Neem oil giving leaf drop

[slashroot]

I guess the damage done is done. Yesterday at night right when grow lights turn off I sprayed my plants with neem oil because I've seen thrips.

The need oil was 8ML into 1L of water.

This morning I woke up and there is flowers and leaves everywhere that has fallen off. Some of the pods seem to have almost dropped too, gotten half disconnected.

There is nothing to do now right? Just wait it through?

Not so sure what I did wrong, neem has been recommended for thrips.


The morning sight!

Fatalii branch, pretty much leaf-less:

Look closely, Fatalii pod losing grip. Half of the pod stem cut off:

 

[Cayennemist]

Im sorry bro.
What brand of neem is that? Is it the premixed or was it concentrated?

I use Neem "when needed" and it seems to work but what I do is probably not normal. I spray it on very thick but then I wipe it off with my fingers so that there is no pooling.
Then in the joints where it normally gathers and sits, I give it a few good blows to blow off the excess.

This is what I use, because it was the cheapest I could find @ 14$ a bottle.

It seems to work for Aphids if you do it every time you see one, for me that's about every 2 weeks.

 

[slashroot]

Im sorry bro.
What brand of neem is that? Is it the premixed or was it concentrated?

I use Neem "when needed" and it seems to work but what I do is probably not normal. I spray it on very thick but then I wipe it off with my fingers so that there is no pooling.
Then in the joints where it normally gathers and sits, I give it a few good blows to blow off the excess.

This is what I use, because it was the cheapest I could find @ 14$ a bottle.

It seems to work for Aphids if you do it every time you see one, for me that's about every 2 weeks.

The neem oil was concentrated, I diluted it myself. The brand is Pukka organic neem seed oil, the only product available in Norway.

Right after applying the neem oil I put the fan on full throttle to dry it up as fast as possible. Did also shake the plants to remove pooling.

Weird thing is that it's only my Fatalii and Congo Trinidad that are affected. The others haven't dropped a leaf, they were sprayed the same way.

There must be hundreds of good recommended products on here but none available in Norway. Would have to get it shipped.

 

[gasificada]

I know from experience that spraying with oils can leave a coating on the leaves and cause them to drop due to not being able to breathe... I can't imagine it happening overnight though and it usually occurs after repeated use (with the exception of some thick-ass horrible botanical oils I used one time that left a permanent coating). And I don't know if that would explain pod drop either.

Perhaps the plants were ready to drop their leaves anyway (due to the thrips? or other factors maybe?) and the neem just gave them a push.

Or maybe phytotoxicity of some kind? Have you been using anything else on your plants recently? I know things like sulfur can react negatively with oils.

 

[slashroot]

I know from experience that spraying with oils can leave a coating on the leaves and cause them to drop due to not being able to breathe... I can't imagine it happening overnight though and it usually occurs after repeated use (with the exception of some thick-ass horrible botanical oils I used one time that left a permanent coating). And I don't know if that would explain pod drop either.

Perhaps the plants were ready to drop their leaves anyway (due to the thrips? or other factors maybe?) and the neem just gave them a push.

Or maybe phytotoxicity of some kind? Have you been using anything else on your plants recently? I know things like sulfur can react negatively with oils.

Thanks for your reply.

Everything has been normal lately, nothing has changed. System has just been running by itself as usual. It was my first time every spraying them since I saw a few thrips on my red manzano plant in the same system.

Fatalii and the Congo Trinidad are a bit more in the shade of the other plants because they have been over-grown. Maybe the oil didn't dry up fast enough preventing the plant from breathing?

I am totally sure it's because I have sprayed them. There has not been any other changes to them just the usual schedule. Reservoir is in good shape too.

Wonder what will happen with those two plants now. Will they drop the pods and start producing new leaves or give all it's energy into ripening the pods.

 

[gasificada]

Sorry, mate, that's about all I got!

You might be on to something though regarding the plants in the shade if they were the only ones affected. Perhaps a lack of light may have somehow rendered them "weak"--or something along those lines? (Just another theory.)

I should have added before, don't take anything I have said as being entirely correct or as being anything other than theories... I'm still a learner and only speak through limited experience!

 

[slashroot]

Sorry, mate, that's about all I got!

You might be on to something though regarding the plants in the shade if they were the only ones affected. Perhaps a lack of light may have somehow rendered them "weak"--or something along those lines? (Just another theory.)

I should have added before, don't take anything I have said as being entirely correct or as being anything other than theories... I'm still a learner and only speak through limited experience!

Sure wish I never sprayed them since the thrips wasn't doing any noticeable damage at all. There's no going back sadly.

Suggestions are always welcome I'm sure learning new things every day!

Just now that Fatalii pod fell off. Looks like a massacre. Not a lot left of the plants. Congo Trinidad has like 8 leaves and 10 pods lol

 

[gasificada]

I'm sure the thrip damage would have became noticable at some stage--that's assuming the leaf drop wasn't already related in some way to the thrips (and the neem just triggered it off somehow). But the other thing is too, some pests may not cause a great deal of damage themselves but they can be a vector of disease and other pests. Damn white fly, for example, keeps bringing broad mite to my plants (the little mite bastages hitch a ride on 'em). The white fly are never really around long enough to cause any serious damage--they appear to only hang around for a short time every year--but broad mite on the otherhand are all but impossible to get rid of and *do* cause some serious damage!

One thing I have learned is it's always better to take care of *any* pest regardless of how harmless they may seem....