One of the aggravations all gardeners have are all the weed seeds that sprout up all over the garden and yard. While you could certainly use a number of weed killers to fight them after they sprout, a better and more organic way is to keep them from sprouting in the first place.
I have used corn gluten meal in the past and it does seem to prevent seeds from sprouting. The other advantage of corn gluten meal is that it is high in nitrogen – about ten percent.
I’ve found the product locally at OK Hatchery in Kirkwood Missouri. Forty pounds is $40. While the big box stores also carry this product it is much more expensive.
Note – while listening to Mike Miller – a St. Louis gardening expert, he recommends putting out pre-emergent weed preventer twice during the year – once during early spring and once in mid-August.
If you’d like to learn more about the benefits of corn gluten meal, check out the link below from Iowa State University.
http://www.hort.iastate.edu/research/gluten
Notes from above ISU.
- If it does not rain in 5 days of application, water it in with approximately .25 inches of water. Then leave a drying period after germination.
- I generally recommend 20 lbs product per 1000 ft
- The material is generally about 10% nitrogen by weight. One hundred pounds has 10 lbs of nitrogen. The nitrogen will release slowly over a 3 to 4 month period after application.
- Corn gluten meal will not provide as complete control as synthetics and is likely to cost more. But, it does provide a natural substitute for those who choose not to use synthetic herbicides for pre-emergence weed control.
Butterfly Gardening 