Diatomaceous earth okay?

Hi all, I'm new to the forum, just found you last night. I've got a question my DH and I have been tossing back and forth for a while, ever since we saw how many large roaches were camped out in our composter. We've got one of those 2'x2' square black plastic commercial models to do the collecting of garden waste and kitchen scraps and any browns I can find to throw in (not many in this neck of the desert). We also have a commercial tumbler-type, and when it's empty we throw the closest-to-finished stuff from the bin composter into the tumbler to finish it off. The bugs don't seem to survive that part, at least!

So, is it OK to add diatomaceous earth to the pile to get rid of those things? And, when it's all done and we toss it into the garden or yard, will the DE hurt the worms or any other bugs we want to encourage?

Thanks tons for your advice!

Hey! Tucsonjill.
http://www.safe2use.com/safe-products/diatomaceous/diatomaceous_Earth.htm

The safety diatomaceous earth, according to this article, depends how much silica there is in it. If you have diatomaceous earth for swimming pools it is crystalline and will not be safe. i just bought some of this myself, intending to use it to control tomato hornworms. The instructions say that mine is pure, and that it safe for animal and even human consumption. It even recommends a spoonful for dogs, to clear out the parasites they may have, as well as using it for a rubdown to discourage fleas on their coats.

If you want to encourage worms in your compost pile, you might want to limit your use to just the areas that have bugs you don't want.

I have used the remains of a chicken-house clean out that was made up of wood shavings, chicken poo and a lot of DE - and it all broke down just fine, but I would echo Gloria's remarks - it won't do good things for your worms. And as I think of it, I'm not certain that DE does much for roaches? Maybe you have heard otherwise.

Anywho, my answer to nearly everything (which means that it's right at least part of the time!) is to turn, turn, turn - and that tends to discourage a lot of the bug population, although they are part of what causes the breakdown, as well.

Sorry, that wasn't a very clear answer, but I hope it was a least a little bit of a help!

This is probably a red flag that we have a really bad composting thing going, but I don't think I've ever seen a worm actually in one of our composters. Lots in the garden, none in the piles. Most things seem to break down eventually, so we just let 'em go till they look plausible. I know our exterminator uses DE for roaches, scorpions, ants, etc., so I'm hoping it kills roaches--if not, why are we paying this guy?!!? :)

We're trying to improve what we're doing, but we're in that fits-and-starts mode. Hard to get real enthusiastic about anything when it's as hot as it's been here.

Thanks for your advice--I appreciate it!

Good luck - BTW, I think you'll find many more worms in the soil *under* your pile .... they typically don't like wide open, dry spaces, and in Tucson that is something that can make your compost pile also not work too good - it gets dry.

Oh, yeah--we seem to swing from one extreme to another. We forget to water it, it dries out and stops. We remember we were supposed to water, DH and I both dump water on it. It gets too wet and stops. We really should get ours acts together...

I know exactly what you mean. Something that might help you is to dump a few cups of water into whatever you're carrying your kitchen scraps out with, or make that the place you dump your pan of dishwater (if you do dishes more often than I do, lol). But it really does help with keeping the microbes active and therefore heating up your pile, which is much better at breaking things down quickly and destroying seeds and bad bugs, etc.... but the desert can make much challenging, yes?

Now that's a good idea! Even I should be able to remember to add some water to the scrap bucket!

Thanks for the pointer!

Always glad to help, ma'am!

My friend gave me a pint of red wigglers once as a joke - but I took her seriously and loved the worms. I have a Compost Twin Tumbler and love it. I do toss all my kitchen scraps, etc in it as well as that cup of worms from years ago. My Tumbler is not in full sun so may not get as hot as some others, but the worms survive very well in it. When I take out compost, I usually come up with gobs of worms, from half inch babies to full grown ones. I never take them all out so they will keep multiplying and making castings. I suppose when it gets too hot in there, they just bury themselves deeper. From time to time when I find worms in my soil, I toss them in too - so we probably have some real hybrids going, lol!

Don;t know much about the diffrence in the DE, but I am told that years ago builders treated the foundation and walls of houses with it when they were built to prevent termites, roaches, etc. The DE will scratch their thin shell bodies and kill them.