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Corn Gluten–Can Animal Food K’O Crabgrass?
Photo courtesy of Professor Christians
I met my friend, Karen, the other day. She looked upset and I asked her what was wrong. She proceeded to tell me this story: I just lost my 2 beautiful dogs to cancer in the last year. They were wonderful dogs. I spoke to the breeder about why both of my dogs died of cancer and she told me the cancer gene runs in their breed. I started thinking about all the pesticides that I have used in my yard over the years and how much my dogs loved being outside. I decided to look into more organic ways to take care of my garden. I have so much crabgrass in my lawn? I have been treating it with a pre-emergent weed control chemicals all of these years. What do you suggest?
Karen knew she could turn to her eco-minded friend and asked how she rids her lawn of crabgrass without toxic chemicals. She reminded me that spring is just around the corner. I am also facing this dilemma because my lawn is new and is eighty percent crabgrass. Pulling it out was not the answer. I tried that last year and the crab grass just laughed at me and said in true Schwarzenegger style, “I’ll be back!”
I had told Karen that we should use corn gluten to treat the crabgrass but I needed to do some more research.
I started to do some searches on the internet and immediately found Iowa State’s Corn Gluten Meal Research Page featuring Professor Nick Christians. His research led to the discovery of corn gluten as a herbicide. I then went to the list of who supplies corn gluten to the public. There were so many distributors and their products had different names. Are all of these products the same?
On another internet site I read that the corn gluten was genetically modified (GMO). That raised a red flag. Would this harm my vegetable garden?
Another internet site stated you should install the corn gluten by your second grass cutting. I knew from all the information that I was reading it is better to apply the corn gluten too early than too late, but what happens if my second cutting was too late? The questions were endless but not enough to keep me up at night, thank goodness.
I took a chance and called Professor Christians. When I reached him, I asked him all of my questions. Of course, my first question was about corn gluten being a GMO product. He explained corn gluten is a byproduct of the corn, and even as a GMO product, corn gluten will not alter anything in my garden or soil. I asked him why they have not created non-GMO corn gluten, and he told me that this version of corn gluten would be very expensive. I still felt uneasy about the corn gluten being a GMO product. So, I asked again how he knew that the applied corn gluten did not cause any genetic modifications in the soil or the turf. He replied, “I have put it on the same plots for more that 17 years and have seen no detrimental effects. In fact, the plots look great every summer.” If you are uncomfortable with using a GMO product no matter what the research shows, this is not the product for you.
Professor Christians recommended applying the corn gluten in the Midwest and North when the forsythia begin to bloom. This is an easier marker to remember than waiting for your second lawn cut.
In the coastal Pacific Northwest, you should apply corn gluten around March 15. In the South, he suggested that you apply it in February.
Apply corn gluten with a spreader at a rate of twenty pounds per thousand square feet. However, in order to not miss a spot in your lawn, apply ten pounds of the corn gluten in one direction and then begin again at a ninety degree angle (a crisscross pattern) and apply the balance of the corn gluten to your lawn. Corn gluten is applied again in the late summer for perennial weeds reduction.
When applying corn gluten, you must wait at least six weeks before seeding your lawn. However, it is best to seed your lawn in the fall. In my case, I will not be using the corn gluten in the late summer because I am still trying to establish a lawn. Since I live in the North, the best time to seed is late summer, which is also the time you would apply the corn gluten.
It takes three years of spring applications before you see the end results. According to the literature I read on the Iowa State’s Corn Gluten website, the first year you should expect to see about a fifty percent reduction in crabgrass and an 85 percent reduction in the second year with the caveat that you applied the herbicide correctly. In addition, corn gluten works best in dry conditions. If there is excessive rain, then the effectiveness of the corn gluten will be diminished. Be patient!! Crabgrass is pretty stubborn.
Since Corn Gluten is comprised of ten percent nitrogen, it is also a great fertilizer for your spring application. Nitrogen causes your lawn to become dense and green. In addition to killing crabgrass, the Corn Gluten Fact sheet on the EPA website lists that corn gluten reduces root formation in eleven other weeds. It takes five to six weeks to decompose and in the meantime, it deters the growth of any seed that is emerging in that time frame. Conversely, due to its nitrogen content, any weeds that exist will be fertilized by the corn gluten.
How do you know which product to buy? Each product is composed of other nutrients other than corn gluten. Everyone should test their soil every three years to find out what nutrients their lawn needs by obtaining a soil test kit at your local county agricultural extension or buy one through the internet. (Check out the link at Outsidepride.com.) Soil testing should be done each year thereafter if your lawn is deficient in any nutrient until your lawn is healthy.
I actually tested my soil last year because it was a brand new lawn. I was given a detailed report of what my lawn needed. Buy the product that contains the ingredients your lawn needs based on your soil test. For example, my lawn needs phosphorus because it used to be a meadow before we built our house. I would buy a product containing this additional ingredient. My friend, Karen, asked me would wildlife camp out at to your property because of the free food. Corn gluten is also in dog food. I thought that was a great question because I already had enough wildlife at my property and did not need to announce there was an all you can eat buffet waiting for my animal friends. Professor Christians assured me that animals would not be attracted to the gluten.
So, whatever happened to my friend, Karen? After my conversation with Professor Christians, I immediately called Karen to tell her of my findings. Karen misses her dogs so much she has started to look for a new puppy who will romp freely on an organic lawn. (Ah, another organic convert.)
As for me, well, stay tuned and I will let you know how my first corn gluten experience was.
For information about where to buy corn gluten, go to the following site to see who distributes it in your area.
Special thanks go to Professor Nick Christians for all of his help (and patience) in developing this article.
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on April 29th, 2007 at 9:03 pm
Just a follow up on the corn gluten. I bought corn gluten from a feed store because all of the 50 lbs bags were really expensive. The feed store was 1/2 the price. The only problem with getting it from a feed store, I did not know what setting to put on my speader. This product is like sugar or vegetable powder. It is really fine. I probably had my speader on too high or there is something wrong with my speader. I had it on 16. Every time I turned a corner, alot would come out. I was covered in yellow dust. So, if you use this fine material, don’t wear anything that you don’t mine that is covered in yellow dust. I had to wash my shoe laces and shoes. It smells just like a strong chicken noodle soup.
Just like Professor Christians said the neighborhood cats and dogs did not come looking for a feast. It seemed to vanish in a couple of days. It did not rain. I do know that the weeds that were there were loving it since it is so high in nitrogen. I will check in a couple of weeks and let you know how my crabgrass is.
on August 6th, 2007 at 10:57 pm
Timing is everything. We actually may have been too late because the forsythia bloomed, and then I put it down. Next year, I will have to make sure my timing is better.
In addition, I am not sure how well I did with the feed store product. So much came out at one time. If you have a small area, consider buying the commercial brands. I had 2 acres to do, and the cost for that many bags was too expensive. Next year I am going to buy a bag just to see the difference. It looks like my front yard’s crabgrass is less but my backyard does not look that different. Could have been that I dumped alot more in the front yard. I would love to hear other people’s experience.
I will be trying it again next year.
on September 17th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
Note: You should put your anti-spam comment before the “post a comment” as I clicked to post a nice long response and lost it because I didn’t fill in the anti-spam filter.
To make a long post short: you shouldn’t use the corn gluten meal for animal feed as that likely won’t carry the proper protein concentration needed to kill weeds. Also, you should likely use pellets and not a powder as the wind will carry the powder away; the corn gluten meal needs to get down to the soil. As a side note, even if the corn gluten meal that you would buy at your local co-op would work ISU wouldn’t get a ROI from your purchase like they would if you would be the premium corn gluten meal marked to be used as a herbicide.
on September 17th, 2007 at 9:41 pm
Kline-I agree with you on the animal feed vs. the pellets. I don’t think the animal feed I used was very effective this summer and mentioned that in one of my comments. I am glad you confirmed by suspicions. Out of curiosity, how do you know this? Have you tried the pellets with success?
As for the posting after you answer the anti-spam filter, I can ask the author of the WordPress plug-in if this can be accomplished, and I wish this did not happen to you because I would have really liked to have read your long post. (If you know of another plug-in that accomplishes this–let me know!) Thanks for your short post as well as not being discouraged and leaving the site without posting. I know it is frustrating because of all those spammers out there. Please post again.
on September 20th, 2007 at 11:07 am
I only know from research; I am contemplating doing it myself on my lawn as I would like to not use chemicals on the lawn. I know that a healthy lawn will take care of itself. I know it’s tempting to purchase the animal feed as for example I can get that locally for $100/ton; a far bit cheaper than $30/50lbs of commercial corn gluten meal. I think I might try to mix some the the commercial with the feed and give that a try. If anything the feed would just be good 10-0-0 fertilizer. Just make sure to use the pellets and if possible even to rake the pellets into the soil after spreading. Then water the pellets to activate them and then be sure to let them dry out.
A side note; why is late summer the best time to seed in the north? Late summer is what - August-September? I was always told to seed 1 week before it snows so that the seeds lay dormant throughout the winter and are then the first to sprout in the spring. If you plant late summer (well before the 1 week before snow) do you expect the grass to actually sprout during the fall? How do you fend off an unexpected night of frost?
About the anti-spam measures, check out http://codex.wordpress.org/Plugins/Spam_Toolsu
on September 20th, 2007 at 10:09 pm
Welcome back, Kline!
Take a look at this Rutger’s Agricultral Experiment station publication (http://njaes.rutgers.edu/pubs/publication.asp?pid=FS584) It is a pdf file.
Basically it says that the best time to seed is late summer/early fall (no later than Oct 5 in north NJ and Oct 10 in south NJ) because there will be adequate time for grass growth before winter. In addition, the grass will not compete with the weeds at this time of the year. I am seeding right now.
I did seed a patch very late in October/Nov one year and covered it lightly with hay. It never germinated in the Spring for me. Readers, has anyone seeded beyond when it is advisable and grass appeared in Spring? I would love to know this.
I am also going to run this animal feed issue by Professor Christians and see what he thinks. I will let you know.
Thanks for the wordpress plug-in. Can you send me a screen shot of what you are seeing when you are ready to post? I sent you an email to your email address. Did you get it? If not let me know, I will send it again. Thanks again for posting.
on April 17th, 2008 at 11:46 am
[...] gave me detailed instructions how to properly use the corn gluten as delineated in my article, “Corn Gluten: Can Animal Feed K’O Crabgrass?.” Did I follow them? Well, not really. The first rule I broke was when to apply it, which is when [...]
on May 6th, 2008 at 7:03 am
Thanks for sharing the document from Rutgers Cook College, i really learned a lot. I am in no way an expert on seeding and that will really help me with my future lawn project. I’ll try late next summer!