Corn glutten meal

[texomag]

Looking for information on using corn glutten meal as a weed preventer in annual flower beds

[Kathe Kitchens]

Corn gluten meal or granulated corn gluten can be used at any time in annual flower beds. As well as being an excellent pre-emergent, it is an excellent fertilizer. Aside from being sure not to use too heavy an application so you have too much nitrogen, the only restriction in using this product is that you will be unsuccessful in sprouting seeds in the bed soil for your annuals. You will have to plant seedlings. If you have other questions please pose them specifically and I will do my best to answer, as will other forum readers.
:D

[mspigleyt]

Was wondering if corn glutten would be good to put in the garden.
We have just finished pulling all our plants and put in some sand and worked that into the garden. We want to be sure the bed is ready for the spring planting.

Should we put corn glutten in to work in the soil all winter? We on occasion will till the soil during the winter to keep the weeds/grass down and make sure the soil is nice, soft and ready for planting in the spring. :D

[Kathe Kitchens]

The time frame in which corn gluten is effective depends on the type you use and how much irrigation is applied. I wouldn't recommend working it into the soil, just top application and maybe disturbing the top 2 inches of soil. The best times to use it are in spring & fall, when most weed seeds germinate. Putting it into the soil now is fine for fertilization but most of the country (I can't tell where you are) is in a cool period and not much is germinating, so the corn gluten action is essentially lost as a pre-emergent. Generally accepted time frame for its effectiveness in that use is 3 months, and maybe up to 6 months but that would be stretching it and require a heavy application.

Just a note to take care not to till your beds too often. Each time you disturb the soil you disrupt or eliminate beneficial microbial activity and kill off some microbes, forcing the natural systems to start from scratch again. You also release heat and nutrients and cool the soil unnecessarily. Like turning a compost pile too often, you defeat your purpose. Read up a little on no-till gardening and consider managing half of your garden with little or no tilling to compare with the frequently tilled area. There are lots of us out here that don't till at all or only once a year and have active, thriving gardens. Keeping the soil loose and rich by the actions of microbes and small soil creatures is much easier on both you and the soil. Try applying compost to the top of the soil in fall (or even now), put mulch on top and leave it for the winter and see how well it tills the soil for you in time for spring planting. I predict you'll be able to plant your seedlings or seeds easily and the plants will grow virtually on their own. You'll be pleasantly surprised.

If you are in an area with heavy, alkaline soils you'll make less work for yourself using compost, cornmeal, lava sand and green sand in your soils rather than sand. Regular sand tends to settle in pockets and cause problems with water drainage. If you meant green or lava sand you will be fine.

Hope this helps!
:D Kathe

[kathiec]

Where I am, in the Dallas area, I seem to get broadleaf weeds germinating as early as early February -- by early March I have a full-blown attack. I applied corn gluten in September -- would another application this month help control the early broadleafs? I was thinking maybe an application in January, with another in March to deal with the crabgrass. Thanks for the help!

[Dchall_San_Antonio]

If you put it down in Sept, you're probably right on target for your winter/spring weeds. Apply again in March to catch the summer weeds.

I want to second what Kathe said about tilling. The reason rototilling SEEMS to work is that it breaks all the biochemical slime bonds that your soil microbes have spent all that time building. Basically it turns your soil structure into dust and the dust seems to be soft. The problem is that as soon as you water it, it turns to mud and actually resists air and water penetration.

On the other hand, if you allow your soil microbes to live unbothered by the tiller, your soil will develop natural tilth that surpasses what your tiller seems to be doing. Here's a brief summary of how the soil microbes build soil structure for you.

Bacteria give off a slime that glues soil particles (basic minerals) together. They start with the dust your tiller makes and build larger and larger soil particles as the microbes do their work. This is the basic crumb structure. Then the various fungus species work to separate the soil crumbs from each other. Fungal hyphae shoot out in all directions. When they get wet, they swell and force the crumbs apart. When they dry out, they shrink away from the crumbs and allow air to penetrate. When it rains or you irrigate, the air pockets fill up with water and allow deep penetration into the soil.

When you rototill, you break all the slime bonds and you break the hyphae (which kills the beneficial fungus). This undoes all that work and your soil microbes have to start over. It takes years to develop good, natural tilth, so your frequent tilling will actually prevent the natural tilth from forming.

The best way to develop natural tilth is to start with a layer of compost (which provides most of the beneficial bacteria and fungus you need) and then start to feed protein to the microbes. Microbes eat protein and sugar. The plants provide the sugar and you can provide the protein in the form of ground nuts, seeds, or beans.

My favorite organic "fertilizer" is corn meal followed by alfalfa meal or pellets. If I had cheap access to soy meal, corn gluten meal, linseed meal, or cottonseed meal, then they would be my favorites. Used coffee grounds also make an excellent 'free' fertilizer. The application rate is 10-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. Personally I scatter a handful of corn and one of alfalfa under each of my plants every month.

Best wishes to you.

[Billusa99]

Everything I have read (here) and done for the past 4 years says mid-late Feb at the latest for CGM to catch summer weeds.

Having done it in March in 2000 & 2001, and in Feb in 20002 & 2003, I would err on the side of Feb around here.