My (Potential) New BFF

I hate most bugs, especially when they do damage to my garden.   We had trouble with grubs, ants and root worms last year and probably will again this year.  So far this year the ants have been particularly bad. 

It’s easy to find insecticides to kill bugs but extremely difficult, if not impossible, to find something that you can use on your vegetable garden.  When it comes to ridding your garden of insects the only safe route to go, it seems, is to go organic.  In my quest to get rid of these pests I stumbled upon what will hopefully be my new best friend – diatomaceous earth.

Diatomaceous Earth (DE) is a naturally occurring, soft, siliceous sedimentary rock that is easily crumbled into a fine white to off-white powder.  It consists of the fossilized remains of diatoms, a type of hard-shelled algae.  Deposits of this material can be found throughout the world and are mined for many uses.  Among other things, it could be found in dynamite, kitty litter, toothpaste and now my garden.



Diatomaceous Earth

DE feels like a fine, soft powder and is composed of millions of tiny, jagged edges that spell death for a wide variety of garden trouble-makers.  It works by cutting the pest, causing it to dry up and die. It can be sprinkled on ant hills, on the ground to create barriers, and on plants the pests eat therefore becoming embedded in them or causing internal damage.  And the best thing yet – its 100% organic.  The only downfalls I can find are (1) because it is a fine powder you have to be careful not to breathe too much of it in and (2) you have to reapply after it rains.

I’m no DE specialist but a reoccurring point that I kept stumbling upon during my research was that there are different types of DE and that natural DE is classified as amorphous silica and that you only want natural DE that has less than 1% crystalline silica and is mined from fresh water lakes: a point I feel obligated to pass on.

Anyway, I found a container of food grade certified organic DE from my seed supplier.  A 1 kg container would have set me back $20 plus shipping.  Due to the possible postal strike, I didn’t want to order it as I wanted it now. During my research I had read that farmers use DE to keep insects out of their stored grain and that they feed it to their animals as a mineral supplement and to eliminate intestinal parasites.  A few quick clicks on the UFA website lead me to a 22.6 kg bag of DE for $30. (That’s $1.33/kg vs. $20/kg – WOWSERS!)  The DE was amorphous silica, 100% natural and was mined from an old fresh water lake bed in Manitoba – check, check, check and Canadian to boot!  It’s not certified organic nor is it labeled food grade but if they feed it to cows I think it’s safe to put on my garden.  (I’m also thinking those two points are responsible for the difference in price.)

Needless to say we now have a 50 lb bag of DE in the garage.  We used it last night for the first time.  Steve mixed it with a bit of icing sugar to attract the ants and spraying away he went.  Once my turnip, radish, broccoli and onion seedlings in the garden are bigger I’ll dust them with DE (minus the sugar) to keep the Root Flies off them.



DE on now inactive ant hill



DE on ants along edge of garden

If DE works we’ll use it forever and will be sure to spread the word.  It’s ironic that farmers have been using it for years and you can’t find it in the pesticide isle at a department store, I think it’s a conspiracy.


Note of Caution:  DE will kill the good and the bad bugs so use your discretion when applying to your garden.  I will avoid using it where the lady bugs hang out (they eat aphids) and on any flowering plant because I don’t want to kill the bees.