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Murray, KY

Ran across mentions of using this to control the bugs and wondered if any other AG growers have tried it.

4/6/2010 5:25:21 PM

Somerset,Ky

We use Talstar pro and merit 75 WP for Bugs

4/6/2010 8:53:24 PM

Murray, KY

yeah, I was gonna put Merit on the AGs but was wondering more for the stuff we will eat. I'm not much on systemic chemicals on my food, and wondering if the DE worked as some say it does. Rather use something that don't get in the system of my squash, cucumbers, etc.

4/6/2010 11:44:57 PM

Colorado Springs, CO

You are wise to consider just what sort of insect-killing substances you apply in the garden, and especially on those crops consumed by the family. There is DE from fresh-water sourced rock, and there are others from salt-water sourced rock. The fresh-water material is purer, with less clays, and a more homogenious sorting of the diatoms. One would suggest you do NOT use any related "DE" product that is provided for swimming pool water filtration.

DE is even a substance that can be consumed by humans in certain reasonable quantities on a regular basis....yet I do not say that as a physician offering a prescription !

DE works as a physical irritant of extreme measure that gets into the fine hairs and articulated joints of critters that walk through or on the material. Some will work DE into the top inch of their garden soils and dusted/sprinkled onto the surface in the early days of the season to make for a bad day on insects that might come along. Could it harm a beneficial insect ? Sure, possibly. Can it harm earthworms ? No, they have no articulated limbs for movement.

Worried about SVB's walking your vines and boring inside ? Dust those vines and leaves. If it rains, you might well have to dust again. Yes, it might look like you spilled kitchen flour on your soil and plants. So, what. Forget what the neighbors say. Try it, you'll like it.

Last year I dusted heavy in a ring around the base of my tart cherry tree and about 1 ft. up the trunk from the ground level. I did NOT see ONE black cherry aphid grouping on the underside of any of my new green leaves as seen in previous seasons. Not one. They had to cross that minefield. Death by razorblades, the stuff cuts their exoskeleton and they lose body fluids. No chemicals, all natural. SoilMender.com offers their Crawling Insect Killer. Call them, order some, tell them Ross in Colorado Springs suggested you call.

4/7/2010 11:44:21 AM

svb fly and land on leaf and stalk lay eggs often on under side of leaf havent seem them crawl much would D.E work as bee and wasp killer?

4/7/2010 12:34:53 PM

Murray, KY

Thanks Ross. I also understand that they inhale the DE and it quickly deals the death blow by ripping their resiratory organs apart. There is a lot of good reading on the stuff, but then a lot of those writing are the ones trying to sell it.

4/7/2010 4:51:38 PM

Ctpumpkin@optonline.net

Doesn't work for fliers.

4/7/2010 6:16:37 PM

Colorado Springs, CO

don,.....Why the heck......would you EVER want to kill a bee or a wasp ? O.k., a yellow jacket I might understand.

ky,.....Do you have a dislike for those who sell a product ? Face it....everybody is trying to "sell" something, doesn't matter what their job, product or service is. Sometimes it's just an idea, a suggestion, or a sincere shared thought. So that you know, I am the sales magr supporting our distribution and movement of our product line in CO, NM, WY, ID, UT and AZ. We are in other states too.

4/8/2010 11:09:44 AM

i was only making a point, i dont kill bees or wasps but they fly. not crawl. much ive seen svb destroy vines in east areas of rockies they can ruin a season

4/8/2010 1:24:31 PM

Murray, KY

Wake up on the wrong side of the bed, did we? I don't recall saying I disliked anybody. Since you are a sales manager, you should know that positive communication about the product results in more sales than taking offense over something a potential customer says, especially when you grossly misunderstood the statement. I would come near trusting someone who has used a product successfully over the claims of someone trying to sell me that product. If that knocked a chip off ya shoulder, oh well. If we took only salespeople's claims and enthusiasm into account when buying something, we'd all own Sham Wows and Slap Chops. I didn't know you were trying to sell the stuff, and whether you are or not had nothing to do with my comment. I thought you were answering my original question, which was directed at anyone who has used it successfully.

4/9/2010 10:35:30 AM

Lexington, Ky

LMAO.....Sham Wows and Slap Chops ;}

4/9/2010 12:48:09 PM

Menomonie, WI (mail@gr8pumpkin.net)

So the morale of the story is if you want to take a risk DE is good, If you want to sleep soundly and not have SVB dreams use an insecticide.

If you eat a cucumber, squash from a store that is not organic. That plant has been treated.

4/9/2010 1:12:52 PM

Murray, KY

"If you eat a cucumber, squash from a store that is not organic. That plant has been treated."

Really??

4/9/2010 1:29:02 PM

Murray, KY

Well Linus, I meant that to be humorous. I trust you take it that way. :-)

Concerning risk...if a fella wants to sleep soundly, then the risk would be applying insecticide to the food he eats. My grandparents and great-grandparents didn't get eat up with cancer, Alzheimer's, etc., and I'm a firm believer that a lot of problems we suffer today are caused by the endless chemicals we consume. They are proclaimed safe by a government agency whose decision to do so could easily be encouraged by a little under-the-table activity. As Russ stated, it's about selling something and I don't personally think the chemical companies put our long-term health above profits. Don't mean to sound preachy...can't stand when people do that! lol

But, since we are talking pumpkins (and I am the one who brought up food that would be consumed) then it appears you are correct. I don't think I'll risk my AGs to the SVBs. As you put it, I'll sleep more soundly knowing that if they bit my vines the bite will come back to haunt them.
Thanks! And thanks to you too, Russ. I'll definitely use the DE in addition to other organic methods on my edibles. Even though I did get your feathers ruffled, I took your prior comments into consideration. ;-)

4/9/2010 2:40:02 PM

sevierville, Tn

So does DE hurt bees ???

4/9/2010 2:56:13 PM

Glosta

DE is a universal pest control device, it kills insects of all varieties, not only pest species such as biting, stinging, and wood-destroying insects, but beneficial species such as bees as well. Therefore DE must be used with discretion when applying. For example, when DE is used for organic gardening, care should be taken to not apply DE to the flowers of the plant in order to protect the bees that will land there for pollination to occur. Remember, all insects serve a purpose in nature, even those considered pests, and eliminating them causes change.

This was taken from here---http://www.safesolutionsinc.com/Diatomaceous_Earth.htm

Organic solutions for svb that I have found are Spinosad, BT, and Pyrethrum. They all have very short lifetime in sunlight so reapplication is necessary way more frequently than chemicals. The larva must eat the spinosad, BT and Pyrethrum for them to work.

4/10/2010 4:04:40 AM

Long Island,New York

"Worried about SVB's walking your vines and boring inside ? Dust those vines and leaves."

Well doesn't that just tell you everything? Obviously never seen a vine borer or know what it does. Salesman.

4/10/2010 8:53:01 AM

Murray, KY

Well, I guess maybe he could have been referring to the adult? :-)

4/10/2010 1:58:03 PM