HELP! Diatomaceous Earth doesn't seem to be working on fleas

11 years ago

Hey guys,

I'm wondering what's going on here - I purchased some DE on Ebay back in August and started applying it around the yard. I would continue to walk out there and still found fleas out there though. I ended up buying nematodes and applying them earlier this week (hopefully it's more effective).

Anyway, I decided to do a little experiment and caught some fleas and put them in a jar with several tablespoons of DE. One of the fleas died but I think it was because the jar was slightly wet and I put DE in after and it probably drowned in some of the paste that formed. I made sure to put more fresh DE in after the water dried up too.

I still have 3 fleas left (one I caught a couple days ago but the other two have been in the jar for a good week now). The DE seems to be having no effect on them!

I've read conflicting information from various sources - some say DE doesn't work on adult fleas and only works on larvae. Others have reported their experience that it does work and have even said they caught fleas, put them in a jar with DE, and they were dead within hours at most.

Any pointers?

Featured Answer

jplee3
Original Author

6 years ago

Yea, I think it's a waste of $$ unless what I got wasn't really DE. Or maybe it works on other insects and not fleas... I ended up buying Permethrin and Pyridine off Amazon and mixed the two with water in a manual pump sprayer. I sprayed down the deck areas that were infested last September and I haven't seen a single flea since. I reapplied about a week ago and still haven't noticed any. This has been way more effective than DE or nematodes ever were.

Comments (13)

rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
11 years ago
I can't answer the question about why the DE is not killing the fleas in your jar test. As you sure that it is horticultural DE and not pool filter DE? DE should work on adults AND larvae.

I can't imagine investing in enough of it to spread over a yard, though.
jplee3
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks. It is food grade DE - at least, that's what it was advertised and sold as. Is horticultural different than food grade?
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jplee3
Original Author
11 years ago
Oh my yard is pretty small - maybe 200-300sq ft at most. I ordered a 10lb bag of this stuff. So far I've been pretty disappointed... what I'm hoping is that it's not fake!
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
11 years ago
Can you submit a picture of the label? I'm curious about the distributor.
jplee3
Original Author
11 years ago
It shipped from this company: "safede"

http://www.safede.com/
http://myworld.ebay.com/safe_de
Kimmsr
11 years ago
Horticultural and food grade Diamotaceous Earth are the same thing while pool grade is different. DE is a very passive insect control and may well take quite some time to control any target insect because they must make contact with it.
jplee3
Original Author
11 years ago
Thanks for the information. I checked yesterday after work and actually found that only two fleas are alive now - I think one went down, unless I was just having a hard time seeing. I also noticed that they seem like they're "shivering" while crawling around. I'm wondering if this is the slow effects of the DE on their body. In any case, it seems like in a controlled environment it may take 5-7 days for the DE to actually kill off the fleas. I'm wondering how effective sprinkling the DE around my yard has really been for that matter. I have doubts in my application of it - I can see how it would work well for covering small cracks and putting at baseboards, but not for a broad application such as in a yard.

What about mixing the DE into the existing soil though? Or would that disperse the particles too much for them to even be effective?
0l0margie0l0
6 years ago
I did the same jar test, the fleas didn't die until the following day & that's bec i didn't poke any holes for air. I put about 1/8 cup of food grade DE. My vet told me it doesn't work. I did notice my cat's skin got extremely dry & his hair felt really coarse. I put DE around the house & in some flower bed where my indoor/outdoor cat hang out. got. Its a mess to clean it all up, it ruined 2 vaccums.
jplee3 thanked 0l0margie0l0
John DesJardins
5 years ago
Yeah, diatomaceous earth was a total fail for treating our flea problems. I definitely recommend against wasting time with it.
Kaillean (zone 8, Vancouver)
5 years ago
Plus how many flea predators did you kill at the same time?
Bonnie Peyser
4 years ago
I have used in garage twice. My Gerald are being eaten alive. Doesn't work.
Anne Tilmont
2 years ago
Same experience. Does not work on my cats... despite o many testimonials telling us its miracle remedy that should be effective after 4 h. Dont know if sprinkling it in corners would be useful against the eggs etc? Have my doubts