Smelly Yard

jmeier · Joined: 19 Apr 2003 Posts: 110 Location: Garland

I can't remember, is it normal for a corn gluten meal application to stink like a latrine when it gets wet?

Dchall_San_Antonio · Joined: 18 Mar 2003 Posts: 1986 Location: San Antonio,TEXAS

That's not normal. That's anerobic decomposition from the CGM sitting in standing water somewhere. Do you have any soggy soil or low spots that might be holding water? Drain those and the fluff up the soil right there to get some air back into it.

jmeier · Joined: 19 Apr 2003 Posts: 110 Location: Garland

Thanks for the reply--I have no low spots or water pooling, but we have had something on the order of 5-7 inches of rain in the last two weeks. That may be doing it since it hasn't had a chance to dry out...the smell is getting better as we get alittle more sun.

Nadine · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 1162 Location: Carrollton,TEXAS

I have experienced the same thing. I had applied some corn gluten meal last October. It had not rained for quite a while and I did not water it in. :!:
I came back from a week long vacation and thought there was a dead animal in my yard. :shock: Come to find out it had rained. I remembered hearing Howard say something about the odor of wet corn gluten meal. Yes, it will stink when it gets wet.

Billusa99 · Joined: 24 Mar 2003 Posts: 291 Location: Dallas,TX

It smells exactly that way after a rain if you have laid down enough.

I have been using it twice a year for 4 years now and in the early years it never stank... and I did not get the pre-emergent benefits, nor near the lush lawn, as I get now, when it stinks!

And, you can't have anerobic decompostion in surface water, as it is constantly exposed to, and contains, O2. You get aerobic decomposition, which is good anyway, and happens in compost piles every day.

Relax!

Dchall_San_Antonio · Joined: 18 Mar 2003 Posts: 1986 Location: San Antonio,TEXAS

I believe you can get anerobic decomposition in still, shallow water if it sits long enough. I get it in corn meal tea sitting in a shallow bowl after a few days. I tried aerating it and it lasts indefinitely with air pumped in. Temperature makes a difference, too.

TC · Joined: 04 May 2003 Posts: 19 Location: Burleson Tx.

I can tell you from experience that cornmeal will stink very badly if it gets wet. Look in the composting section and read a thread I started titled
Need to get compost pile cook Quick or something like that.
I had some in an ice chest and it got wet and I let it sit around for a few months. When I decided to pour it in my compost pile you would have thought I was storing dead bodies in my back yard! It was horrible.