Is Diat/ earth the same thing as ground oyster?

[juggernaut]

I went in to the hydro store looking for crushed oyster shells and they said diat earth was the same thing.
Is he pulling my wire or telling the truth?

 

[fishwhistle]

No,oyster shell is calcium and DE is silica im pretty sure.

 

[Coir]

No. They are not the same thing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diatomaceous_earth Google is your friend!

 

[Mr.7thson]

I guess they just want to make a sale:mad:

 

[Seamaiden]

I went in to the hydro store looking for crushed oyster shells and they said diat earth was the same thing.
Is he pulling my wire or telling the truth?

I was just telling my son, don't listen to the guys at the hydro shop. Seriously. Diatoms are not the same as mollusks, not by any stretch of the imagination.

 

[barefoot]

true...... but they can both balance ph..................been using oyster shell flour since late 70's...................................


ganj on......................

 

[Seamaiden]

DE affects pH...? Never in all my years, aquatic and terrestrial. That's including using the old Magnum power filters to polish my customers' water (yes, that's what we called it, polishing the water, odd concept but once you see it happen you totally get it).

 

[ChalkyWhite]

Yeah I've gotten some terrible advice over the years at my shop bad thing is I don't even ask I just kind of humor my guy because he likes to talk and he gives me a decent discount.

 

[barefoot]

oops....ya right Sea.......dyslexic.............Dolomitic Limestone....................

stoners moment..............toooo much peace pipe.............

ganj on.................

 

[MysteryChild]

For pest management?
Then both will work about the same
I personally like diatemacious earth better

 

[Seamaiden]

?? I've never heard of, or seen, or used oyster shell flour for pest management. Hmmm..

 

[henry]

You guys ever looked at diatomaceus earth under a 'scope? You should if you haven't. Diatoms are amazing. Ground oyster, by way of constrast, is significantly less interesting...unless you have a SEM.

 

[Seamaiden]

I've seen images of the diatoms' skeletons, yes. I imagine the ground shells of a tasty mollusk wouldn't be anywhere nearly as interesting. I'd still like to know how it's used for pest management in relation to DE.

 

[Myco]

:facepalm:

Hydro shop guys are a fucking hoot.

"You need one of these, one of these, definitely one of these... are you using this? OMG I can't believe you're not using this! You're going to get HUGE yields if you use THIS. One of my customers tripled his yield with it."

And now "bro, DE is exactly the same as oyster shell, bro."

On a serious note, never have I heard of oyster shell being used for pest management... let alone in the same respect as DE, either.

 

[MoodySass]

You would surely run into some major ph issues is you tried using oyster shells the same way as DE.