corn gluten meal

[btg]

dear KHWOZ: spoke with an organic supply house and was told that CGM was a good pre-emergent and that i should apply in the fall. i was told to use corn meal as a fertilizer instead. seems to be a lot of contradictory theories out there. i wanted to fertilize my st augustine lawn and was told by this website that CGM in powder form was what i needed to use. all i want to do is get the lawn greener and healthier so that it looks great and kills any weeds contained in it. i used some gardenville soil conditioner on the lawn as well. what about molasses to green up the lawn and fertilize? :?: thanks for your help. btg

[Dirt Doctor]

Please let us know the name of the "organic supply house" that is recommending corn meal over corn gluten meal as a fertilizer. That is extremely bad information. Thanks.

[btg]

dear moderator: i'm surprised and disappointed that none of my concerns and questions were'nt even addressed but the request to know where i obtained my information from was. i thought that this forum board and membership was to assist me in obtaining knowledge and education from experienced members. this is the second time this has occurred and as moderator, i believe you should address this issue. what is the correct answer concerning CGM & regular cornmeal? thanks, btg.

[khwoz]

Ck the following post (there are more if you search "cornmeal")

http://www.dirtdoctor.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=6779&highlight=cornmeal

Molasses provides a quick sugar fix to the microbes in the soil along with other nutrients. I don't believe it will give you a quick green-up.

The store giving the bad advice need to know so they can train (or re-train) the employees properly.

[Pamzilla1]

Here is my two cents. Just plain cornmeal will fertilize just like any other organic fertilizer. It is a good fertilizer for St. Augustine since that grass can develope fungal infestation and is controlled by any corn product.

Corn Gluten Meal, if applied at the exact right time, will render weed seeds unable to grow. It is also a powerful fertilizer but is also expensive.

Now just decide if you want to fertilize right now or wait until the window to control weed seeds comes around.

In my oppinion St. Augustine doesn't need CGM to control weeds. As long as you keep it watered once or twice a week, mowed at about 2-3 inches, and fertilize even sparingly the most annoying of weeds will die out. One of the most annoying weeds is the dalas grass and even it dies with repeated mowing but it takes almost a weekly mow for an entire growing season to snuff it out. Once the St. Augustine is healthy and relatively weed free mowing will only be needed every 2-3 weeks at the most.

Does that answer your questions more precisely?

Good luck bringing your lawn to the envy off all the organic way.

[pakin]

Corn Gluten Meal is a very good fertilizer although it's mostly thought of as a weed-seed killer. My St Augustine is better than it's been for several years because we used CGM earlier in the year.

Pat A