Neem for damping off

General Discussion
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Title: Evaluation of native isolates of biocontrol agents and neem based formulations for management of damping-off in tomato.

Authors: Bohra, Burhanuddin; Mathur, Kusum.

Authors affiliation: Department of Plant Pathology, Rajasthan College of Agriculture, Maharana Pratap University of Agriculture and Technology, Rajasthan, India.

Published in: Indian Journal of Plant Protection (2005), 33(1), pages 102-104.

Abstract: “Native isolates of Bacillus subtilis and Streptomyces sp. as seed treatments and neem based formulations as seed treatment and drench were evaluated in pots for management of damping-off in tomato caused by Pythium aphanidermatum. B. subtilis isolate Ch-G-D4-1 and Streptomyces sp. Cot-coi-b-1 showed good rhizosphere competence and resulted in significantly lower disease incidence over the non-treated check, and were at par with seed fungicide, metalaxyl. Of the 4 neem formulations, neem seed ext. and azadirachtin showed good suppression of the disease. Use of integration of biocontrol agents and neem formulations for developing eco-friendly IDM is discussed.”

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I have used B. subtilis (main ingredient in “Serenade”) and found it to work to suppress many molds - not all, but many. I especially like it since it’s non-toxic.

I generally don’t have problems with damping off, so I can’t comment on that. I have not used neem on my seeds, but using it on young seedlings killed them.