Use/misuse of de

[Bengfan]

Hello!. I have a situation. I had insects so I combatted with neem oil, insect soap(both Garden Safe brand) and finally with diatomaceous earth. My problem is when using the de, I applied a 1' thick layer to top of soil but mistakenly watered over top and through the de essentially "caking" my soil and am now getting virtually no runoff. I am in 5 gal. containers with drain hole in bottom and numerous hole throughout the sides of pots that I drilled myself. I am using a mixture of ffof and ffhf with about 30% added perlite. My tent is 24"x48"x70", Mars pro ll 120 led. GO nutes,, intake and exhaust(190cfm), temp and rh good. I am in week 2 of flower with Wonder Woman. I have "raked" the top inch of soil and pushed bamboo stick through to bottom of pot and rotate in circular motion to try to loosen the compacted, caked soil. Will I be ok till harvest? Please help! Thank you!

[kingfish]

Can't you just take an inch of dirt off the top and replace it with good soil ? BTW, there are better ways to kill insects then with Neem Oil. I use Spinosat i.e. "Captain Jacks Dead Bug Brew". Look it up.

[Bengfan]

Hey Kingfish. No I can't it is already mixed into the soil. Thanks for the info, I was looking at Captain Jacks but did not buy for some reason. I will have it for the future!

[Redwasp]

You only need a very small layer of de. Never used that much. But are your plants healthy?

[Bengfan]

Redwasp,I learned that the hard way! So far I think they are fine. I might be wrong but I think I read somewhere a long time ago that de was good for the roots?? Holy Hell I hope so!! I thank you buddy.

[Potted]

U clogged up the top with to heavy a layer of d soil it should b sprinkled on after each watering no dumped all at once. Lol

[Bengfan]

Hello Potted. Thank you for your reply. Boy oh boy do I get what you are saying. Only wish I asked beforehand. Do you think I will be alright?

[Redwasp]

Watch your plants. What do they think. Lol

[Bengfan]

I'm watching, to early to tell but so far so good.

[Redwasp]

Unless the plant looks unhealthy no worries. If she does start to show signs hit us back.

[D.A.A.S.69]

Bengfan , I always just sprinkled, on the top, but mixing it in the soil, shouldn't hurt anything either, might even help the roots , I think it's got silica in it, or its made out of it.
I sure would like to hear ,how it turns out, keep us posted, and good luck, but I think your gonna be all right.

[Bengfan]

D.A.A.S.69, I thank you! I appreciate your words of encouragement and I will keep you posted.

[KingKush]

Been there and done that before! They survive, just makes watering tricky. Don't want to let them dry out and you will get runoff eventually. It's only crushed diatoms, or dried, ocean single celled organisms that is crushed into powder, microscopically it's like a sponge, and is practically inert. It simply increased your water holding capacity. Little places for the water to hide.

[D.A.A.S.69]

Bengfan, are you using FFarms nutrients?
Anyway, to be honest with you, I've never used it, and it might be good, but I've heard plenty bad about it too.
If they were mine, I wouldn't do anything, But watch my plants, I don't think you are gonna have any problems from the DE.
And I would just water real slow, all around, so everything gets soaked evenly,and you get good run-off, that's what I'd do , but that's just me , everyone does things differently,
But I sure don't see DE, causing any problems, could actually help.
Ps, flushing is kinda ruff on plants in soil, I mean, if they start looking bad, I'd flush, but if they don't start looking bad, I wouldn't for sure.
GoodLuck with whatever you do ,

[KingKush]

I just use .5gal or 1 gal water during a watering event. No more than 1gal per 5 gal bucket at once, and that usually fills my drip trays about half full, and the plant wicks up the rest over the next few minutes. and it takes a few minutes to see
any runoff, so just be patient. I wouldn't change anything about your water. The Diatomaceous Earth is inert, and won't cause harm.

Sledgehammer sounds like a waste of money, but I have never tried it so no real evidence to support my thoughts. I give one last half dose of bloom nutes when the hairs are starting to turn color, and then just ride it out with water the last 2-4 weeks. I love watching the plant go to fall, like a maple tree shedding its colorful leaves in autumn. That's how you know there is no flush needed. And it smells and smokes amazing this way.

[Bengfan]

Hey KingKush. I thank you very much for the info.! I have decided against Sledgehammer do to the advice of you and others. KingKush she seems to be doin pretty well so far. I do have some leaves prematurely yellowing and falling off but I hope to get that worked out when the soil loosens up. I probably won't water again until Wed. or Thur, I only water about every 5-7 days so far using the "knuckle" and lift the pot test. I usually give a little less than a gallon to get the runoff I need(about 20%).

[Bengfan]

Hello all. I thought I would give an update even though possibly early. I have been adding a heavy 1/16 tsp. of Raw yucca to my last two water/feed and runoff is almost back to normal. I was even able to check runoff ph and ppm last night and was pleasantly surprised. Inlet ph was 6.44 and runoff ph at 6.61 while ppm was at 589, definitely numbers I can work with. Thank you all for your help and I will try to update again.