Good Morning, neem oil should only be used at night. If sprayed on plants in the daytime, burn may or probably will occur. This has been my experience at least...

Oh, and if you have pure neem oil, I'm not sure how much should be mixed with what amount of water. My neem product from the store (which is not pure oil) instructs for 2-4 Tablespoons per gallon depending on the intensity of the problem being addressed.

Also, be sure to kill bugs on sight. Whenever I see a cucumber or other beetle, I grab it and smush:-)!!! Don't dispose of body in your garden though (wilt bacteria).

Hope this helps.

Can't think of anything that you can safely spray in the heat or direct sun. Early AM or late evening spraying only.

Dave

I was just wondering if I could even apply tonight if it's going to be hot(ter) tomorrow. Moot b/c HD didn't have it when I went to pick up more soaker hose (another 100ft). DH has been picking beetles off the edamame, but he can't keep up with the ones on the raspberry plants, lettuce, etc. I noticed lots more JB coming on the wild blueberries (I'd just spray the best-producing bushes).

I picked my first hornworm off yesterday, 2nd one this AM - gotta go check the 75 big tomato plants very carefully for more. Volunteers are on their own, and the "leftovers" I couldn't sell just got planted I'm sure don't have any yet. What do you use for hornworms? Bt? I'm afraid I'll have to spray for those too, no way I can keep up with 150-odd tomato plants picking by hand (though the fish loved that first one!).

You could most likely get away with a light spraying of neem or pyrethrin tonight, even if it's going to be hot tomorrow. I did it last night and my crops look fine.
In reference to horn worms, I just pick them off my tomatoes and kill. Some people like to sprinkle cornmeal around the base of the plants, as they eat it and die due to being unable to digest it. If you have a fish, you may want to just have some fun spotting the horn worm instead of Waldo;-)

I did see some sulfur-based sprays, and some (same one?) with pyrethrin but didn't buy them since they are not OMRI listed, and though I'm not certified organic, I do like to tell people at market that I follow organic practices.

We have a pond with some striped bass and bluegills, my DD likes to feed them crickets and worms (she dangles one end of the worm in the water and the fish takes it out of her hands).

Crickets (and small hornworms) have to be thrown in the water, but it's funny to see the fish congregate near shore whenever they see someone walking along the bank.

We joke that when they get big enough to eat, she won't even have to cast a line, the hook will only be needed to get them out of the water since I don't want anyone falling in trying to net the fish as she's feeding it! Though I don't know if we could actually eat them now - they're like pets. The kids haven't even tried fishing for them all summer.

Hey, well, I buy a pyrethrin spray that is sold at our local organics store called Farmer D. Farmer D himself told me that pyrethrin comes from a flower (chrysanthemum). His sprays are labeled compliant with USDA organic practices. I don't know which ones you are looking at though. Hope you find something...

Oh, and yeah, it's hard to eat any animal once you start to like them:-)

And the baby fry are so cute! Like tadpoles. I just hope the bigger fish (and frogs) don't eat them. I know fish aren't maternal, but the babies come over to the shore along with the bigger ones.

I agree with the other poster that it's probably safest to spray in the evening. If the spray isn't super concentrated, it might not be a problem either way--but better safe...

I personally wouldn't spray neem directly on lettuce. It will almost certainly be absorbed by the leaves, and while this substance isn't toxic to humans in small doses (questions remain about higher concentrations), why add more chemicals--organic or otherwise--to what we already take in?

Here is a link that might be useful: My Unplanned Garden

Oh, pulled the lettuce long ago, it was bolting. Planted some red leaf. Didn't spray anything. Missing fish though - spotted something I think is a blue heron.