Food Grade Diatomacoeus Earth

[Geri]

Researching diatomacoeus earth, food grade, has been very eye opening.

It kills fleas and ticks, it is safe, you can sprinkle it on your dog and their bedding and it will not harm them

I always hated putting the Frontline on my dogs and now have ordered and recieved. It also kills other bugs.

I live in Florida and we have lots of critters. I ordered it on Amazon and it was pretty cheap compared to Frontline.

Please research it and you will really be suprised at all it does. I am going to sprinkle it around the kitchen cupboards too, it kills roaches, which can be a problem down south.

 

Geri  

[Anne & Mr. Haley]

If you have a yard you can sprinkle it on any plant that has pests on it including food crops. If you were to do this it is best to it when the plant is wet. However; it isn't selective. Works good on slugs too.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

See, now everything I've read says it's less effective when it's wet. Here's just one example:

"Diatomite is used as an insecticide, due to its abrasive and physico-sorptive properties.^[8] The fine powder absorbslipids from the waxy outer layer of insects' exoskeletons, causing them to dehydrate.^[9] Arthropods die as a result of the water pressure deficiency, based on Fick's law of diffusion. This also works against gastropods and is commonly employed in gardening to defeat slugs. However, since slugs inhabit humid environments, efficacy is very low." 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth

[Anne & Mr. Haley]

Karen, I won't debate with you.  I just know what I have done in the garden with DE.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Oh, I don't want to debate, either. I was just trying to understand how it works. 

[Anne & Mr. Haley]

The stuff blows away and slides off slick leaves like broccoli. If you apply when plant is wet with dew or you can mist it will become effective after dried on plant. I only use it occasionally because I am paranoid about getting anything in my eyes. I wear glasses and cover them with safety glasses; however, during warm months the safety glasses fog up. There are so many organic sprays out now that I use them and DE as a last resort.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

PS: I got rid of slugs with beer. I had an infestation in my flower bed a couple of summers ago (they love daylilies) so I read up on safe ways to get rid of them. I even found that they did studies of which beers appeal to slugs the most...the winner was Budweiser, lol! 

Anyway, you place small disposable cups down into the soil, so that the rim of the cup is level with the surface, and fill it with beer. The beer attracts the slugs, and they drown in the beer. A kinder, gentler death, lol! 

[Anne & Mr. Haley]

I have done that too.  Didn't use Bud - it give me a headache and never buy it.

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

LOL, I bought it just for the slugs! You know I research everything! 

[Anne & Mr. Haley]

: )

[Colleen, Jake & Baxter]

Ha...Ha...I tried this too and boy did it work!  The PROBLEM was that the next morning when Jake and I went outside I had forgotten what I had done and before I knew it Jake had "licked the bowls clean" of stale beer and slugs.....yuck!!!  Now I put a note on the back door as a reminder to me.

[Amy, Cubbie & Ollie]

are slugs bad?  I hadn't really noticed them before (even back in IN) but we started to get some warmer weather and then had some rain and the slimy little things were all over the sidewalks leaving little slime trails.

[Anne & Mr. Haley]

They eat plants. If you have a lot of slugs and the plants they love it can be a problem.