I'm no expert, but I do seem to remember in the one report I read about neem (Azadirachta indica) trees, the plants around them were still eaten by insects. Plus, all that foliage will negatively effect the amount of sunlight your veggies will receive, so I'd stick with the spray.

We were at 8 weeks on our black bean plants beautifully making their way up the trellis, when we decided to treat the leaves with Neem oil spray. A number of holes had appeared in the leaves which we presumed to be the result of aphids. We applied the Neem spray at 6pm. Instructions on the bottle asked the user to spray so that leave was saturated, and that to be effective, entire plants needed to be sprayed. The following days, the lower leaves turned yellow and began falling off. Tested soil: pH of 7.8 (slightly alkaline), and moisture meter (which shows indications of dry, moist, and wet) has the needle pointing halfway between moist and wet. I'm thinking that the runoff of the neem oil in the soil causes inability of root system to take up iron, or nitrogen, or both. Going to add 2 teaspoons of vinegar to gallon of water for next watering, and going to spread coffee grounds to add some nitrogen to soil. Any other ideas would be greatly appreciated as it is disappointing to see the plants suffer this late in the season.

"I read the label - several times. 99% of products do not like to mention their problems, the 1% that do are not around long...." If you truly believe that then it is probably best to not use anything on your garden food. Federal regulations on pesticide labeling are so over-whelming and so specific that the label usually ends up being bigger than the bottle the product is in. You don't mention the brand you are using but I pulled up the labels from the three common brands and every single one of them lists hazards to humans and domestic animals, environmental hazards, first aid, precautionary warnings, etc. including warnings about the hazards to bees and other beneficial insects. http://www.bonide.com/assets/Products/Labels/l024.pdf http://www.biconet.com/botanicals/infosheets/70NeemOilLabel.pdf http://www.fertilome.com/ProductFiles/40712%20Neem%20Approved%2005-15-12.pdf The primary ingredient in the product sold for home garden use is 40-70% Clarified Hydrophobic Extract of Neem Oil. Azadiractin is but one component of the tree Melia azadirachta L. foliage and bark. The extraction process used determines how much of that particular compound remains in the oil once processed. Dave

It looks like you have a case of root mealybugs. I have a similiar problem and I don't know exactly how many plants are affected so I may have to use some serious chemicals. In your case if you only have a small number you can unpot them, spray off all the soil and bugs with a strong hose sprayer and then soak the plant in water heated to 120 F. I would then let the plants rest in a shaded area or the garage for a few days to let any damage to the roots scab over before replanting. Use a temperature gauge to be sure the water isn't too hot. Dispose of the infected soil. Try to avoid putting plants back in areas where they could be reinfected from infected plants. I had placed a number of potted succulents togerther in a large saucer and all the plants were infected by mealybugs traveling freely in the saucer. I just read that plants housed in greenhouses with wire benches have much less problem with mealybugs. Unfortunately I just finished building new wood benches! Good luck and I hope you can save your plants.