Does neem oil control fruit fly?


(Australia)

Hi, does neem oil control/kill fruit fly on tomatoes?

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Does neem oil control fruit fly?

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Neem spray does not control fruit fly
by: Birgit

Yes and no.

Many gardening sites and even neem sellers state that neem oil controls fruit fly. It's an incomplete statement that can be misleading.

Spraying neem the usual way that you'd use it in the garden to deter chewing and sucking pests, no, that wouldn't protect tomatoes from getting stung.

But there have been several studies that looked at soil treatment with neem oil, and it appears soil treatment does inhibit the development of fruit fly larvae/pupae.

Unfortunately I have not been able to find any details about what concentrations they used, how much solution, how often etc. (And I live in one of the few areas in Australia that are free of Mediterranean fruit fly, so I have no personal experience with that one.)

It seems from the above study people have derived the claim that "neem oil is effective against fruit fly" or "controls fruit fly". It's the blanket statement repeated over and over online, always without any further explanations. Misleading...

Anyway, obviously soil treatment is something that needs to be started early and be kept up. And it doesn't help if there is fruit in the neighbourhood, dropping onto untreated soil... I am afraid if there is medfly in the area then you're tomatoes will get stung.

At this stage, the only truly effective fruit fly control I am aware is exclusion.

termites and white ants
by: hemant sethia

dies need control the above pests . because i have seen the termite and white ant problem on the neem tree itself . pl comments

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