Diatomaceous Earth Questions.... Questions After Actions

Troubleshooting
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Hey whats up guys Manny here. I know its been a while since ive posted or have done anything on this website, BUT I was away for a while for about a month and a half and I had my brother taking care of my plants. I pre mixed the nutrients and talked him through how to mix some up and what not and they are doing fine nutrient wise. SO I was in Arizona and I just got back to California yesterday and while I was looking over my plants I noticed I had a small infestation of thrips and spider mites, (I’m talking really small like they started just a few days ago.) Anyways I figured out what it was and I quickly thought about DE (food grade), so I now have a few questions after some actions. Ive dusted them pretty good with the DE and I mean really good I made sure to cover damn near the whole plant in snow. I just want to know if there is any bad side effects from dusting them pretty good? Also I want to know how often I should re apply the DE to the plants. I used about 4 and a 1/2lbs of DE over about 15 plants ranging from 2-4 ft in size, and most of that went to the topsoil and dirt surrounding the area. Another question I have is, is it safe to wash off wit just regular water after or should I let it just go away naturally somehow? I also applied a DE/Water solution to the underside of the plant leaves to make sure I covered it all completely because I didn’t want to miss a thing. Another question is will that dry my plant out after ive applied it so heavily? Should I have barely applied it with lets say, just a dust? I will upload and update some pictures of the plants tomorrow in the day light when I have the time. Thanks for any input! I’m definitely happy to be back in CA and taking care of my children.

BTW if anyone remembers I ordered seeds right before I left and I had a nice 20 seed surprise when I got back :wink:

Happy Growing All!

  • Manny
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@Manny_FTGUTube nice to see you around bro
You should get a DE duster so you can apply a light dusting of tops and underside of leaves I find it to be the easiest way and you don’t wind up with clumps of DE everywhere
And you should reaply as need I personally don’t apply to my flowering plants Food grade DE safe but my thought process is it will effect taste so I try not to do it
Good luck with the mites :+1:

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Thanks bro it feels good to be back on here it’s kind of like a second home cause all the research ive done, this forum is definitely my go to. I’ve just made a DE duster out of a 1 liter bottle and poked small holes in the top of it, my thoughts to a cheaper alternative lol (I’m a cheap guy :joy:.) Believe it or not I only have 2 flowering which started less than a week ago and 1 of them hasn’t even formed a bud yet so I think I’m safe? I’ll reapply some more today with my diy duster lol hopefully I caught them all before it got to crazy, then maybe I’ll reapply once a week or so for preventative maintenance.

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Yeah I have mine in a green house but I still apply every couple weeks to prevent bugs from starting :+1:
Nice job making a duster as long as it works my friend the DE I bought came with one :point_up:
Keep me posted

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I wish I would have bought a greenhouse and kept them in one, mine are just outside in the garden mixed in with the tomato’s and bell peppers and what not. Oh it works magnificently lol I just tried it out with a little bit to test and it was great haha.

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Should I get rid of the damaged leaves from the thrips? I would assume so but just feel I should get another opinion

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If they’re still green, I’d leave them alone.

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That’s what I did for the most part, took off some yellow damaged one and some green but left a good amount