I walked in the house the other day and
this was sitting on my counter!
In the spring Daniel helped plant the potato's so now that it's time to dig them up, he gets all excited to dig in the dirt and grab the big ones, but his favorites are the little tiny ones! I have found that if they plant and pick them, they'll eat them!
These nasty little creatures lived short lives in our garden this year. We got rid of any in sight by stuffing them in a jar. Squished a few and actually had to toss a few plants because they were so eaten up. After about a week of that, they were gone!! Other years, if the the plants are covered in bugs, we could use Diatomaceous Earth (DE).
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| "Diatomaceous Earth (D.E.) Organic Crawling Insect Killer With all the concerns about pesticides today - you can rest assured that Diatomaceous Earth is safe & effective. Made from the finely ground fossils of prehistoric fresh water diatoms. Diatomaceous Earth (D.E.) kills common household and garden pests like roaches, ants, fleas, beetles..." |
Sprinkle it on the plants at the onset of potato bug season. To insects DE is a lethal dust with microscopic razor sharp edges. The sharp edges cut through the insects protective covering drying it out and killing them when they are either dusted with DE or if its applied as a wettable powder spray. If they ingest the DE it will shred their insides!!
It's nice to know that if you use D.E rather than a poison, the food and the kids will still be safe in yard and garden! Basically DE is a powdered rock used as a nontoxic, all-natural insecticide; a form of unrefined diatomite (diatomite is a soft powdery porous rock).
DE is NOT the same thing as the DE used in swimming pools. Pool grade DE, produced for pool filters, is treated with heat, causing the formerly amorphous silicon dioxide to crystallize. Pool grade DE should never be used for pest control.
