Keepitlow:

What's the objective here? Are you trying to use neem as a dormant oil spray? That would be a pretty expensive, as well as ineffective way to obtain dormant protection, since neem is a very light, thin oil. If you want to dormant spray trees, use a paraffin based oil spray of the traditional type.

And what fruit tree are we talking about here? Apples can benefit from dormant oils (aphids, mites, scale insects etc.), and pears (pear psylla), but stone fruit often need protection against leaf curl and/or bacterial diseases. So please tell us how you are using your neem oil, and what you really want to achieve.

I used pure, cold-pressed neem oil on my pome and stone fruits as a growing season spray for two consecutive years some time ago. Results were dismal. And this stuff is expensive. As far as I could tell, using neem oil delivered the same results as not using neem oil, which is to say it had no apparent beneficial effects whatsoever.

I reached the conclusion that neem oil is more about marketing than insect or disease control. Specialized "organic" pest control firms will sell you just about anything if you will send them the money. That's what it's really about.

Don Yellman, Great Falls, VA

Don - I have a few trees such as apple and pear dwarfs. Just put then in spring of 08 and was told to spray with neem so borers don't attack trees.