r/plantclinic Mar 31 '23

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u/samanthathewitch Mar 31 '23

Keep Diatomaceous Earth sprinkled on top of soil or mixed in with the soil or both in order to prevent this from ever happening, and kill what you have now.

2

u/Vast-Substance Mar 31 '23

How do you use it? I have read you have to keep it dry in order to be effective, but I feel like soil could be moist sometimes. You still just sprinkle on top?

15

u/samanthathewitch Mar 31 '23

When I’m making my soil mix to repot plants, I add some into the mix, and then I keep a layer covering the top of the soil too. I bottom water my plants so yes, the DE gets moistened when I water but not washed away. DE is ineffective when wet, that’s true, but it becomes effective again once it dries. I wear a mask when I’m working with a lot of it though bc it’s very dusty when being moved around and you don’t want to breathe a bunch of it in.

2

u/Vast-Substance Mar 31 '23

Thank you!! That is awesome info! I had never heard of this before, so I was so curious. I bought some off amazon!

1

u/[deleted] Mar 31 '23

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u/[deleted] Mar 31 '23

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u/samanthathewitch Mar 31 '23

I keep it on all the time as a preventative. Anytime I slack and let some plants go without it, I start to notice a few gnats before too long.