Il neem è una pianta eccezionale forse la miglior medicina per piante, animali e esseri umani. È considerata una delle piante più impo...Read Morertanti nel Forest Gardening, da diffondere con assoluta priorità, come consigliato dall' Organizzazione mondiale per la salute. L'ho vista crescere in zone desertiche e di forte salinità, sebbene perda le foglie poi rigetta vigorosamente alle prime piogge o irrigazioni. Molto resistente, non soggetta a patogeni, resiste a qualche grado sotto lo zero. Si moltiplica per seme raccolto non appena maturo perchè perde la germinabilità in una decina di giorni. La zona di coltivazione più vicina all'europa sono le Isole Canarie (Tenerife, Fuerteventura).
This is a great tree to grow
for its many uses.
i love the smell of the leaves when cut.
i like the look of the smal...Read Morel soft leaves too.
it grows fast, and though ive read overwatering can kill it
it has rained here 15 of the last 20 days
and its shown no problems (3gal conmtainer)
my understanding is it shows signs of stress at 40F
and damage at 30F
though, it can survive down to 24F or so, and come back from the roots.
but i wouldnt suggest this... i may have no choice.
as it can get big, and i want to plant it out.
Here in New Orleans we do get 26 to 28F type temps every few years. Hopefully it will be large and strong enough by that time, that it will handle those temps. i can only give it minimal protection.
It's doing rather well indoors in partial sun and it does not have any pests like it used to. I think this is beca...Read Moreuse young plants simply do not have enough alkaloids to combat pests, but now it's older and seem to repel mites and mealies as well.. Im keeping it in partial sun otherwise it grows too fast and keep it in very airy organic substrate.
Watering can be reduced once the tree is older and is pretty drought tolerant. You need to let the pot dry out before watering it and once it's dry just keep it dry for a few days (unlike most plants) . Very reliable indoor plant if you have the space and very ornamental.
I am taking cuttings and grow a few indoors combined with nicotiana rustica to repel any pests.
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Bought the plant for indoors cultivation, main reason is the medicinal usage and i liked the look of it ( it is a beautiful tree , even at young age) . It has hundreds of usages from cosmetics , toothpaste, fungicide to pesticide and the list goes on and on.
Don't get me wrong this plant is really durable and tough but also overrated when it comes to indoor cultivation. it does have some strong positive points but also some huge weakspots
This plant is a mite magnet, no matter what i do mites always come back to haunt this plant which is quitte peculair considering it is a drought tolerant plant that contain natural insecticides ( neem). i think only mature specimens contain large amount of these compounds , or maybe indoors they just have less which make them prone to insect attacks.
This plant is not for beginners because you can easily kill it by watering too much and if kept too dry in certain seasons or temperatures its leaves will dry up and the plant may go dormant. They can defoliate when this happens and it can take a long time or short time before dormancy breaks. Overwatering can cause sudden death , there is no margin for error here and you have to be really carefull. I often put my finger in the pot and look at the plant if it needs any water, if im in doubt i just wait for a few hours and i check it again - if i do decide to water it i water it sparingly, just enough water to keep it alive. That is how you should water this plant, water it just enough to keep it alive and one good soak every 2 weeks.
It grows reasonably fast but the root system goes rampant. im not sure if it has somekind of taproot but you have to put it in a very big container or repot it 2 times yearly in a container at least double or triple the size of the old one. This plant has no issues with repotting , matter in fact i think you can easily kill it by letting it get rootbound.
During winter i keep my room cool , i never use the heater and my living room is filled with plants causing higher humidity. the lowest temperature inside my house is during low winter temperatures, early morning it gets as low as 10 C inside and it warms up quickly as the day progress because my windows are situated on south and southwest.
I think the reasonable humidity with colder temperatures kept this plant alive , i think it needs a period with lower temperatures. i do not ventilate it in winter but i do ventilate it alot in spring, summer and autumn.
On long term im not sure about this plant , i think it gets too big too quickly but that's what some people like. Neem tree looks way better than radermachera which is a horrible insect magnet and in my opinion a throw away plant. Neem tree is a interesting plant.
I planted 5 seeds on my south facing balcony in potting compost after scarifying the seeds, and after 25 days one seed germinated. In the...Read More first 10 weeks it was growing fine, and the tap root was pushing it's way out of the drainage holes in the pot, so I repotted it then brought it inside as the autumn winds were getting up. I put it in a south facing window were it's leaves promptly turned yellow and all fell off! I left it alone, only giving it a half cup of water every 10 days or so (when the earth felt really dry) and noticed just yesterday that it is sprouting new leaves! (8 weeks after losing them all!)
Has this happened to anyone else? I think maybe it was too much stress repotting AND bringing inside all in the same week. But it is looking healthy again now. I'm looking forward to it getting it's beautiful umbrella shaped canopy again.
I have raised this tree since it was a baby.
It is now 10 years old. And i am now in the process of collecting the seeds for start...Read Moreing new ones. I use the plastic netting that they sell in grocery stores for oranges, for holding the seeds while they mature so the bats or birds do not take the seeds.
It has a beautiful scent that reminds me of the orange trees in Fla. Heavenly scent!
I grow it here in AR. on my porch when temps are nice.
It is almost time to bring it back in for overwinter here, if the temps get any lower. It likes the south sun in winter here.
I make natural soaps and tea from it so far.
I have baby neems that have just sprouted from my viable seeds.
I LOVE this tree!
Hamilton Township, NJ (Zone 7a) | July 2012 | neutral
I have a neem seedling that I have not overwatered, potted with a *bit* of Plant-Tone, had been sheltered from excessive sun (but now is ...Read Morein full morning sun) and is looking rather frail. Not dead. Not dying. Just frail.
My 6' tall neem tree is in a container, which I kept outdoor in the back patio during the summer. I was curious to find out whether neem...Read More would repel mosquitoes as some has claimed.
My findings after a number of times I was outside doing BBQ or watering plants in the last 2 months:
- within 6' radius, there are virtually no mosquitoes.
- within 14' radius, there are significantly less of them buzzing around, in comparision to other years.
I hope these findings confirmed that neem does make a different, not because of other factors. Given the threat of west Nile virus spreading via mosquitoes, I'd love to have dozens of the neem trees to guard the yards, in that case.
I enjoyed my neem tree in any case, mistaken miracle or not.
I just wanted to share a little of my experience with the neem tree that I have been advocating, researching ...Read Moreand promoting for almost two decades in the USA and Africa, as well as India where the laudable Neem Foundation organization contributes significantly to this cause through their World Neem Conferences events.
I am from Senegal, West Africa (residing in Texas) where recent US project reported in 2003 a Senegal national park of 18-20 million adult neem trees. Also in 1992, USAID funded an international ad-hoc panel to investigate neem worldwide with a stunning finding of the Senegal neem quality superiority in azadirachtnin content (9mg/gram of Neem Seed Kernel; NSK). Check out the book: "Neem. A Tree For Solving Global Problems" (page 33). Another good reference (if not the Neem Bible) is: "The Neem Tree And Other Melioacious Plants Source of Unique Natural Products for Integrated Pest Management, Medicine, Industry and Other Purposes". H. Schmutterer, Ed.
I am glad one of the contributors mentioned the misguided approach of naming Chinaberry: "Neem". A very big botanical err that could lead to, not only health hazard for using the wrong tree, but also on environmental "noxious" plantation. They are of course from the same family but from two different orders: Melia (for Chinaberry) and Azadirachta (for Neem).
It is seldom to encounter oral toxicity with neem (if used properly) since its oral LD50 is > 5000mg/kg, which puts it on the Category IV pesticide according to EPA. There is also a recent EPA clearance of cold-pressed neem oil for food crop use in the USA, a very big victory for the neem Code 025006. USA/EPA. Office of Pesticide Programs; Biopesticides and Pollution Prevention Division. 2009.
Neem has a huge market share to claim: environment: Carbon Credit, pollution prevention or alleviation; Comestic: soap, skin lotions and creams; Health: toopaste; malaria, diabetes, cancer prevention; nutrional supplement. For example: as antioxident: Neem leaf powder: 357 ORAC. Neem bark powder: 476 ORAC. Extract using Sesame oil: 430 ORAC, compared to Garlic: 46, Cranberry: 95. Green tea providing about 814 ORAC.
As biopesticide, neem is a green beneficial component in IPM. In fact a USA report indicated an LD50 of 7600mg/kg, compared to Sevin dust, a carbamate (246-283 mg/kg), Rotenone and Pyrethtrin (the latter from the Chrysanthemun): 1500mg/kg, Asprine (1200mg/kg) and even table salt: 3320mg/kg). A good reference for toxicological properties.
As already known in India as "The Village Pharmacy", "The Wonder Tree", and in Africa as "The Cure For Fourty Diseases", I usually start my presentations in Neem meetings by saying that "We are sitting on a Green Gold Mine. It's Time to Get Up and Sart Digging".
For more info about neem, there are several good and very informative websites: http://www.neemfoundation.org (India based); http://www.africabound.org and http://www.senegalneemfoundation.org (USA and Africa based) that I promote very proudly. I can also be reached from this email if you have any additional questions or subjets to address pertaining to this or other ethnobotanical species in Africa.
Other common names are: margosa tree, Indian lilac, and balnimb and is in the same plant family as mahogany .. and is . Among other thing...Read Mores, its wood is used for timber, its bark for fibre and its seeds for fuel.
Neem trees are planted to provide shade and prevent soil erosion. Its wood can be used as a substitute for true mahogany, because it is heavy and similarly red in colour. Neem trees provide a very durable lumber .. so, is excellent for making carts, agricultural tools, bridges and for boat building.
Neem is also a good plant used for making poles because it will re-sprout after it is cut, and is thus easily pollarded or coppiced.
The bark of the Neem tree, is rough and its color can be pale to greyish-black. The tree produces a useful wood with a built-in pesticide.
Its leaves are alternately arranged with long, slender leaf stalks .. with the edges of the leaves usually found to be toothed. The leaves are used as a pesticide, insect repellent and medicine.
Neem oil is obtained from the seeds.
Hardiness:
Neem needs a heated greenhouse or very warm window sill. Minimum temperature required is around 18°C (64.5 degrees Fahrenheit).
Propagation:
From seed. Sow seeds in a pot, cover with 2-3 cm (to 1 1/8 or so inches) of compost and keep warm inside a sealed plastic bag. Germination should take about 3 weeks at 20°C (68 degrees Fahrenheit).
Cultivation:
Pot the seedlings, once they are large enough, and move into bigger pots as are needed. Neem responds fairly well to being trimmed and can be grown in a 45cm pot for some years in a heated glasshouse. Prune large plants in spring, and lightly prune again later, if necessary. Water plants well in the growing season and feed using a general liquid feed.
* Safety *
Some people are allergic to neem, especially to the ripe seeds and mature leaves, so be careful handling this plant. The seeds can cause stomach upsets if accidentally eaten. Large quantities can cause severe sickness. They should be kept out of the reach of children.
Additionally .. there are some reports of allergic reactions to neem products. This could be because another species called Melia azedarach or chinaberry, is also called neem and could have been used in medicinal prescriptions instead of Azadirachta indica. Melia azedarach contains compounds that are thought to be more toxic than those in Azadirachtin indica. The use of the common name 'neem' to describe two different species of plants, can be confusing.
Il neem è una pianta eccezionale forse la miglior medicina per piante, animali e esseri umani. È considerata una delle piante più impo...Read More
This is a great tree to grow
for its many uses.
i love the smell of the leaves when cut.
i like the look of the smal...Read More
|UPDATE
It's doing rather well indoors in partial sun and it does not have any pests like it used to. I think this is beca...Read More
I planted 5 seeds on my south facing balcony in potting compost after scarifying the seeds, and after 25 days one seed germinated. In the...Read More
I have raised this tree since it was a baby.
It is now 10 years old. And i am now in the process of collecting the seeds for start...Read More
I have a neem seedling that I have not overwatered, potted with a *bit* of Plant-Tone, had been sheltered from excessive sun (but now is ...Read More
My 6' tall neem tree is in a container, which I kept outdoor in the back patio during the summer. I was curious to find out whether neem...Read More
Hello there!
I just wanted to share a little of my experience with the neem tree that I have been advocating, researching ...Read More
Other common names are: margosa tree, Indian lilac, and balnimb and is in the same plant family as mahogany .. and is . Among other thing...Read More