Diamatious Earth not killing bugs

[rainedaywoman]

Weird question. I am typically a proponent of using Diamatious Earth or other natural pest control but not real sure atm of its effectiveness so I am looking for others experiences. This spring we have noticed the flies are terrible. We never had a fly issue until now and are getting desperate to find something that works. We are noticing more roaches than normal as well. Actually this is the first year we have ever seen them in the house ewww! I am assuming the early heat and lack of rain is part of the problem. So, I sent DH out to the barn to find my bag of DE so I could treat around the house to help control the flies. When he found the bag in the barn it was unusable. The bag itself was infested with termites of all things!! Many people use DE for termite control but these buggers were living in the bag of Food Grade DE like it was their own personal getaway. Now I am not so sure about the effectiveness of DE, googling it I came up with info that DE is not supposed to expire but apparently this bag has lost its effectiveness. Anyone else have issues with bugs still thriving in DE?

 

[1dude]

I have heard its good for Fleas and Mites, very small insects. It's suposse to act like glass ahards and cuts them up.
I just bought a bag and threw it around where the dog lays out side. I heard that you can use it around the edge of carpets inside.

 

[EweSheep]

There are more and more reports about DE not being effective against insects. I used to think that but not anymore so I quit using DE and going pesticides/insecticides. However no harm done if you want to use them for dust bathing, dusting nest boxes or coop as preventive but I find it useless in my case.

 

[A.T. Hagan]

I've been using diatomaceous earth for ten years now and find it works well.

That said though you have to understand the conditions it works under. It MUST be dry and powdery and the insects have to get into it. If the bag has gotten damp so that the powder is clumpy its effectiveness plummets.

What's more it needs to be pure DE. I have not found the type that has calcium bentonite (clay) mixed in to be as effective as the type that has a lot higher DE concentration (NOT the pool filter type) which is usually a white or at least light grey powder.

Mostly I use it in my feed room to powder the floor around my feed cans. So long as it remains powdery it works well on ants, roaches, or any other insect that crawls through it trying to get to the cans. In the summer time I also powder the nests in the henyard to deter fire ants. This has to be reapplied periodically though when the rainy season starts.

 

[KeilFamilyFarm]

We are dog sitting this week and my clients dogs came in with fleas. GREAT!

So I want to use DE, My mother does and loves it..
Where are you guys buying it at? and what are you paying for it?

Thanks!

 

[srd5757]

This thread is somewhat disappointing! I just bought a bag, it isn't even here yet! Sure hope it is effective! I was even going to use it around my house for spiders because it is all natural and I have little ones I don't want exposed to pesticides.