We have dogs, dogs generate poop, poop breeds flies, flies must die. How?

Decided to spread some Diatamacious Earth (food grade) throughout the front and back yards. Hoping the $10 worth of dust works. Supposedly this will also control fleas and all other exoskeleton pests.

Has anyone here used it? How much did you use and what kind of results?

We used it as an ant barrier, and it worked well for that. Not sure how it will work with flying insects though.

I use it in the chicken coop to control flying and non-flying insects. Works great and it is safe for the flock.

DE works on crawling insects like fleas, ants, roaches, etc, because its sharp edges cuts through their shell. I think not so much for flies.

It works, well. Remember to wear respiratory protection when you apply it.

I use it around my bee hives to keep the ants out of there. Seems to work well.

Takes care of bed bugs also.

We use it a lot with good results. A 50 lb. bag is about $30 and lasts six months.

We put it around the house to control ants. Around the shed and wood to control the rolly-polly bugs. In the feed shed to control mealy bugs, it is very effective.

We top dress horse and cattle feed with it. It passes through the animal's digestive tract, which controls internal parasites, and ends up in the manure which limits (but does not eliminate) fly larva.

I use it in the chicken coop to keep the mites away.

I have not used it but it is one of my favorite materials to use as a demo for our scanning electron microscope at work. The structures are loaded with microscopic sharp edges which rupture the insect exoskeletons on contact resulting in death by dehydration.


Michael

Never used it for the OP's purposes. I used it for garden slugs that were killing my lettuce and spinach. I bought a huge bag from Amazon, but it didn't work. Afterward, I found this site that debunks garden myths: it does not cut & kill slugs but it does seem to deter them

From a practical standpoint, the main problem for it to be a deterrence is that a miniscule amount of water and it turns into a paste then washes away.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: tatortodd,

It seems to have no effect on the stinkbugs that are killing my Century plants, even when applied directly to their miserable bodies.

We had chickens free range our yard for about 8 years. And wife was paranoid about using traditional pesticides that the birds would eat poisoned bugs so we used DE all over. Worked great on roaches. Now the chickens have passed on and we have a pest service spray the house

quote:

Originally posted by Hay2bale:
We use it a lot with good results. A 50 lb. bag is about $30 and lasts six months.

We put it around the house to control ants. Around the shed and wood to control the rolly-polly bugs. In the feed shed to control mealy bugs, it is very effective.

We top dress horse and cattle feed with it. It passes through the animal's digestive tract, which controls internal parasites, and ends up in the manure which limits (but does not eliminate) fly larva.

I used to add it to my dogs food as well as on her coat.

When I clean the pool filter I use the old DE on and around ant hills. I mix it with water to create a slurry/slush and pour it on. Works great.

After learning how it works have tried to educate my sister on why throwing this stuff around the outside of our cabin won't create an impenetrable roach barrier. Especially when it's applied unevenly and with her random motion some ends up on the walls. And then under leaves.....

I envision it as useful for situations where building a tiny berm of broken glass would help, but one that will be continuous and undisturbed. IOW, not really an insecticide, but a physical barrier.

I use it. I blow it into carpenter bee holes in the rafters of my house. Then I take a 1/2 inch cork and glue it in the hole. Saw it off flush and repaint.

Ive thrown it around in my attic in the hopes it would help with the damn Silverfish. I don’t know if it actually has as I also bomb up there as well.

Well a few days after spreading it out (liberally), the fly pop had seemed to decrease.

Also need to take a damp rag to the dark wood flooring. One can see the paths walked by us with the dogs making a narrow path.

I just pick up my dog's poop at least twice a week (the day before trash pickup). Great way to recycle grocery bags. Pro-tips: always check for holes. Double-bag when necessary. Always pickup before rather than after rain.