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Originally Posted by Botanical_Bryce
Most gardeners I have talk to have mixed emotions on neem. I found it generally useless. Volcanic and dioms have worked best but I found planting things that attract predators and bringing in spiders has pretty much wiped out all my pest issues. Once in a while I get a surprise but sending in the assassins solves the problem instantly. Ill post photos of the bug farm.
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I had an army of praying mantis when I lived in MD once I figured out what those creepy looking things in my jasmine that I'd been tossing for several years weren't some form of bagworm nest. (Burn those!)
My pest devouring machines chose to come to a garden in the heart of the city where I used nothing "chemical" other than a spray of Malathion every other year or so for the worms that infected my #(**#* apricot fruits (hate those--grew them for the ex who also didn't like them so shared with a couple who ate them and the pits--both lived into their 90s) and scale on my Euonymus. (Didn't use Neem then and soap just didn't cut it.)
I was warned that bugs would eat your plants to nothing in FL and they did when I tried to garden in Jacksonville. Here in Titusville I have a clean slate. Okay, I have a yard where nobody has cultivated plants, mowed seriously and "dropped what was trash rather than bothering to walk it to the can" for over 10 years and probably more like 50. Every time it rains, more treasures come to the surface...
On my virgin land I've decided to use Neem and a bit a of soap; so far it's working.
I topped the sand (not even black sand--white nothingness) with compost from the County which is not organic because heaven knows what is in the mix besides pieces of tile and iron/steel nuggets. But I use it because to "fix up" 1/3 an acre with the compost I could make would take more years than I have on this earth.
I'm beginning to get accustomed to growing in a zone with "soil" (I now love clay!) unlike any "dirt" I've ever experienced. This old dog is learning as she goes. I'm trialing a potentially super "grape/cherry" tomato grown from a nicely shaped but typically lousy FL tasting fruit I had at a local dinner. Amazingly the grow out tomatoes are deemed by not just me to be spectacular. Sweet with enough crunch. So far the plants are laughing at the hot weather. Winner? Not quite. They look like torpedos including a pronounced point. They don't resemble the parents plus some plants have 1" fruits and others 2". Equally tasty but looks are important I know. Fortunately here in FL I have an extra season to seek stability with my prolific experiment. And I have enough space to test.
I won't change your methods and you won't change mine as long as what we do works. Right?
I'll just keep using Neem and soap...if needed, I'll pick up some DE. Looking forward to pictures of your bug farm.