Safe Neem Oil Spray Step By Step

Ingredients

Although the following ingredients are based upon using 4 litres of water, you can of course size up or down the ingredients accordingly depending on your needs.

• 1 x 5 litre sprayer (or larger)


• 1 x half-pint beaker or jar for emulsifying your neem oil


• 2 x resealable glass jar or bottle (minimum of 1 litre capacity)


• 4 x litres of water


• 1 x tablespoon of concentrated cold-pressed neem oil


• 1 x teaspoon of pre-wetted silica powder (Potassium Silicate) - see step 1 for more info


• 10 x drops of certified organic Essential Oil (Peppermint, Orange, Tea Tree or Eucalyptus are good insect repellents) - optional but improves the quality of your pest spray

If you are familiar with the smell of cold-pressed neem oil and cannot handle it - some people have been known to vomit - using refined neem oil will work too!

Step 1

Our guide uses silica to emulsify neem oil as it also provides additional benefits to your plants.

If you intend on using more than one lot of spray mix, or making more in time you can mix a larger quantity of silica with water beforehand and store it safely in a cool dark place.

If doing this, you would mix approx 35g (2 1/3 tablespoons) of silica powder with 250ml of water and mix thoroughly. This silica mix will allow you to make up a further 49 batches of this pest spray at a later date.

Use one of your resealable glass jars or bottles so that you can store it. You will only need a teaspoon of this silica mix for this recipe.

Step 2

Fill your sprayer with 3 1/4 litres of water.

Step 3

Using the half-pint beaker or jar, add a tablespoon of neem oil plus 10 drops of your chosen essential oil along with 1 teaspoon of the silica mix you have already made.

Stir this solution together thoroughly until it creates a thick creamy, yellow liquid.

Step 4

Using the other resealable glass jar or bottle, fill it with 750ml of warm water. Ensure it is warm and not hot. This is important.

Pour your neem & silica solution in before sealing the jar or bottle and shaking it like mad! Like really mad, go to town on it!

Keep shaking it until you cannot see oil droplets forming on the surface and you will then have successfully emulsified your neem oil.

Step 5

Pour the emulsified neem oil solution into your sprayer and shake well.

Your pest spray mixture is now complete.