Diatomaceous Earth Question

[FredGarvin]

I have/had a theip issue, which I picked up on during veg. I used neem pretty aggressively and eliminated the majority, but I am still seeing a few. Since I am in flower and neem is a no-go in this stage, I ordered some D.E. to top dress as a further preventive measure.

My questions are;
How much or how deep do you dress the D.E.?
Do you need to add additional D.E.after a few waterings to insure you have a good top dress?
Should it be thicker/deeper near the stalk?

Really appreciate any input. The plants referred to are in a ”Photoperiod Grow” post, Rudeboi and Skywalker Ghost Triangle.

Onwards and upwards!

Fred Garvin

 

[automan2]

Being a mechanical insecticide, as long as the bugs have to crawl through it, it does it's job....I personally just dust/ sprinkle with very little buildup.

 

[Green Hornet]

Hello @FredGarvin I use the D E; throughout my grow. I use a tablespoon full and shake /spread on the top of medium until lightly covered and re apply as much as needed to cover all exposed areas. The D E does not need to be deep just covered so the little buggers get it on them. If the top gets crusty I will break it up if the need be.
Ya D E for me is not a one time deal I use it all through my grow more or less depending on the problem but even when I do not have issues I use it at least once a week for prevention.
As far as around the stalk yes but again just the top covered it does not take much. I use 5 gallon grow pots and I use about 2 tablespoons per plant per application . I feel D E is safe compared with insecticides I stay organic

 

[Proph]

Put it in some sort of shaker.. Salt/pepper shaker or something.. Also, the top soil needs to be dry for it to work.. DE is useless as an insecticide once wet or moist. It has to remain dry to work as an insecticide.

 

[Olderfart]

What he said. It only bugs the bugs if the bugs find it dry. If you are top watering, the stuff that gets watered is dead, and you will need to re-apply, but only after the top surface dries. When I was fighting my bloody gnats in my doomed soil attempt, I covered the top of the soil with dry mulch and then applied the DE. But again, with top watering, that is going to be a bit of a pain because you will have to remove the mulch to keep it dry.

Good luck with it.

 

[LearningMore]

Put it in some sort of shaker.. Salt/pepper shaker or something.. Also, the top soil needs to be dry for it to work.. DE is useless as an insecticide once wet or moist. It has to remain dry to work as an insecticide.

I’ve read that silica liquid supplements MUST be added to water first, then other nutes, or you’ll cause a lockout. Since DE is 85% silica, do you know if there are any nute implications/concerns to using DE? pH issues?

 

[Proph]

I’ve read that silica liquid supplements MUST be added to water first, then other nutes, or you’ll cause a lockout. Since DE is 85% silica, do you know if there are any nute implications/concerns to using DE? pH issues?

DE isn't a liquid supplement though, so I'm a little confused on the question.. There are no nutrient implications caused by sprinkling dry DE on the soil surface.

 

[LearningMore]

DE isn't a liquid supplement though, so I'm a little confused on the question.. There are no nutrient implications caused by sprinkling dry DE on the soil surface.

Thank you. I just wanted to be sure there was no concern about it altering soil pH or impacting nute absorption. I appreciate your help.

 

[Bob's Auto's]

I’ve read that silica liquid supplements MUST be added to water first, then other nutes, or you’ll cause a lockout.

No. The reason why Silica products need to be added first to your water is because they are in a basic (+ 10pH) solution. And when you put that in pH'ed water (let's say 5.5pH) then the bound between the Silica and it's carrier ( mostly Potassium) is broken and the Silica becomes inert and not usable anymore...