground. So the 1-2 combination of Neem Oil Extract and soapy water container really works for me. Key is to start spraying as soon as you see adults sitting on your leaves. Then much fewer will come around especially if you keep at it daily. Not my favorite activity but effective and my garden looks great. One bottle of this Extract concentrate lasts me for several months, almost a whole season I would say. Compare this to the price of milky spores and nematodes and this is the more economical choice. Compare this to chemicals like Sevin or Grub-Ex etc. and this is much less harmful in comparison for pets, beneficial insects and the fruits and veggies., just don't spray beneficial insects directly. By the way its supposed to work for leaf and grass hoppers too but they are still hopping around making larger holes into some of the same plants but as soon as I am about to spray them directly they hop away fast, but they come back looking unaffected so far. So even though it is not perfect or pure by far, it is definitely a safer alternative to most of the competition when it comes to Japanese Beetle control. I could also get a bottle of Neem oil and make my own spray insecticide with dish soap and water and a spoon of neem oil but it would be more smelly, neem oil has a distinct odor that this extract does not have so much and also mixing oil with water directly is more messy. This product being more watery than oily does not clog my spray bottle. I will buy another bottle before the current one runs out and I found it at a better price this year locally at a home improvement chain store while last year I got a better deal on Amazon. Neem oil is also supposed to keep ticks and fleas away so it has several benefits just do not expect perfection and a one time application and you are done for a while, no, it's a safer choice than heavy chemicals but also requires more frequent application. The results in my garden speak for themselves. My plants look healthy regardless and I am harvesting a lot of grapes already, just have to watch the squirrels, they are trying to get them before they are ripe while the birds like to wait until they are more sweet. I hope I will have less Japanese Beetles next year, will keep refining and learning as I go.
