Diatomaceous earth

[pepper]

Does anyone have experience with diatomaceous earth? I always have problems with cut worms and slugs so I purchased a large bag of this stuff. I got the food grade kind. Does it work as well as advertised? My only worry is that it will kill good insects as well as worms.

Apparently it is also somewhat popular for consumption. Kind of a body detox I guess.

 

[Chuck]

Does anyone have experience with diatomaceous earth? I always have problems with cut worms and slugs so I purchased a large bag of this stuff. I got the food grade kind. Does it work as well as advertised? My only worry is that it will kill good insects as well as worms.

Apparently it is also somewhat popular for consumption. Kind of a body detox I guess.

Diatomaceous earth is mainly used on insects with an exoskeleton. It doesn't work on slugs or snails but is semi-effective against cutworms. It will not harm worms. It also will not work if it get moist or damp.

 

[Don Perry]

My son in law uses it on his chickens as a treatment for external parasites. Yes fleas, ticks and mites do infest chickens. I used it on my horses to get rid of bot flies. I dusted my wifes roses to get rid of some little small beetles. Don't know what they were but it did work.

 

[pepper]

Diatomaceous earth is mainly used on insects with an exoskeleton. It doesn't work on slugs or snails but is semi-effective against cutworms. It will not harm worms. It also will not work if it get moist or damp.

That's too bad it doesn't work on slugs but I am happy it doesn't affect worms. Beer works pretty good for slugs anyway.

 

[pepper]

Lol beer really does work! I usually just use those styrofoam coffee cups and cut it off so it's about 2 inches high. Put them in the ground between the plants so the top of the cups are level with the ground then fill them with beer. The slugs love beer and fall in and drown. The bright side for them is they probably drown happy lol

 

[A.Lyric]

Does anyone have experience with diatomaceous earth? I always have problems with cut worms and slugs so I purchased a large bag of this stuff. I got the food grade kind. Does it work as well as advertised? My only worry is that it will kill good insects as well as worms.

Apparently it is also somewhat popular for consumption. Kind of a body detox I guess.

Diatomaceous earth works on critters with an exoskeleton. So it will work on cutworms, but not the snails. I've tucked shallow bowls of beer under my mulch, which seemed to work well for snails. I haven't had a cutworm problem (knock on wood) and my understanding is that diatomaceous earth doesn't kill bugs instantly and quits working if it gets wet. I've used it on and under my mulch for flea beetles and an excessive number of roly polys and once when my GS created an infestation of fleas in my home. It worked like magic! I love diatomaceous earth, but it will indeed kill good bugs and pollinators. I applied it after the pollinators went home late in the day, and since they are interested in the blooms and flowers, I wasn't too worried about applying it near the soil, but you might want to avoid getting it on or in flowers and blooms. I've heard of people using it late in the day and washing it off before pollinators arrive in the morning. Anyway, much luck!