Anyone have any experience using Diatomacious earth

In ur soil mix or use as a pesticide. Just curious. Thx.

dannyboy602 said:

In ur soil mix or use as a pesticide. Just curious. Thx.

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I did, I bought the food grade bag on Amazon, I had gnats and took are of the larva clean. I layered some on my coco, once it was a little dry. Left it for 1.5 days and did it for two weeks and it killed them out for good.

Not sure if it's a myth but I heard it's not bad for the medium either

its loaded with silica,dont breath it eat it all day long

I'm just wondering if I could include it in all my future soil mixes

thumper60 said:

its loaded with silica,dont breath it eat it all day long

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THe food grade is a lot safer

Any benefits as a pest controller end as soon as it's wet and has to be reapplied. Adding it into your soil mix for insect control purposes won't do anything.

i've used as dust for bugs but not as soil amendment. i wonder if it's absorptive qualities would cause it to leach any specific nutrients out of the soil? i guess i would research more

http://www.usesfordiatomaceousearth.com/agriculture/

Just as Steadyeddy, I used food grade and dusted soil surfaces and any place else fungus gnats like to land. It kept the gnat numbers down, but there were always a couple around.

Have you u heard of gnat knix? I think its expanded glass

Is this stuff good for ant barriers

I believe so yes but must be reapplied after it gets wet

Hey all... I've been using DE for quite a while. As everyone say's it's not as effective at controlling insects when wet. This stuff works great for ants @Indacouch I've dusted out many nests. It will kill most anything with an exsoskeleton. It's just a pain in the ass to keep reapplying it, but if you do it will work. As stated by @thumper60 take caution not to breath this shit. I have put a shit ton of this on the girls in the GH and haven't had any soil issues at all, and the gnats stay away.

Can be mixed with soil and coco.

Never used on the floor or on top of surfaces, where air currents can pick it up. As has been noted, breathing this stuff is seriously not good. Cuts up your lungs like it cuts up insects. Keep it out of liquids that will dry out and create powdery spots in the air currents.

Douglas.Curtis said:

Can be mixed with soil and coco.

Never used on the floor or on top of surfaces, where air currents can pick it up. As has been noted, breathing this stuff is seriously not good. Cuts up your lungs like it cuts up insects. Keep it out of liquids that will dry out and create powdery spots in the air currents.

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Interesting that you can swallow food grade with lots of benefits but not inhale it. I'll have to look into it more but thx for the tips and I won't use it in my mix so much as a top dressing

I have used DE since I started growing indoors and wont grow without it. Have been an outdoor guy for longer than I care to remember, last fall I decided to try my hand indoors to keep the steady flow of meds going without the typical break between outdoor grows. I cloned some of my outdoor plants and guess they brought spider mites inside. I found the food grade DE takes them out for good and now I use it as part of my routine. I top dress always with it, have dusted the edges of my tents and room as a precaution a few times and I have used it wet as well as dry during veg only to ensure no pests ever touch my plants again. An ounce of prevention will save your pounds at harvest time...

https://www.diatomaceousearth.com/blog/how-to-apply-diatomaceous-earth/

I've used something similar. It's messy IMO get some fine nets around your pots and never worry much again.
BTW I'm using airpots, which is why i said it's messy !

dannyboy602 said:

I'm just wondering if I could include it in all my future soil mixes

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I used to use it @ soil.
Something like a 1 and 1/2 cups per cubic foot @ soil. It was ages ago though, and it's strength probably depends on where you get it from.

I use it to deter ants and as a soil amendment. Works great for both!
I mix it a bit lighter at 1\2 cup per cubic foot of soil. I don't think there's anything wrong with more, I just started on the small side of amendment measures and haven't needed to increase yet.

I bought a bid bag of DE to use against bedbugs, ick. There is also a product called CimexA for use against bedbugs that I think is supposed to be a beefed-up form of DE or silica powder that sticks to the bastards and dries them out better than regular DE.

According to something I read, DE sticks to bugs that are roaming around, and then when they return to their "nests" or hiding places, they bring back DE that kills their friends and family. Supposed to work for roaches too.

de consists of tiny, super sharp, particles of calcium. It slices up exoskeletons. Any de making it to a nest will cause havoc, yes. *Probably* responsible for at least *some* "expando-weed." Ever take a hit and suddenly your lungs react and feel like they're about to explode?

It's right up there with super fine perlite dust, for human lungs.