Adding Dia. Earth to Soil: Sprinkle or Mix in?

[NSPB]

Or you can go the cheap route and double up a pair of nylon stalkings and fill them. Use it in much the same manner a gymnast would use a chalk bag. I like to do this in the first week of flower to make sure all the leaves are clean of any pests. Can "blot dust" (???) the tops and bottoms of the leaves, the stalks and the soil surface. VERY effective. Gotta love organics!!

One thing to mention, it can and will kill all and any beneficial bugs as well, it is not to picky or choosy. So don't go buy predatory bugs and then use this stuff...hehehe...



NSPB

 

[mad librettist]

Or you can go the cheap route and double up a pair of nylon stalkings and fill them. Use it in much the same manner a gymnast would use a chalk bag. I like to do this in the first week of flower to make sure all the leaves are clean of any pests. Can "blot dust" (???) the tops and bottoms of the leaves, the stalks and the soil surface. VERY effective. Gotta love organics!!

One thing to mention, it can and will kill all and any beneficial bugs as well, it is not to picky or choosy. So don't go buy predatory bugs and then use this stuff...hehehe...



NSPB

I think that may be applying it a bit thicker than necessary. For cheap thrills use an empty mustard bottle and puff out the dust.

 

[mugenbao]

If you are dusting this stuff, please wear a good dust mask. This stuff will destroy your lungs!

 

[mad librettist]

let's not sound the alarm too soon bro!

Food grade DE is pretty safe to use. If you work around it all day you definitely need good protection, like you would from any dusts, but under normal circumstances it is safe to have around food prep, your bed, on your dog, etc...

pool grade DE is treated so that the skeletons become like glass. that is the dangerous stuff.

 

[GoneRooty]

DE is not mineralized Si, it is fossilized bodies of diatoms

Don't think anyone said it was mineralized Si. Yes, DE is made up of fossilized diatomes, as well as other sediment. After many years of compression and pressure, DE becomes Diatomite, same chemical composition as DE, just in "rock" form as opposed to DE which is loose sediment. DE is an amorphous silica compound, meaning it has no true crystalline structure, therefore isn't truly a "mineral". DE is chemically, roughly 85% SiO2 (silicon dioxide), with the remainder being made up of other natural oxides.

http://www.chemblink.com/products/61790-53-2.htm
http://www.caslab.com/Diatomaceous_earth_containing_less_than_1_quartz_CAS_61790-53-2/

 

[GoneRooty]

If you are dusting this stuff, please wear a good dust mask. This stuff will destroy your lungs!

This is more important when using pool grade DE, filtration DE, etc. This is heat treated to form a crystalline structure, forming sharper, glass type edges. Food grade DE isn't heat treated and the SiO2 is amorphous, meaning it has no crystalline structure.

 

[mad librettist]

it's not just heat, there is a chemical used like in crystal making. flux-calcining I believe.

you can get the flux powder by growing and burning soda plant, to get soda ash.

 

[GoneRooty]

Yeah, there is flux calcined and just calcined. Calcination is the heating of a substance to below the melting point causing reduction, oxidation, or loss of water; to oxidize as a result of heating. Flux calcination is the same process but in the presence of a fluxing agent. The fluxing agent allows the calcination process to occur at lower temperatures, thereby allowing larger agglomerations to occur. And yes, the soda ash is the most common fluxing agent, chemically it is Na2CO3 (sodium carbonate, soda ash, washing soda).

 

[Krshna]

DE is good stuff! I mixed it into my soil mix, sprinkle a thin layer on my soil that is sitting ready to be used, I eat it everyday, and just recently tried mixing it in with my water I watered with. I was curious about the silica content, so I mixed it and let it sit for 24 hours or so, to see if it all just settled to the bottom or what. It definately settled, but it left the water pretty cloudy... so unless the tiny particles stayed in suspension all that time it seems like something disolved in the water. I dont really know, but I figured instead of buying some silica sup. I have a whole big bag just sittin around.

 

[mugenbao]

let's not sound the alarm too soon bro!

Food grade DE is pretty safe to use. If you work around it all day you definitely need good protection, like you would from any dusts, but under normal circumstances it is safe to have around food prep, your bed, on your dog, etc...

pool grade DE is treated so that the skeletons become like glass. that is the dangerous stuff.

Good to know. Interesting and somewhat comforting, although I would still argue that if you are mixing soil a lot, a mask is still a good thing to have

 

[mugenbao]

This is more important when using pool grade DE, filtration DE, etc. This is heat treated to form a crystalline structure, forming sharper, glass type edges. Food grade DE isn't heat treated and the SiO2 is amorphous, meaning it has no crystalline structure.

Does this also apply to calcined DE such as the NAPA #8822, which can be extremely dusty?

Sorry to side-track the conversation, but it is something I'm powerfully curious about.

Thanks to everyone giving input and info, and to the OP for starting the thread. I am very interested in this subject!

 

[mad librettist]

Good to know. Interesting and somewhat comforting, although I would still argue that if you are mixing soil a lot, a mask is still a good thing to have

when mixing soil you are probably being exposed to mucho dust.

a dust mask is a no brainer.

 

[mad librettist]

Does this also apply to calcined DE such as the NAPA #8822, which can be extremely dusty?

Sorry to side-track the conversation, but it is something I'm powerfully curious about.

Thanks to everyone giving input and info, and to the OP for starting the thread. I am very interested in this subject!

yes the Napa 8822 is merely calcined, and the MSDS is nothing like pool grade DE. I wash mine, but only after sifting, so I use a mask for the sifting.

 

[GoneRooty]

^^^
Yeah what he said!

 

[rrog]

This is more important when using pool grade DE, filtration DE, etc. This is heat treated to form a crystalline structure, forming sharper, glass type edges. Food grade DE isn't heat treated and the SiO2 is amorphous, meaning it has no crystalline structure.

Does this mean food grade doesn't slice and dice (when dry)? I'm only considering a surface sprinkling of DE to act as a pest deterrent.

 

[mad librettist]

Does this mean food grade doesn't slice and dice (when dry)? I'm only considering a surface sprinkling of DE to act as a pest deterrent.

food grade DE is sold for this purpose. you can't control roaches around food prep with borax. because it's illegal.

I don't believe it needs to be dry to work, because it can be taken internally for certain parasites. But to coat the bug properly it has to be dry. Not sure but I think we are going for the belly.

 

[rrog]

Great. So food grade is made for this purpose. Sweet. Thanks for clearing that up MadL

 

[GoneRooty]

Food grade is just fine for pests. It can be taken internally for parasites, given to animals as a wormer, and even brushed into dogs coats to get rid of fleas. Food grade anything just means that it is as pure as can be made, and is safe for human consumption. Still has all the same properties. When they calcine DE, or any other compound for that matter, all they are doing is heating it to reduce moisture and form agglomerates (chunks of the material) Which is why calcined DE is bigger chunkier material than regular DE. All DE has sharp edges to it, it is after all crushed exoskeletons.

 

[mad librettist]

Food grade is just fine for pests. It can be taken internally for parasites, given to animals as a wormer, and even brushed into dogs coats to get rid of fleas. Food grade anything just means that it is as pure as can be made, and is safe for human consumption. Still has all the same properties. When they calcine DE, or any other compound for that matter, all they are doing is heating it to reduce moisture and form agglomerates (chunks of the material) Which is why calcined DE is bigger chunkier material than regular DE. All DE has sharp edges to it, it is after all crushed exoskeletons.

I don; t believe they are crushed, but I could take some pics with the scope


AFAIK they are just really tiny

 

[GoneRooty]

They are very tiny, usually unicellular, sometimes forming colonies. But when they mine it, it comes out in giant chunks like limestone or chalk (open pit mining), from there they process it for packaging and shipping (crush the chunks into smaller pieces and powders). So I'm sure there are some, if not most of the diatom skeletons are intact, but they do crush it as a process for packing, etc.