Can diaotamacious earth damage plants/roots?

[Justler]

Hey guys,

I have a slight Fungus Gnat problem . I have some yellow sticky traps that are capturing heaps of the little guys, but hoping to stop them all together.

So i've read a few posts about diaotamacious earth and from my understanding if its placed on the soil surface it will slice open the gnats and their lauve, drying them out and essentially killing them. Thus stopping them from procreating and infecting my ethno's air space.

So i'm just wondering if the DE ends up deeper in the pots near a plants root system will it have the same effect on roots - slicing them open and damaging them?

[tipz]

i have used the sticky strips before... the best method i have found is to cover the surface of my coco ( or any medium ) in my ethno room with chux superwipes. seems to work for me ?

[tripsis]

I would say no.

Firstly, the efficacy of diatomaceous earth an an insecticide is significantly reduced when wet, which it would be at most times in the rhizosphere (the area directly area the roots).

Secondly, diatomaceous earth is composed primarily of silica, which promotes healthy plant growth, along with a couple of other minerals also necessary for healthy plant growth. As it is so fine, it is likely that plants would be able to take up as least some of it.

If anything, it's probably a good additive to soil mixes.

[AndyAmine.]

No its fine for your roots, its actually more effective when mixed right in with your soil/less medium along with a thicker layer on top and on the bottom

(because they will try to get in/out of the bottom holes as well as the top)

A couple of things to note however are that it will also kill lots of your other beneficial bugs and critters.and such if mixed in and DE isnt very effective in general when wet.

Take from that what you will, hope it helps you some.

(@Tripsis: Snap on the wet bit you beat me to it, shows how slowly I type up my posts.

Edited July 28, 2011 by AndyAmine.

[Justler]

Great info, thanks for the tips guys

I'm thinking i'll line the bottom of the pots with some gravel, followed by a layer of sand and DE, than mix a bit in my potting medium and also add a layer on top with some sand. The super wipes sounds like an awesome idea as well! Hopefully this method along with the sticky traps will keep these little guys away.

Thanks for the help!

Cheers,

Justler

[planthelper]

as andy say's, they like to enter the soil primarily via the drainage holes.

the idea with the super chuck's iv never heard before and it sounds, ok as long you block the drainage holes aswell.

i just had the idea to use off cuts, from stainless steel white ant mesh, to do the same thing, advantage would be that this mash is much more durable than chucks.

to fit the white ant mesh snug, one could cut one more pot of the same size and use the material to secure the mesh at the bottom and the top (in a similar fashion as drumsskins get fitted. maybe glue or bitumen would be a better choice to secure the mesh.

[Justler]

Thats interesting, i've never heard of ant mesh though I may have to look into it.

For now i've gone with a layer of DE on the top soil and a layer of sand. As for the bottom I'm trying the chux concept, and using wrapping one around the base of the pot, with a rubber band to hold it in place. Just about to change the sticky traps, so I can get a rough idea of whether or not this new system is effective.