If i wanted to mix some diatomaceous earth into my soil mix. Using a 1 gal pot, how much D.E. would i add?
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If your talking about the course stuff, from what I’ve read, just use like you would perlite. It’s the same aeration quality while still maintaining moisture and it provides some silica to the plant. With perlite I mix 20-30% of total volume, 3:1 soil:perlite/DE give you 25%.
If your talking about the powder to prevent bugs… usually a good dusting on the surface. Or a bit mixed in with your perlite to add some silica too.
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I have the powdered food grade initially for bug controll. Then i learned its good for the plant to eat. Yesterday i read a little on silica and the plant. So i quit licking windows long enough to put it all together. Ive got a 10 pound bag of food grade powdered diatomaceous earth which is a form of silica. I would even bet that if i read the package, it would tell me. But i also like to hear input from those who are doing this. Like if i just diluted some in the water ( dwc) would it just bubble out? Think im gonna try.
I dont use perlite, i use lava rocks and sphagnum peat moss
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I smell trouble… why r you doing this? You got bugs? Chech out sns natural 217. My bad I didn’t read any other info about your grow. Are you in soil? You mentioned dwc. Be careful with that stuff( it floats through the air) I would just dust the top few inches of dirt/ coco and mix it in about 30 mins later real quick with a mask on! That shit will tear your lungs up so be careful bro. Dust every 10 days or so. A little goes a long way, I had like a water bottle size cover about 30 outdoor lady’s all summer… and was golden! I don’t know about it helping With silica… I’m going to look into it though.
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Total noob here but it’s my understanding that the DE is only effective for bugs when it is dry. Once its wet it no longer has hard sharp edges to cut up and dry out the bugs.
I was looking into adding it to the soil, and read that it could kill some of the beneficial organisms. It was also stated that it would take too long for the DE to break down to be of any use to the plant. I stopped looking into it at that point.
Maybe someone else here as some experience and can confirm or deny this because I to have a bag thats going to last for years if only used for bugs.
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I’ve added the food grade stuff at about a cup or two per gallon of soil mix as an amendment. It’s not readily water soluble, if your doing coco/hydro/dwc there’s a silica supplement that is already dissolved in plant available form.
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I keep the bugs under control in my place with DE. Then i started hearing about how good it is for plants. No bugs on my plants indoor. But i do grow organic outdoors, plenty of bugs. But i was wanting to amend the soil with it for the health and silica. Just didnt know the proper amount to add of the powder food grade or do i need to get the coarse grade. Also wondering about powder in dwc.