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Indiana

I have read several times about using corn meal for a soil amendment what does it do for the soil? Also could cracked corn be substituted? Cracked corn is more easily obtainable around here.
Steve

3/11/2004 10:23:05 AM

Appalachian Mtns.

nitrogen...good stuff

3/11/2004 11:06:13 AM

In the shade - PDX, OR

Corn meal is a good food resource for earthworms. I think Doc says 10 lbs per 1K sqft applied in the Fall.

He'll chime in though...


I would be careful if you used cracked corn these are much larger pieces. Also use caution with the application rate -don't over do it. This product is also used as a germination inhibitor.

Ever hear of, or use Preen?

3/11/2004 12:44:18 PM

Montoursville, PA

Corn Meal is right on for two or three applications Spring and Fall at about ten pounds per thousand sq. ft. After three applications quit and maybe bring it back every three years or so.

Corn Meal is not the corn product that is a germination inhibitor. The corn product that works to kill small weeds attacks the hair roots after they have germinated. This product is Corn Gluten...not at all like corn meal or cracked corn. All corn products will however yeild a small amount of nitrogen as it is digested into the patch.

NOW DARN IT READ THIS AND COPY AND PASTE TO YOUR SYSTEM SO YOU CAN REPEAT GOOD INFORMATION..ON CORNMEAL, the very best fungal disease control available. It has been used to cure human fungi problems since man discovered guys who worked in corn grinding mills did not hardly ever have the human fungi problems. In the patch it establishes it's magic and it forms a community of fungi that remain beneficials to prevent the bad guys from performing their acts. It is not an innoculation but it works like one in that it strengtens the good fungi and also the bacteria that eat the bad fungi. It does such a good job that every now and again it wears out from lack of activity because it does such a good job. Thus re-apply every now and then.

Now for the interesting part.....No one knows exactly why or how this works...it just does. That's OK in my book. :)

3/11/2004 9:21:11 PM

Montoursville, PA

Darn............I wanted to say Corn Gluton should never be used on a pumpkin patch because of how it works. It is absolutely not to be associated with any plant that has continuing development of hair roots and Mycorrhizal associated with the roots to bring nutrients back to the roots. Corn Gluton would silently and absolutely be all wrong. Please do not use it in around pumpkins, squash, gords and cukes.

Cracked Corn attracts mice as well as the birds. You make the call. I do not use it in my gardens.

3/11/2004 9:38:53 PM

Paradise Mountain, New York

I put two hundred pounds of Corn Meal on my patch last year

3/11/2004 11:51:55 PM

Omaha, NE (N41-15-42 )

Where does one acquire corn meal in those quantities?

3/12/2004 1:40:43 AM

Montoursville, PA

I bought mine at the feed mill. Again if you can get it cattle food grade will be less expensive than food grade.

3/12/2004 1:54:06 AM

Appalachian Mtns.

got mine at Southern States

3/12/2004 4:21:28 AM

Roanoke Il

Doc Can corn gluton be applied late season after the plant is well rooted lets say late aug or would this effect the plant. mark

3/12/2004 7:52:33 AM

Montoursville, PA

Mark.........The way it works is it moves to the hair roots and attemts to kill by affecting the development of hair roots. This statement is hard to come by but after a half dozen phone calls this is the long and short of how it works. I don't think you ever want Corn Gluton in a patch where hair roots supply the flow line of all nourishment.

I'm not aware of any growing situation where I would like to have it's presence associated with the food web. It will not hurt your biological ballences. I can't see that it could hurt life chemically, in any way. It still does not look like a good actor in any use associatied with a plant you would like to grow.

Now I suspect someone will come up with the red herring that it is all about ballance. The question is: How do you ballance something like this? You can't make this one selective just as you can not make synthetics selective.

3/12/2004 11:55:51 AM

Roanoke Il

thanks doc

3/12/2004 1:37:22 PM

In the shade - PDX, OR

For those wondering WHY corn meal works -

Clipped from a garden web forum:

This is what Texas A&M University says about corn meal...
Biological Control of Soilborne Fungi
It is known that certain fungal species in the genus Trichoderma feed on mycelium and sclerotia of Sclerotinia minor. Sclerotium rolfsii and Rhizoctonia sp. All peanut fields in Texas tested to date have a natural population of Trichoderma. For several years, tests have been conducted in Texas using corn meal to stimulate Trichoderma development as a way to control the major soilborne disease fungi. When yellow corn meal is applied to fields in the presence of moist surface soil, Trichoderma builds up very rapidly over a 5 to 10 day period. The resulting high Trichoderma population can destroy vast amounts of Sclerotinia, Sclerotium and Rhizoctonia. This enhanced, natural biological control process is almost identical to the processes that occur when crop rotation is practiced. The level of control with corn meal is influenced by: 1) organic matter source 2) soil moisture, 3) temperature, and 4) pesticides used. Seasonal applications of certain fungicides may inhibit Trichoderma. Testing will continue to determine the rates and application methods that will give consistent, economical control.

3/15/2004 1:31:30 AM

Mill Creek West by god Virginia

hi all i got a dumb question are we talking about the yellow corn meal that we make corn bread out of?or is it a different type?burrhead

3/15/2004 3:27:45 AM

Montoursville, PA

Yellow Corn Meal is the ticket according to the report above. In our area it can be purchased as cattle food and as bulk human food supply. Either way the 25lbs slightly more or less you may need into a 1000 sq. ft. of patch will not be overbearing costwise. If you do this two or three times spring and fall you will have given much help to your patch and some nitrogen to boot.

According to what I believe the amount being used in some organic fertilizers to raise nitrogen is not enough to bring about the cornmeal benefits to the patch. One must always be asking the questions to arrive at satisfied and reasonable answers. One question now arising is: "Is the small amount, of corn meal, being used, to raise nitrogen in some organic fertilizers, going to cause the fungi to become super fungi"? In the case of corn and what it supplys naturally as it converts to usable food parts to much would not likely be of any concern.


Between my corn meal applications, the use of kelp and AGRO-K's Vigor Cal-Phos I got clear down to the last fourteen days last year using little no fungicide. I feel that the kelp and Vigor Cal-Phos completely covered the leaf surfaces creating an environment unfriendly to fungi diseases. Meanwhile back at the ranch I had corn meal working underground and under cover doing it's thing. All I know is it seems to have helped. I have had little fungi problems ever....and that covers fifty years of growing in the same patch. Pumpkins and cukes are the only crops that ever created a problem. I found friendly products that run a prevent program without harsh fungicides for most of the time period when fungi cause problems.

3/15/2004 10:28:22 AM