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Corn Gluten Meal Q & A


Liquid corn gluten meal spray - a listener/farmer recommendation that's a great idea.

 

The way we use corn gluten on our fields - we make a tea out of it and spray on the fields once a month from Autumn to May. Works very well. We use 2 to 6 cups of corn gluten to 100 gallons of water and spray it on with a pull behind sprayer. We just put the corn gluten meal in panty hose and suspend it in the sprayer when we fill it up, then swish the panty hose, remove and stir. Use at about 35 gallons per acre. Simple, economical and effective.

 


Granular corn gluten meal

 

Corn gluten meal is a natural weed and feed fertilizer. It should be broadcast to prevent grassburs, crabgrass, and other annual weeds that germinate from seed. The key is to broadcast the material before the the weed seed germinate.

 

For the cool season or winter weeds, broadcast in early Fall at 15 - 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet for the control of henbit, dandelions, annual bluegrass and other winter weeds. It also serves as a powerful organic fertilizer having about 9-10 percent nitrogen.

 

Corn gluten meal can be used when overseeding ryegrass or other cool season crops but only with care. You must wait until the grass, vetch or clover has germinated and started to grow before putting the corn gluten meal down or the seed germination will be hurt. Do not use prior to planting anything from seed.

 

Corn gluten meal replaces the need for other fertilization for that period.

 


Corn gluten meal - fine grain

 

Corn gluten meal – a different product - a Natural "Weed and Feed"

 


Corn milling illustration from this Research Gate paper.

In the early 1990s Dr. Nick Christians and his research students at Iowa State discovered that corn gluten meal, a product of the wet milling process, works as a pre-emergent weed and feed. It inhibits weed root formation during germination. With a nitrogen content of about 9 percent, it is also a powerful fertilizer. It is available in the natural powdered form or in a granulated form. Powdered products are more effective and cheaper but the granulated products are much less dusty and messy. 

 

Apply about 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet just like a fertilizer application. In North Texas, do it about March 1 and again about June 1 for even greater control. Unlike chemical herbicides, corn gluten meal replaces the need to buy additional fertilizer. Warning: Do not allow a bag of corn gluten meal to get wet. The resultant odor can be overwhelming.

 

P.S. Cornmeal only works in an organic program. When toxic chemical products are used, the effect of the cornmeal will be lost.

 

 

Question: I did not use corn gluten on my lawn by March 1st, can I still use it on my lawn for June 1st? — D.B.,  Dallas.

 

Answer: Yes, it functions as a powerful fertilizer any month of the year.

 

Question: When listening to your radio show, I have heard you talk of using corn gluten as a fertilizer. Could you tell me what the fertilizer analysis would be on pelletized corn gluten?  I was considering this as a fertilizer on rye grass and wheat for cattle pasture and wondered if it would be feasible. — J.D., Dallas

 

Answer: The analysis of corn gluten meal ranges from 9-0-0 to 10-0-0. It would work well for pasture feeding but would be costly. Dry molasses might be better. The n-p-k is not as important as building soil life, which the dry molasses does effectively and at a reasonable cost. Apply it at 200 – 400 lbs. per acre.


 

 

 

 

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