Diatomaceous earth & ph

DE is alkaline, averages 8ph,+ or -2. So how do you guys use it as a soil top-dressing for insect control,without it running havack with your ph when it gets watered in?Its not normally used wet where you can PH-adjust,but rather sprinkled on top of the soil where its most effective at slicing open and killing almost all insects who happen to travel over top treated soil...All comments on this matter are welcome,cheers

It might be alkaline, but so what? Do you know how slow that stuff is to break down? Makes granulated lime look water soluble. LOL

Don't worry about it. Even on 'straight' gardening forums, I've never heard of DE affecting pH.

Wet

What is Diatomaceous Earth?
Diatomaceous earth is a remarkable, all-natural product made from tiny fossilized water plants. Diatomaceous Earth is a naturally occurring siliceous sedimentary mineral compound from microscopic skeletal remains of unicellular algae-like plants called diatoms. These plants have been part of the earth's ecology since prehistoric times. It is believed that 30 million years ago the diatoms built up into deep, chalky deposits of diatomite. The diatoms are mined and ground up to render a powder that looks and feels like talcum powder to us. It is a mineral based pesticide. DE is approximately 3% magnesium, 33% silicon, 19% calcium, 5% sodium, 2% iron and many other trace minerals such as titanium, boron, manganese, copper and zirconium. Diatomaceous Earth is a natural (not calcined or flux calcined) compound. Diatomaceous Earth is a natural grade diatomite. However, the continual breathing of any dust should he absolutely avoided.

neat stuff.

Good info guys,now i can have sum peace of mind about my ph.Plants grow SO MUCH FASTER if you got your ph dialed in.

I bought a bag of it but never used it on the grow because I couldn't make it jive with my watering schedule. I did dust around the house to see what effect it would have on my VERY lively ant population. Very mixed results. Sometimes they disapeared and sometimes they just kind of ignored it and kept marching. Pretty confused at this point as to how much value it has but I still have a big bag of it soooooooooooooo?? I am however conviced that there is no harm using it though due to extensive research so no real downside to using it as far as I'm concerned.

I would say pay close attention to your ph mine jumped from 6.2 to 7.2 after watering in DE

Really? For how long? And are you talking runoff pH which is absolutely useless? Just wondering since you woke up a thread dead for 10 years.

Figure this out. If it was a huge issue there'd be newer posts and a lot of them.

Well I got a gelato in 7 gallon fabric pot using pro mix bx ,worm castings, giai green amendments, ,the only thing that changed was the DE I water in at 6,61, I noticed some thing off ,checked the run off and 7.2 ?? I read that de has a ph of like 7.6 to 9 any way it's something for me to solve

Shanner said:

Well I got a gelato in 7 gallon fabric pot using pro mix bx ,worm castings, giai green amendments, ,the only thing that changed was the DE I water in at 6,61, I noticed some thing off ,checked the run off and 7.2 ?? I read that de has a ph of like 7.6 to 9 any way it's something for me to solve

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I just purchased a couple of pounds for a natural source of silica.

I quit using DE stuff is messy. If you want complete control I would recommend using Microbe-Lift BMC with Azamax (kills Larvae, Gnats, Thrips, Mites, Flies, Aphids etc..) on a biweekly basis, primarily focusing on a root drench. For foliar I use Lost Coast Plant Therapy biweekly spraying bottoms of leaves entirely, stems and then fogging down the tops of leaves up until Bloom then avoid sprays and keep my environment in check.