Slugs/bugs eating my Ludisia?

[Leafmite]

Submerging a plant won't help fungus. Fungus is often encouraged by water. I use Isopropyl alcohol for fungus issues as it disinfects and dries. I find that preventing fungus issues by giving my plants more Calcium seems to be the best route.

I would soak just the pot/medium in water to drown whatever might be inside but keep the leaves dry to prevent fungus issues.

The DE: Use a food grade DE as the other grades cause harm to the lungs. I think this is what I might have bought:

https://www.diatomaceousearth.com/10...FRc7gQodStwG9Q

[estación seca]

... Use a food grade DE as the other grades cause harm to the lungs....

All DE is harmful when inhaled. It may cause pneumoconiosis, also known as miner's lung. Please be very careful with it. I would not dust it on plants indoors. Take them outside when you do this.

Pumice, perlite and vermiculite powder are also harmful.

[NKOrchid]

Okay, so no submerging of the entire plant, just the pot. That's actually what I do when I water them, though I think I will stop since I've heard that it can transfer virus/disease/bugs.
I've bought some DE today. This one is sold as a food supplement and contains 90% silica of which 40-50% is silicium (not sure this is translated right or makes sense...) It states that it has a high amount of fossil shells and fossil skeletons(?). I hope this is right and will work!

Do you think submerging the potting medium of all my plants in water for a couple of hours, waiting for it to dry and then sprinkling DE on the soil and leaves is safe? If so, I'm doing this to all my plants to get rid of everything.

---------- Post added at 04:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:44 PM ----------

Estación seca: I will take them outside when I sprinkle the DE on them. Should they stay outside or is it only when I put it on the plants? I mean... if it's harmful to inhale, then I'd technically be inhaling it all the time, if I've put it on a plant that's inside (even if I put it on outside), right?

---------- Post added at 04:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:52 PM ----------

Also, how come it's harmful to inhale when it isn't harmful to eat it?

[Leafmite]

Could you post a link that talks of the food grade DE being harmful? That might be helpful. When doing research on this, I kept reading that the food grade is safe but the pool grade is harmful. With the way people are using this to get rid of fleas, ants and every single other insect home invader, a link on the harmful effects of the food grade DE would be of great benefit. Thanks!

[SFLguy]

Originally Posted by NKOrchid

Okay, so no submerging of the entire plant, just the pot. That's actually what I do when I water them, though I think I will stop since I've heard that it can transfer virus/disease/bugs.
I've bought some DE today. This one is sold as a food supplement and contains 90% silica of which 40-50% is silicium (not sure this is translated right or makes sense...) It states that it has a high amount of fossil shells and fossil skeletons(?). I hope this is right and will work!

Do you think submerging the potting medium of all my plants in water for a couple of hours, waiting for it to dry and then sprinkling DE on the soil and leaves is safe? If so, I'm doing this to all my plants to get rid of everything.

---------- Post added at 04:52 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:44 PM ----------

Estación seca: I will take them outside when I sprinkle the DE on them. Should they stay outside or is it only when I put it on the plants? I mean... if it's harmful to inhale, then I'd technically be inhaling it all the time, if I've put it on a plant that's inside (even if I put it on outside), right?

---------- Post added at 04:53 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:52 PM ----------

Also, how come it's harmful to inhale when it isn't harmful to eat it?

When eaten, particulates can be dissolved in your stomach acids
Your lungs don't contain stomach acids so the particulates can sit in there almost indefinitely and cause problems

[NKOrchid]

SFLguy: I see. That makes sense. On the Internet there's a lot of different opinions on how harmful it is and what happens if you inhale it.

https://www.diatomaceousearth.com/bl...y-precautions/ This site states that it's no more harmful to inhale than dust. Then again, I don't know how harmful it is to actually inhale dust and how much dust we're talking.

[Leafmite]

I treated the very leafy plants outside, shook them off and brought them inside. I dusted the orchids inside with a paintbrush. I research all the pesticides that I use and I was not able to find any research to suggest that the food grade DE is more than an irritant. I am hoping that Estación seca will post some links for us so we can be informed.

[NKOrchid]

Here's a FAQ on DE Diatomaceous Earth FAQ

Question number four is about breathing it in and what different kinds of DE are harmful and which are not. From what it states food grade DE should not be harmful - then again, who knows if it's true or not.

---------- Post added at 05:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 05:11 PM ----------

I guess the best way to do this would be to go outside with the plant, put on the DE with a brush and sprinkle some on the soil so the most gets on the plant and less gets in the air. Then shake it when outside to get rid of excess DE and bring it inside.