I wanted to bump this thread and say thank you to Drew for pushing his “DE agenda” on a couple different general threads I’ve read, or else I might have missed this one. And thanks to @mamuang for the suggestion on NAPA brand DE.
I was searching the collective knowledge of the internet for information on cat litter /NAPA DE and other types of DE and came across this bonsai forum thread The Great D.E. Thread - #17 by el_cheezer - Horticulture - Mirai Forum
Towards the bottom there is a video posted comparing various DE. I haven’t watched yet but plan to before purchasing anything.
There are a few things to consider that I hadn’t seen specifically mentioned.
There is the food grade pulverized powder form used for livestock vs the larger sized oil absorbent size
Has anyone found inexpensive cat litter made of DE that is less expensive than the oil sorb products mentioned? I know some cat litters use clay (Bentonite based?) products. We use Bentonite medium chips at work to seal pipes through embankments etc for the expansion properties, but I’m wondering if the heat treated versions are also effective for horticulture purposes, and if there is a significant cost difference vs DE making it worth a shot? It seems to me that there is a clear advantage to DE but I wanted to ask the simple questions, because sometimes it’s good to know the “why”, not just the proper answer.
Additionally on this thread Napa Oil Dry part no. 8822 | Page 9 | Bonsai Nut
Effects of kiln heating are discussed. Apparently the napa product is not heated vs optisorb being a calcinated fired product, which brings me to my next point of contention - may be why @sorce had a worm kicking in a tree with, if I remember right, was in 100% napa DE
I don’t want to murder all of the earth worms living in my raised garden beds. I know powdered DE is great for keeping unwanted insect critters at bay, but I like the free earthworm castings in my beds too. Is it possible to have your cake and eat it too with the napa product?
My final thought for now, is the discrepancy in volume /weight on napa vc optisorb. Napa comes as a 24 quart bag vs optisorb 25 lb for about the same price. Which is the better deal per lb? I can’t compare weight vs volume for costs, although I could probably estimate the dry weight on napa based on avg particle size. Any thoughts there?
Still trying to learn over here.
-Ryan