permaculture

[Lora Boge <loraboge@phreego.com>]

Thought I'd pass this on in case it might be useful to anyone on the
list. Below the two emails is an excellent article on diatomaceous
earth.

Regards,
-Lora

-------- Original Message -------- Subject:
Re: [PhxPermaculture] aphids on my eggplant
Date: Wed, 22 Jun 2005 21:39:31 -0700
From: Lora Boge <loraboge@phreego.com>
Reply-To: loraboge@phreego.com
To: PhxPermaculture@yahoogroups.com References:
<007c01c5772c$1817b380$3cea0244@approach15aw76>

Hi Anne,
I'm going to go a little bit out on a limb here and suggest diatomaceous
earth. I didn't go looking for info to confirm that it will work against
aphids but my guess is that it ought to... I just recently bought some
at a Dollar Tree store by Rainbows from Heaven near Guadalupe &
McClintock I believe. You could look for any Dollar Tree store near you
in the phone book. It was packaged as an 8-lb. bag of Kitty Litter but
since I had been on a cheap Bentonite Clay quest recently I looked at
the ingredients and lo and behold - Ingredients: Diatomaceous Earth. For
$1 for 8-lbs. I snagged it.

I had some vicious biting ants outside and everytime I went out to water
I was sure to return with 4 bites that left scars I tell you! Normally
I'm a live and let live type but after about 40 bites my ankles had had
enough...I sprinkled about 10 cups of diatomaceous earth (this is
granular size very little powder) around the areas I need to walk about
and a day or 2 later no more ants in those areas... the granules are
very white and will work as long as they last. When they dissolve they
add minerals into the soil - particularly calcium. Diatomaceous Earth
has lots of wonderful uses you can research online if you like. I
haven't established the pedigree of mine yet so I'm holding off on using
it as a human anti-parasite cleanser. Every source has a different
mineral composition so you apparently need to know if the diggers have
done a mineral assay/analysis before you use it in animal feed, as a
de-wormer or to preserve grains. (Hey, Kerry! It might work as a
desiccant for saving seeds in too.

Diatomaceous Earth is crushed diatoms which are ancient seashelled
critters. Their shells fell to ocean beds when they died and piled up
over eons and in areas where the waters receded they dig up the earth
and there you have it. It works in a mechanical way not by poisoning. It
is non-toxic - just don't inhale much of the dust - it has a huge sharp
surface area to tiny things - it's smooth feeling to us. It kills
insects thus: when they are touched by it it cuts them and they lose
their fluids. So Sorry! It can also kill beneficials but just use as
needed and until no more problem and then water and/or cover with a
little soil and it will degrade into minerals in the soil. Even if it's
not a primo grade of DE I doubt that using a little bit will do any harm
to edibles. The only concern is if you want to use it internally. Then
it would be needful to know. There is food grade DE that is already
vetted as safe. But I'm going to track down the maker and check about
mine before I ingest any. But I expect that if it's OK as kitty litter
(they lick the dust off their paws) it's likely to be OK. Plus it should
act as a de-wormer and anti-flea for the cats and it's cheap and
natural.

Regards,
-Lora

"Anne A. Goldfeld" wrote:

My eggplant, which is doing better than anything else on our back porch
garden, is covered with aphids.  I tried Home Depot for ladybugs (in
spite of the problems with that scenario), but they are out of season.
They recommended something else, supposedly environmentally friendly,
but I didn’t trust them J  Any suggestions?  Thanks!


......



   [http://eap.mcgill.ca/Publications/eap_head.htm]

   EAP Publication - 4

   DIATOMACEOUS EARTH: A Non Toxic Pesticide

   MACDONALD J. 47( 2): 14, 42 (May, 1986)

   by Professor Stuart B. Hill
   Department of Entomology and
   Ecological Agriculture Projects

   For centuries stored grain has been protected from insect attack in
much of the less developed
   world by adding some form of powder or dust to it. Common materials
include plant ash. lime.
   dolomite. certain types of soil, and diatomaceous earth (DE) or
Kieselguhr.

   With me introduction of synthetic pesticides in the 1940s, and modern
fumigants some time
   later, it was felt that a scientific solution to pest problems had
been found. Although tnese
   materials provided enormous local benefits. a number of problems are
beginning to be
   recognized. These include the development of resistance by insects.
pollution of the
   environment. contamination of foodstuffs with residues, and exposure
of users to toxic
   chemicals. This has led a small group of researchers and developers
.to look again at the
   different powders to see which are most effective and how they can be
improved.

   Probably the most effective naturally occurring protective powder is
diatomaceous earth. This is
   a geological deposit made up of the fossilized skeletons and tests of
siliceous marine and fresh
   water organisms, particularly diatoms and other algae. These
skeletons are made of hydrated
   amorphous silica or opal. When crushed, they break up into tiny
pieces of glass'' (so tiny that the
   material feels like talcum powder). This is easily picked up by the
hairy bodies of most Insects.
   whereupon it scratches through their protective wax layers; and they
also absorb some of this
   material. the result being that the insects lose water rapidly . dry
up and die Further protection is
   provided by the powder's property of repelling many insects. A
similar principle probably
   accounts for the fact that birds frequently take dust baths,
presumably to rid themselves of
   parasites.

   Although patents for diatomaceous earth formulations were issued in
the United States in the
   late 1800s it was not until the 1950s that the first commercial
formulations of it became widely
   available, and between 1963 and 1970 a series of studies on DE were
conducted by the U.S.
   Department of Agriculture.

   In several tests, DE gave better protection of grain than malathion,
particularly over the long
   term, without exposing anyone to the dangers of toxic chemicals. At
that time relatively large
   amounts of DE were added to grain to provide protection, e.g., 3-1/2
kg/tonne. The main
   problem with using this amount was that it tended to make the grain
very dusty and it reduced
   its flow rate and test weight.

   Today this problem has been greatly reduced through the use of
improved DE formulations that
   contain baits and attractants. Such formulations have been developed
and tested in Quebec
   through the collaborative work of Mr. Arthur Carle (P.l.P. Products
Inc., 2721 Plamondon,
   Longueuil, Que., J4L lSl) and myself. Using NCr, one of these
formulations, as little as 0.5
   kg/tonne may provide full protection. Despite this, very little grain
in Canada is treated with
   these DE formulations. One of the main reasons for this is that
present regulations prevent the
   adding of any powder to grain destined for export. Until such rules
are changed the full potential
   of DE will not be realized. This is especially frustrating in the
case of grain going to developing
   countries as aid. While this grain may be pest-free when it leaves
Canada, it is often rapidly
   invaded by insects when it reaches its Third World destination. It is
not uncommon for 20 per
   cent of this grain to be subsequently lost to pests. If DE had been
added prior to export,
   however, it would have been protected indefinitely. Fortunately, DE
can be added to domestic
   grain as long as it doesn't pass through licensed elevators. It can
also be used in grain and food
   handling and storage areas such as flour mills, empty grain bins, box
cars, ships' holds,
   warehouses, food processing plants, etc.

   In houses it can be used effectively to prevent the entry of certain
insects such as earwigs,
   ants, and cockroaches, and to control these and others that are
present in cupboards containing
   food, carpets, basements, attics, window ledges, pet areas (for
fleas), etc. In all of these
   examples it is important to place a small amount of the powder in
corners, cracks, crevices. and
   other areas where insects might hide.

   Whereas with a contact pesticide the insect dies quite quickly, with
DE control may take several
   days. The more important difference is that the effect of the
protection provided by the
   chemical is short-lived. whereas DE will control the pests as long as
the powder remains. In this
   respect DE is an ideal pesticide; it is residual but nontoxic. The
only health precautions that need
   to be taken are that if large areas are being treated with a power
duster, the applicator should
   wear a mask to prevent inhalation. Because DE is made of silica,
people sometimes mistakenly
   think that DE causes silicosis. As indicated above, however,
pesticide quality DE is usually over
   97 per cent amorphous silica, which does not cause silicosis, which
is associated only with
   crystalline silica. Indeed, inhalation of road dust and grain dust IS
likely to be more harmful than
   DE.

   In the field DE has potential in certain restricted uses such as
treating the bark of fruit trees in
   spring using an electrostatic duster, or the roots of plants when
transplanting: but because it is
   non-selective and also kills beneficial insects, its use here should
be carefully controlled.

   Another use is in animal production units for the control of external
parasites and flies. This is
   achieved by dusting the animals and the litter or bedding area. It
has also been included in the
   diet (two per cent in the grain ration) to control certain internal
parasites, and this practice is said
   to result in lower fly populations in the resulting manure.

   In the future, improvements in the formulation of DE to reduce
dustiness and more effectively
   lure insects to it to ensure their rapid exposure will no doubt
extend its use. In the meantime, it p is perhaps the safest effective
pesticide for use in the home and has a valuable place in the
   protection of stored food and control of insects in animal production
units.

   DE may be purchased in Quebec from Chemfree Environment. Inc.
(514-630-4400), and from
   garden centres.

   Copyright © 1986 Ecological Agriculture Projects

   [http://eap.mcgill.ca/Publications/eap_foot.htm]