by Jill Henderson 
Among the billions of plant allies that have ever been used by the human race, there are few that are as revered and honored as the neem tree. This hardy, drought-loving tree is known to have been used for so many different things that a list of all the ways it can and has been used to aid humankind could easily fill dozens of pages. Suffice it to say that every part of the neem tree is used as food, fodder, medicine, and shelter. It has also been used for building and making many useful things, not least of which are deep-seated spiritual and cultural traditions.
Ancient History of Neem
It is often said that neem is native to the Indian subcontinent, which encompasses the countries of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, but its earliest origins actually begin with the legend of the sunken Dravidian island civilization known as Kumari Kandam or Lemuria some 50,000 years before Christ. Known as nimba in ancient Sanskrit, the neem tree has always been a vitally important plant to East Indian cultures. The Hindu Vedas suggest the neem tree was the creation of a sublime deity whose love and compassion for human life was manifested in a single drop of heavenly elixir from which the “miracle tree” grew. This wondrous tree not only grew where other trees and plants would not, but every single part of it was enormously useful to humans, animals, and the earth itself.
Siddha medicine, often referred to as Tamil medicine, eventually developed into what we know as Ayurveda—which is among the oldest known medical systems in the world. Nimba is so ancient that it can be said that the very roots of every branch of natural and allopathic medicine known to man are deeply and ritually entwined with those of the sacred neem tree. It has even been suggested that many bodhisattvas, including the Buddha, utilized the divine shade of the neem tree to achieve enlightenment.
After hearing such a glowing description of neem, you might almost expect it to simply materialize out of thin air and shimmer like the spectral visage of Devi, mother of Shiva. However, unless you sit under a neem tree and meditate until you reach enlightenment, you’re more likely to see a simple but attractive tree that in some regions of the world is so prolific that it is considered a weed. Because of neem’s versatility, astounding medicinal properties, and ability to grow in the most desolate of places, the tree was spread far and wide. As people moved, so did the neem tree. It traveled by way of land and sea through ancient trade routes for thousands and thousands of years. Today, the ancient neem tree can be found growing in more than thirty countries.
Botanists refer to neem by its Latin name, Azadirachta indica, which was derived from the Persian words azad, which means “free,”and dirakht, which means “tree,” to describe what the local people thought of as the “free tree of India.” Once you’ve seen a mature neem tree, it’s easy to recognize that this freely giving tree belongs to the Meliaceae, or mahogany, family, which contains roughly fifty-three genera and upward of six hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs, and a few herbaceous plants. Many resources suggest that there are other species of neem that have different botanical names, but my in-depth research into this suggests that all other Latin names used for neem come from an earlier era of botanical nomenclature.
Whatever you call them, neem trees are stately evergreens with fairly straight trunks that can reach upward of a hundred feet in height. Young neem trees have mostly smooth gray-brown bark that becomes rough, furrowed, and reddish-brown in color as the tree ages. Neem trees bear pinnately compound leaves that may or may not have a terminal leaflet. Each individual leaflet has beautifully serrated edges and a very pointy tip, giving neem trees a full “leafy” appearance. If grown in the tropical and subtropical climates they prefer, neem trees will produce a profusion of simple, five-petaled white flowers that emit a luscious perfume that smells a lot like honey. Panicles of flowers are followed by a multitude of small, thin-skinned, olive-shaped fruits, each of which contains a single hard seed. When given the right conditions and room to grow, mature neem trees will develop a wide, spreading canopy that can reach some seventy feet in diameter to provide ample shade and loads of curb appeal.
Grow Your Own Natural Insecticide
In its native habitat, neem often prefers to grow in dry, shallow soils in areas of full sun. The monsoonal nature of the Indian subcontinent is marked by heavy flooding rains and long periods of extensive heat and drought, which is typical of the environment that neem prefers. And although they may drop their leaves temporarily in very extended periods of severe drought, they will die if exposed to standing water or temperatures that drop below 39 degrees Fahrenheit. This intolerance to cold and excessively wet soil is the primary reason that many Americans don’t grow neem. However, if you are able to control these factors by cultivating neem in pots and providing winter shelter, you can grow neem just about anywhere you want to.
The cool things about neem trees are the ease with which they can be propagated and their undemanding soil requirements. Neem trees are very easy to grow from seed and are cultivated much like garden peppers, with plenty of warmth and sunshine. Neem seeds are readily available online, but if you live in an area where neem trees are growing outdoors, simply gather the fruits after they ripen and turn yellow. Each olive-shaped fruit contains one oblong seed. If fruits are fresh, they can be planted whole. Otherwise, simply squeeze the large seed out of the fruit and plant one per pot. Most commercial neem seeds have been extracted from the fruit and carefully dried before being shipped. Sow the seed one inch deep in a four-inch pot filled with a light seed-starting mix and keep it at or above 70 degrees Fahrenheit. At these temperatures, seeds often germinate within a week. If the soil dries out often or is too wet or if the temperature stays below 70 degrees, the seeds may take up to three weeks to germinate.
Another way to propagate neem trees is through stem cuttings taken in mid to late spring before twigs get brown and woody. Select a stem that is green all the way to the tip and cut it so that it comes away with at least four leaves. Do not confuse the pinnate leaves with the actual stem of the tree. A single pinnate leaf consists of several leaflets. Each stem cutting should have at least four compound leaves attached to it. Once you’ve cut the stem, remove all but the topmost leaf stem. Dip the cut end in rooting hormone and then plant it in the soil deep enough to cover two of the leaf nodes, leaving the third leaf node and the single pinnate leaf above the soil line. Place the cutting in a warm, shady location for several weeks, keeping the soil moist but not soggy. You will know when the cutting has taken root when you see the first signs of green emerging from the exposed leaf node. Allow the cutting to grow in this pot for at least four more weeks before repotting it to a larger container.
After a month or two, the seedling will begin to outgrow the original starting pot and will need to be transplanted. Although it seems normal to move the seedling incrementally to a slightly larger and larger pot each time, the fact is that neem trees spend the first year of their life sending their roots deep into the soil. If you wait too long to plant your seedling in the ground, it may become root-bound in the pot and be stunted for life. For the best root development, either plant your seedling in the ground where it will grow for the rest of its life or transplant it into a sturdy five-to-seven-gallon pot, which should be plenty of room for the first year or two of its life. If you need to keep your neem tree in a pot, you will eventually want to transplant it into a very sturdy ten-to-fifteen-gallon pot, where it can remain for many more years with proper pruning.
For those who do not live in frost-free regions, your neem tree will grow best if allowed to live outside in full sun during the warm months and brought indoors or kept in a heated greenhouse during times when frost or freezing is likely. As summer wanes, prepare your tree for life indoors by reverse hardening it off to indoor conditions. Start the process in early fall by moving your neem tree to shadier and shadier locations, with the final move being into the house or greenhouse where you must provide it with plenty of sunshine from south-facing windows. Of course, in order to move a very large, heavy pot like the one your tree will need to live in for the remainder of its life, having wheels under the pot can be a huge help.
When it comes to growing neem trees in pots, you may want to fertilize your tree at least once during the growing season. I’m not big on chemical fertilizers, so I suggest using a balanced organic fruit or ornamental tree fertilizer very sparingly. Be sure to water your tree lightly but regularly during the summer months, and always allow the soil to dry completely in between—this goes for indoor trees as well as outdoor ones. For indoor trees that have reached a semidormant state in winter, very light watering coupled with leaf misting is the way to go. Waterlogged soil leads to root rot and can very easily kill your tree. Because neem trees are natural insect repellents in their own right, they are not bothered by insect pests and may even help deter or eliminate plant pests bothering your other indoor plants.
Neem trees respond well when major pruning cuts are done in early spring. Light pruning or thinning and shaping can be done in late summer without harm. Pruning mature neem trees hard results in many new leafy shoots. Like fruit trees, neem trees respond best to early spring pruning, but you can also do a little light pruning of branches in late summer without any ill effects. Once your neem tree is mature, either in the pot or in the ground, it can be pollarded by cutting back the branches almost to the trunk of the tree. Pollarding is traditionally used to manage the size of trees in urban landscapes and to produce fodder for livestock. For medicinal purposes, potted neem trees are sometimes pollarded in spring to obtain an abundance of leaves and twigs for making medicine. It takes a lot of energy to regrow stems and leaves, so anytime you prune or pollard your neem tree, be sure to give it a bit of extra fertilizer afterward.
Using Neem in the Garden
Although neem has been grown and used for hundreds of thousands of years, most Westerners are just beginning to learn about what this amazing tree can do. The most well-known use of neem these days is as a safe and natural insecticide and fungicide. Many of the common neem insecticidal products on the market today are made with neem oil that has been extracted from the dried and ground seeds and mixed with surfactants and other agents to help the oil stick to and persist on plant leaves. Neem oil contains many naturally occurring compounds, but the one that gets the credit for repelling insects is called azadirachtin, which can also be found in the roots, twigs, bark, and leaves of neem trees. Once an insect ingests treated plant material, it quickly loses its appetite and stops eating. Some insects die of starvation, while others perish because they can no longer molt their old skins. Azadirachtin also stops some insects from laying eggs, and the oils laid over existing eggs can prevent them from hatching.
Neem oil and neem leaf spray are effective against a wide array of chewing or sucking insects, including caterpillars, aphids, mealy bugs, slugs, snails, whiteflies, bean beetles, and many more. That being said, it doesn’t work on all garden pests, and according to the National Pesticide Information Center, “Neem oil is practically non-toxic to birds, mammals, bees, and plants” and is “slightly toxic to fish and other aquatic organisms.” In addition to its effectiveness against garden pests, the (NPIC) authors suggest there is little concern for the long-term or negative side-effects of neem on the environment: “Azadirachtin, a component of neem oil, is rapidly broken down. Microbes and light break down the pesticide in soil, water and on plants. The half-life of azadirachtin in soil ranges from 3–44 days. In water, the half-life ranges from 48 minutes to 4 days. It also rapidly breaks down on plant leaves; the half-life is 1–2.5 days. The remaining components of neem oil are broken down by microbes in most soil and water environments.”
Neem Insecticidal Sprays
Neem oil is difficult to make at home because it takes an awful lot of seeds and specialized extraction equipment to produce it. However, people in India and elsewhere have made insecticidal sprays from both the seeds and the leaves for hundreds of thousands of years—and so can you. If you have access to neem fruits, simply lay them out in the sun for several days until they are dry. Next, wrap the dried fruits up in a tarp and stomp or pound on them until the outer shells break away from the seeds. Discard all the white seeds, which have no azadirachtin in them. Separate the seed from the chaff by using a tarp, a box fan, and two five-gallon buckets. Pour the threshed shells and seeds from one bucket into the next set on top of the tarp to catch stray seeds from being lost. Use the fan to blow away the lighter chaff while the heavier seeds land in the second bucket. The seeds can then be pounded down with the blunt end of a two-by-four or other sturdy pestle-like instrument. Once the seeds are powdered, they can be soaked in cold water for twenty-four hours. The liquid is then strained through a cloth and sprayed on crops.
The leaves of neem can also be used to make an effective insecticide for home and garden. To make one gallon of neem leaf spray, place three-quarters of a pound of fresh macerated neem leaves in a five-gallon bucket and cover with a gallon and a half of water. Allow the tea to steep anywhere from twenty-four hours to a week. The longer the leaves steep, the stronger (and fouler-smelling) the brew. When ready, simply strain the tea through a fine cloth and spray plants until dripping.
If you’ve never used them before, be aware that neem oil and neem leaf spray don’t smell particularly nice. Even in its purest form, the smell actually stops people from using neem on their bodies for medicinal purposes. In fact, the first year I used neem in my garden I quickly realized that the smell of the premade “organic” concentrate that I bought deterred persistent pests like deer, squirrels, and even my own cats from coming anywhere near my garden after spraying. Yet not all neem products have the same effect. The following year, I decided to blend my own neem spray using organic cold-pressed neem oil and liquefied castile soap. I realized too late that the neem oil I bought was meant for use on the body and not in the garden. Apparently, it contained little if any azadirachtin and the deer actually loved it, grazing every single plant I sprayed it on! In the end, a simple neem leaf spray made from your own trees will not only be cheaper and more natural but also superior to almost anything you can buy. Besides, by using your own neem leaves, stems, or seeds, you can customize both the level of azadirachtin and the stinky smell that you want for the best all-around natural insect and pest deterrent available anywhere.
For more great ways to incorporate neem into your life, check out Birgit Bradtke’s fantastic noncommercial website, Discover Neem, at discoverneem.com
The Medicinal Miracle of Neem
In order to convey just some of neem’s miraculous medicinal properties and current and cultural uses in this monograph, I must necessarily be brief. Let me begin by saying that all parts of the neem tree and the various preparations made from them are exceedingly valuable to man, mammal, plant, and soil. At this time, neem is known to contain some one hundred fifty known natural compounds, the actions of which are still being studied. Second, the physical method in which neem is employed or “administered,” be it oil, powder, or extract, is the only limiting factor in its application. Third, studies show that neem is considered nontoxic and safe for human use. However, caution has it that neem should not be given to or used on babies or toddlers, pregnant women or women who are trying to become pregnant, or those with severe liver or kidney disease (neem has a strong action on these organs) without consulting a licensed medical practitioner before using medicinally. Always talk to your primary care provider before beginning an herbal regimen.
Neem is adaptogenic and alterative, which means it has an overall positive effect on the body and its systems by helping it adapt to stress and illness by gradually removing toxins and waste materials from the blood through the stimulation of liver function. It is also antimicrobial and antiseptic, meaning that it helps the body resist, inhibit, or destroy all forms of microorganisms, such as bacteria, fungi, viruses, and their resultant infections. Neem is analgesic, anti-inflammatory, astringent, and antiseptic all in one, aiding the body’s natural resistance to infection, relieving pain and inflammation, and also reducing swelling, bleeding, and diarrhea. In this regard it is a perfect candidate for wound treatments, rashes, and periodontal disease.
In terms of healing wounds and diseases, neem excels. Its strong antioxidant and antitumor properties help prevent or inhibit oxidation of body cells by free radicals, helping prevent benign lumps, certain cancers, and skin diseases as well as signs of aging seen in the skin, hair, and nails. Neem is also a beneficial cardioactive and circulatory tonic that strengthens the heart muscle and heartbeat, and it tones and improves the function of the circulatory system. It does this by widening and tonifying the overall condition of vessels, arteries, and capillaries to increase blood flow. And speaking of blood flow, neem has been used since ancient times as both a form of nonabortive birth control and an aphrodisiac that is said to stimulate sexual desire and sensitivity. This makes sense because neem also addresses issues with the heart and blood. As a hypotensive, neem has been shown to reduce blood pressure while also acting as a hypoglycemic that has helped many people reduce their need for insulin over time.
In general, extracts and teas of neem taken over a long period of time act as an invigorating and nourishing tonic that improves the function of one or more body systems by imparting vitamins, minerals, and trace minerals to the body. It also acts as an immunostimulant that strengthens autoimmune functions, generally by forming antibodies in the blood and lymphatic systems. By this very nature, neem can also be regarded as a lymphatic herb that strengthens or improves the functions of the lymph system, which is responsible for cleansing cellular tissues and for producing antibodies and white blood cells.
As a digestive, carminative, stomachic, and bitter tonic (cholagogue), neem stimulates the appetite and digestive functions in the mouth, stomach, and liver while simultaneously easing multiple forms of digestive distress. And speaking of distress, neem is considered a gentle nervine, which not only aids in the proper function of the nervous system but also acts as a mild sedative that has a calming action on the entire body. Additionally, neem oil can be used internally as a demulcent that soothes and protects irritated tissues like the gums and mucous membranes or as an emollient to soothe, soften, and encourage the growth of healthy skin, hair, and nails. It’s also an effective vulnerary that helps speed the healing of all manner of external wounds.
In addition to neem’s well-known use as a safe and effective garden insecticide, it is also an excellent insect repellent that is often used to keep bed bugs, biting flies, ticks, chiggers, and mosquitoes away. Therefore, it shouldn’t come a surprise to learn that neem is also a very powerful vermifuge that kills and expels parasitic worms, fungi, bacteria, and viruses that are commonly found in the digestive tract of both man and animal.
Among the dozens of common names assigned to the neem by various cultures around the world, that of miracle tree is likely the most descriptive. Just an hour’s worth of research on neem will surely have you convinced that this deceivingly modest tree is about as close to a natural panacea as any the world has ever known. From its fine-grained wood come homes, cabinetry, musical instruments, tools, and many other sturdy and beautiful items. From its roots and shoots, people are fed. With its leaves, flowers, twigs, and bark, pests and diseases in all living things are deterred and health and balance restored. From its very life, desertified wasteland and soil vitality are miraculously renewed. What other plant could do all these things and more without being utterly and truly divine?
Resources
Bond, C., K. Buhl, and D. Stone. “Neem Oil: General Fact Sheet.” National Pesticide Information Center. 2012. http://npic.orst.edu/factsheets/neemgen.html.
Kumar, Venugopalan Santhosh, and Visweswaran Navaratnam. “Neem (Azadirachta indica): Prehistory to Contemporary Medicinal Uses to Humankind.” Asian Pacific Journal of Tropical Biomedicine 3, no. 7 (July 2013): 505–514. doi:10.1016/S2221-1691(13)60105-7.
“Neem in the history/Neem and India.” Nature Neem. Accessed August 29, 2018. http://www.natureneem.com/index_fichiers/Neem_history_Neem_and_India.htm.
Staughton, John. “13 Impressive Benefits of Neem.” Organic Facts. Last modified September 28, 2018. https://www.organicfacts.net/health-benefits/herbs-and-spices/neem.html.