Bugs in my cornmeal

bschift · Joined: 25 Mar 2003 Posts: 4 Location: ,

I bought some corn meal fertilizer last spring and didn't use it all. I was putting down some CGM for the winter and remembered the old corn meal and figured I'd put it down. Unfortunately, it's loaded with little bugs.

My question is what do I do with it? I figure the corn meal is still good, but I'm worried about what these bugs will do to my plants/grass/veggie garden. I can just add it to my compost pile, but if the bugs won't hurt the garden in the spring, I'd like to put it there to help build the soil.

Thanks.

dcluck · Joined: 09 Mar 2003 Posts: 315 Location: Dallas,TEXAS

I can't help you with the bug issue, but I'm also interested in what others might have to say on the matter. I bought one too many bags of CGM recently and hope to keep it for use in February. If relatively "long term" storage is an issue with corn based products then I'll be happy to find a use for it now.

~Dave

Kathe Kitchens · Joined: 21 May 2003 Posts: 829 Location: Dallas,TX

I had the problem with bugs in my cornmeal and I spread it on my yard anyway to no ill effect; they're probably mealy bugs and won't bother anything else, if they look like large grains of pepper. You can throw the corn meal in your freezer if it's big enough and freeze them to death, to make sure.

Corn gluten meal will be fine over the winter so long as it stays dry. I'd keep it in some place where it won't get wet and/or freeze & thaw out. It stinks to high heaven when it gets wet & rots because it has so much protein in it...like meat when it rots. P-ewwww! (Or however you spell that. :wink: :D

Tony M · Joined: 31 Mar 2003 Posts: 1087 Location: McKinney,TEXAS

These bugs are weevils. The only harm they will do is eat some cornmeal. They will not migrate into the house nor will they start eating plants.
Tony M

CaptainCompostAL · Joined: 10 Mar 2003 Posts: 875 Location: Irondale,Alabama

Most bugs and worms I find in my organic materials for composting are beneficial. I just put my bugs in my old cattle feeds and corn meal, etc. in my compost piles, or in my tea brews. It makes great extra nitrogen/protein sources.

Kathe Kitchens · Joined: 21 May 2003 Posts: 829 Location: Dallas,TX

Oops! :roll: Tony's right...they are weevils, not mealy bugs. I called them that as a throwback from my uneducated old farm family lingo days...that was our common name for them as they always showed up in the "meal" we had in the pantry! So they were "meal-y" bugs, get it? Like everyone agrees, no harm unless they get in the house and they will get into everything grain based not in a sealed container, but they're even good at that from time to time! Just use the cornmeal and forget it!
:lol: Kathe

Dchall_San_Antonio · Joined: 18 Mar 2003 Posts: 2001 Location: San Antonio,TEXAS

I'm not sure they are weevils, but they are there. I just read something about them last week. The writer said that everyone called them weevils but that true weevils didn't attack corn meal, only wheat. He also said that there was a beetle that attacked everything. So anyway,

I had a bag of corn meal with fully 15 pounds of it just gross with the little buggers. I used what I could get through the spreader and composted the last 10 pounds worth.