While not widely known among home gardeners, patents for Diatomaceous Earth formulations have been issued by the U.
S.
Patent Office since the late 1800's.
The U.
S.
Department of Agriculture conducted a series of studies on it between 1963 and 1970 and what the tests results showed was that D.
E.
was more effective at grain protection than the use of typical pesticides, not to mention safer.
The important thing for the home gardener to know is that food-grade Diatomaceous Earth comes in a powder form and is effective at killing insects that are exo-skeletal, such as ants, fleas, and roaches.
An added note is that it is also effective at killing bedbugs.
An additional benefit of using D.
E.
is that because it is not a chemical, bugs cannot become resistant to it.
Unlike, Neem Oil, food-grade Diatomaceous Earth is fast-acting.
Whereas, Neem Oil can take weeks to eradicate a bug problem, food grade D.
E.
will kill exposed bugs within a matter of minutes.
How does it work?What makes Diatomaceous Earth so effective?Well, if you were to view it under a microscope, it would appear to be crystalline in appearance, with lots of sharp edges.
It is these sharp edges that do the damage to the insects.
It cuts into the surface and joints of the insect and thus causes them to lose moisture and dries up the insect.
This loss of moisture can kill them in as little as 20 minutes or up to several hours.
If you notice, I have consistently used the phrase "food-grade" because I want you to fully understand that anything less than food-grade Diatomaceous Earth is to be avoided.
And, by food-grade, that does mean you can consume it and many people do.
[I want to avoid any confrontation with the FDA and all their regulations, so I won't go into all the benefits proponents of eating food-grade Diatomaceous earth say can provide to your health.
What is important for you to know is that it is a safe product to use.
] Note: There is a variant made for use in swimming pool filters and this should be avoided at all cost.
Do not confuse a pool-grade D.
E.
product with food-grade Diatomaceous earth! A final benefit of food-grade Diatomaceous Earth is its price.
It is very affordable and you should not hesitate to use it generously.
It is a contact insecticide, that is, it does not attract insects and they do not consume it, they must make contact with it by walking through it or having it somehow make contact on them.
There is, however, one down-side to using D.
E.
and that is it does not discriminate good from bad bugs.
So, it will also kill good bugs, like ladybugs and should only be used when your garden becomes overrun with bad bugs.
Unfortunately, the loss of some good bugs is part of the cost of using Diatomaceous earth.
A final note on using food-grade Diatomaceous Earth, it looses its effectiveness when wet.
So, this should be applied as a dry powder, using a duster.