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The cornmeal experiment
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Posted by aiaral z5NY (My Page) on Thu, Oct 2, 03 at 9:46
| I tried using cornmeal this season on my tomatoes and roses. My tomatoes all wilted and died way before frost. I don't know whether I should say the cornmeal did'nt work. We have had so much rain here in the NE and I believe that was the problem. The soil never had a chance to dry out. I never had to water at all. The roses were o.k. but they were in a spot with great drainage. I'll try it again next year - maybe with normal rainfall it will show it's benifit. Has anyone else used it this season and did they find it a help? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: The cornmeal experiment
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| yes, I tried it awhile ago and forgot I had done it. Then I was looking at my roses and they looked great and I couldn't figure out why. Then I remembered the cornmeal. Cher |
RE: The cornmeal experiment
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- Posted by LanaN Z8 Georgia (My Page) on
Sat, Oct 18, 03 at 1:38
| I used it this year for the first time thinking it wouldn't work for the black spot I always have.........It did work. I had no signs of the black spot this year. It rained alot so I wonder if that helped too.....will do again next year. |
RE: The cornmeal experiment
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what is cornmeal supposed to do for your plant,which plants,and how much and when do you apply????Do tell !!!
Thanks,
Kathi |
RE: The cornmeal experiment
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| Bumping this up, DO TELL how to use this???? |
RE: The cornmeal experiment
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| Cornmeal is an antifungal and a mild fertilizer. You can sprinkle it directly on and around your plants for control of fungus. I have used it on my lawn. It works well. Vicki |
RE: The cornmeal experiment
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I tried it first half of this year and it was a total disaster: my roses have never ever looked so bad and disease ridden. Some of the roses completely defoliated due to blackspot and I had cancer, dieback to deal with as never before.
I was afraid that I lost a number of roses by using cornmeal instead of fungicide. In July we resumed the spray schedule and by now most of my roses recovered. Would have been nice had it worked but it did not. |
RE: The cornmeal experiment
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| Ordinary corn meal is an organic anti fungal agent. It works by attracting a different fungus to attack the disease fungus. It can be applied directly to the soil or soaked in water and sprayed as a foliar spray. The university research is being done at Texas A&M University at Stephenville. On the ground
TURF: 10-20 pounds of corn meal per 1,000 square feet
Ornamentals and edibles: 1 heaping handful per month scattered under each plant. Foliar
Soak a cup of corn meal in a gallon of water for 24 hours and spray with the 'tea'. I have been using corn meal on my roses for several years to fight off powdery mildew. I had thought that it was working against black spot, too, but this year proved me wrong. My roses are also defoliated from black spot. I use corn meal religiously once a month under each rose. I have not gone to foliar spraying yet. Maybe next year. Each year is an experiment for me. One thing that seems to be working for me is that I have not had any aphids since I started with cornmeal. Others are not so lucky. |
RE: The cornmeal experiment
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| David, are you saying that A&M-Stephenville is studying the use of cornmeal against black spot of roses? I hadn't heard that. |
RE: The cornmeal experiment
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- Posted by mjsee Zone 7, NC (My Page) on
Wed, Nov 5, 03 at 15:58
| I don't know about TX, but we had THE WTTEST SUNNER ON RECORD here in NC. EVERYONE'S roses got defoliated from blackspot--even the spray people. I have one rose bush--I don't spray--but it is a BS resistant variety. It was looking pretty sad by August--but has put out new growth--so should be fine next year. I'm going to try that cornmeal tea.
melanie |
RE: The cornmeal experiment
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When writing about cornmeal used as a plant fungicide I always preface my thoughts by saying that we are still experimenting and learning. As of today I am comfortable saying that cornmeal scattered once a month, beginning in the early spring, around plants prone to fungus does appear to be effective. The key is to begin early treatment. Also, cornmeal does control lawn fungus problems such as brown patch and southern blight.
HOWEVER, based on reports here on GW and my own experiments cornmeal does not appear to control fungus problems on roses or tomatoes. However, it is a very effective fungus control for the majority of plants. A volunteer on the Organic Forum has offered to dig into on going research at Stephenville,TX. Our basic problem is that cornmeal is cornmeal. There is, at the moment, nothing that can be turned into a patent which would be a money maker for the researcher so there is little interest in studying the subject by the scientific community. For Dchall's interest and my interest in finding an organic fungicide treatment for roses and tomatoes....I plan to trial another idea next year and some of you might want to try it also. Over the past few weeks I have been rereading Ewell (?) Gibbon's books. Haven't read them since they were first published. In several spots he mentions that the skin of very ripe bananas is a powerful fungicide. I know that tossing banana skins under roses does not stop black spot. Wonder what happens if I make a banana skin tea and spray it on roses and tomatoes? I know that many of you have success with the Cornell formula, milk and the like. Guess I just like to experiment. |
RE: fermenting botanical brews
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| we know that soil organisms break down organic matter when we work it into the soil. what happens to the basic nutrients in alfalfa, fish emulsion, kelp, etc. when we ferment the materials in water. do the nutrients become available to plants faster? |
RE: The cornmeal experiment
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| I also tried cornmeal for the first time this year, after reading some of the same kinds of stories. My St. Augustine got brown spot or St. Augustine Decline, or something, and it was just dying right before my eyes. It was already fall, and into early winter, so the grass was not in a growing state anyway, but over the course of a couple of months, I sprinkled cornmeal fairly evenly over the yard (mine is not that big). It has to be watered in. After the first application, I began to see a quick improvement - grass started filling in the bare spots, and everything got much greener. After three applications several weeks apart, my grass looks great, even in the middle of February! I won't swear that cornmeal works for everything mentioned in this thread, but boy, it sure improved my St. Augustine! |
RE: The cornmeal experiment
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| I read that for the 'good' fungus to multiply best on corn meal (for anti-fungal use), it needs to be watered in and then left dry for at least 3 days. (that could explain why some people had no luck at all) I can't find a cite, this was something I jotted down, while searching for research information on corn gluten meal, well over a year ago. |
RE: The cornmeal experiment
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Field,
Hope you come back to this. Talk about long time no see!! I got distracted and haven't been back here since my last post. Anyway... No I'm not saying that A&M Stephenville is testing on roses. They tested on peanuts back in the 90s and found that when they used corn meal, they no longer needed to use any other fungicides and they could replant without rotating any other crops in. Mysteriously that research has dried up. Could it be lack of patentability? |
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