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Follow-Up Postings:
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- Posted by gottagarden z5 western NY (My Page) on Sat, Apr 16, 11 at 14:52
| I've used it for years. It really works. I get a 25 pound bag at the feed store. |
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- Posted by gardenfanatic MO zone5b (My Page) on Sun, Apr 17, 11 at 1:11
| Last year I sprinkled some in a couple of my beds and it was gone the next day. It doesn't prevent weeds very well when the birds eat it. :-P Deanna |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Sun, Apr 17, 11 at 9:20
| i was wondering about feeding vermin gotta.. how much was 25 pounds??? ballpark if you must ... ken |
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- Posted by v1rtu0s1ty (My Page) on Sun, Apr 17, 11 at 10:42
| I started using it back in 2007 :) $24 at Blackberry Station Elburn, route 47 |
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- Posted by v1rtu0s1ty (My Page) on Sun, Apr 17, 11 at 10:44
| forgot to mention 50 lbs = $24 The one closer to me is Woodstock Farm & Lawn is 50 lbs = $31 was $27 last year :( Back in 2007, I paid $14. Looks like this Farm and Lawn companies took advantage of it when they learned people were buying tons |
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- Posted by christinmk z5b eastern WA (My Page) on Sun, Apr 17, 11 at 12:07
| I have been reading about this too. But what I want to know is will it also prevent perennial and annual seed from germinating? There are a number of things I LIKE to have reseed in the garden... CMK |
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| Corn gluten has a chemical that inhibits the growth of a seed. So it functions basically like Preen, but mother nature created it (probably to reduce competition for the corn plant) rather than a chemist. It needs to be put down at the right time, well before the last frost or many weed seeds will have already germinated and it is too late to be effective. I find that I sometimes have to reapply part way through the season to prevent developing seeds from sprouting in the lawn. It does cut down on the number of annual weeds that sprout in the lawn when I use it. I have found that using a powder form, watered in, is less attractive to critters and so doesn't get eaten as much as the granulated form. I don't use it in my flower beds since I've found that my mulching system works well enough, but if you want some annual flowers to self-seed, find some places which have enough seeds and skip those areas with the gluten or start the seeds in flats and transplant. The corn gluten won't harm them after they are visibly sprouting is my understanding (though I haven't tested it,) and certainly won't bother the plants once they have a few leaves. |
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| Christinmk, from what I understand it's a matter of timing. If you let your reseeders germinate, and then put down the gluten, you're all right. You just can't put down the gluten at the same time you want seeds to geminate; it works on everything. I'm thinking of putting it in the grass; first overseed, wait for germination to occur, and then put down the gluten. If I time it right, I might be able, in a couple of years, to keep the weeds from reseeding and at the same time let the grass seed that I put down get established. |
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- Posted by v1rtu0s1ty (My Page) on Sun, Apr 17, 11 at 15:11
| for zone 5a, to prevent weed seeds from germinating, the best time to put it down is before April 15. I used two 50 lbs for my 6000 sqft lawn. It also gives very good organic matter. Makes my lawn very dark green and thick. |
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- Posted by christinmk z5b eastern WA (My Page) on Sun, Apr 17, 11 at 16:49
| -vjrnts, thanks for the info- very helpful. Think I will avoid using it in the gardens then, since I let so much reseed. I do have some empty back areas that it might be good for though! thanks ;-) CMK |
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| I've been using corn gluten for years, and it works pretty well as both a lawn weed inhibitor and a fertilizer (9-2-2 or 9-0-0). I was standing in my side yard recently and was amused to notice that my neighbor has a fine crop of dandelions this year that stops right at the property line. In fact I use it and and a 2-6-6 fertilizer to mix my own blends. Be careful though! Two years ago I used a balanced mix in my vegetable garden without thinking. All my transplants did great, but none of my direct-seed crops grew at all. Took me a while to realize what I had done! I order the corn gluten online because it is hard to find locally and is delivered right to my garage door. The price is generally $1/lb, but watch out for the shipping charges. It can vary dramatically from very little up to nearly the purchase price! |
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- Posted by gardenfanatic MO zone5b (My Page) on Sun, Apr 17, 11 at 18:52
| Some weeds germinate in the fall, so late summer would be a good time to put it down as well. Deanna |
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- Posted by gardenfanatic MO zone5b (My Page) on Sun, Apr 17, 11 at 18:54
| Does anyone know if it prevents wild violet seed germination as well? They're all nice and pretty flowering in the lawn right now, and it would be nice if I could prevent all that seed that's soon going to be flung around from germinating. Deanna |
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| Gardenfanatic - The corn gluten will prevent about 90% of any seeds from germinating at recommended application levels (more at higher levels), so it will help greatly with ANY seeds. But as it is also a mostly nitrogen fertilizer, so don't want to apply it at the wrong times (like when the grass wants to be dormant in Midsummer). Apply it when the forsythia flower in Spring and about 5 weeks before your average first frost date in the Fall. And try to apply it just before a good drizzle or soft rain that will be followed by several dry days. Something about dissolving the pellets, then letting the material dry again for best results. |
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| Deanna: I *love* when the wild violets bloom in the lawn - a beautiful carpet of purple. I know most people think of them as weeds, but I think they're lovely :0) |
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| There IS something to be said for a lawn of flowery weeds! |
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- Posted by ken_adrian z5 (My Page) on Mon, Apr 18, 11 at 8:58
| you suburbans.. need to move to acreage ... i was a scotts lawn warrior in the burbs ... then i moved to 5 acres ... on sand .. you dont water .. you dont fert ... and you most likely do not call it a lawn .. i now refer to it as a meadow ... and the ONLY thing green in july and august.. is the weeds.. as the grass that is there .. is long dormant .. if it werent for the darn plantain pods 8 inches up.. i would not have to mow for most of july/aug .... yeah.. i like weeds in the meadow .... Neil .. you really apply it to your lawn for dandylions??/ ken |
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| yes, curious about lawn/dandelions also. my neighbor thinks he lives in the UK and grows a hearty crop every year. He then kindly lets them go to seed and i can't even begin to tell you the war i have w/ dandelions. i dont do chemicals so if this works, i would love it. |
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- Posted by gardenfanatic MO zone5b (My Page) on Fri, Apr 22, 11 at 22:16
| Ademink, dandelions are perennials, so the ones you have that are coming up from previous years won't be affected by a pre-emergent like corn gluten. Only the dandelion seed that hasn't germinated yet. Deanna |
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| yes...i'm just thinking ahead to when the seed-fest begins yet again...ugh |
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