Fresh Water, Food Grade
Diatomaceous Earth

"DE", as it's abbreviated, has the neat quality of killing insects. (Unfortunately, it kills good ones, like bees and ladybugs, too, so its use shouldn't be indiscriminate.) Diatomaceous Earth is 100% ecologically safe to the environment and non-poisonous to man and beast. In fact, if you've eaten anything made with flour (like Bisquick), you've eaten DE. So, how does it kill insects? There's some debate as to whether it works by slicing or by dessicating:

DE works by slicing open the exoskeleton (outer, hard covering) of insects, causing them to "bleed" to death. (Actually, their insides leak out, they dehydrate and die.) Imagine walking barefoot through a room that has millions of razorblades embedded in the floor. You've got the picture.

When Diatomaceous Earth is sprinkled on the ground, on an ant mound, or mixed with grains, legumes, etc., it slices and dices the insects that walk through it. If you're planning to can or bucketize your own food, mixing in a cup of Diatomaceous Earth will help keep it pest-free. And it won't hurt YOU when you ingest it, 'cause the 'sharp pieces' are too small to cut you, you lucky guy. (In fact, many farmers deliberately mix DE with animal feed to kill internal parasites in farm animals. The DE in the animal feces even kills the fly maggots that invariably appear in the patties.)

You do need to be cautious with your use of DE. Inhaling it can cause lung problems. (It's a fine dust.) It's OK to eat, but don't breathe it. Use a mask when applying DE. (I think the FDA has now approved it for large-scale human consumption. If you know otherwise, please let me know.)

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Can I dissolve DE in water and spray DE on my plants?

I've seen this question before and didn't know . . . so I stirred a little DE into a glass of water to see how it behaved.

Diatomaceous Earth doesn't dissolve in water, it disperses and suspends in water. In my test, after stirring it, I left it alone for about 10 minutes. Much of it remained suspended, though the top quarter inch of water was beginning to clear and, oh, a 1/16 of an inch had settled on the bottom of the glass.

So, it seems that if you keep the solution agitated in the sprayer, it should work OK. (There's a chance it could clog the sprayer, so it would be important to keep the mixture shaken.)

You might need to add something to the water like a little bit of liquid soap or maybe sugar to get the Diatomaceous Earth to stick to the leaves of plants better. But I could be wrong on that. Try it first by itself first and see how well it adheres to the leaves. (Since we started selling DE I haven't had enough time to plant anything to try spraying it on.)

Diatomaceous Earth comes in at least three grades: Horticultural Grade, "Pool Filter" Grade and Food Grade. It's important to use only Food Grade DE if you're using it to store grains. The product we sell is Food Grade.

Under NO circumstances use pool filter DE for anything except your swimming pool filter. It won't kill insects because it's been heat-treated to form larger clumps. Our DE will not do a good job filtering because it's too fine.

If you want to use it on plants, DON'T get any on the flowers. It'll slice up the few honeybees we have left. DE won't hurt earthworms which is a good thing: You don't want to hurt them until you put 'em on your fishhook! You can dust it around the outside of your house to keep insects out. You'll have to repeat the dusting after a rainstorm.

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Diatomaceous Earth is also effective against fleas ... but, again, take care not to let your pet breathe it, or get it in its eyes.

Our DE is Food Grade, from fresh water, is FDA-approved as a feed additive and contains less than 1% crystalline silica.

So, how many bags do you want?

  $ 4.95 for 2 lbs + shipping      $ 8.00 for 4 lbs + shipping

 $16.00 for 10 lbs + shipping  $30.50 for 50 lbs + shipping

Shipping is extra and can cost as much, or more, than the DE. Please call or email with Zip Code for a shipping quote.

All prices are in US Dollars. Payment will appear on your credit card statement as Best Prices Storable Foods.

Revised June 24, 2007. (Website enhancements, improvements and additions are soon to come!).

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