Update on using cornmeal to prevent blackspot
nandina
22 years ago
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byron
21 years agoRelated Discussions
Cornmeal (not corn gluten meal)
Comments (15)Corn is often ground up into a meal consistency called corn meal. If they grind it up more it is called corn flour. If they grind it up less, it is called cracked corn. All ground or cracked corn materials work the same and are applied at the same rate of 10-20 pounds per 1,000 square feet. I have been using corn meal since 2001 and have not seen any ants in my yard. If you have fire ants, they seem to hate sweets, so if you dissolve 3 tablespoons of table sugar or molasses in a gallon of water and drench their mound with it, they should go away. The theory is that the sugar breeds bacteria on their underground food supply that makes the food inedible for them, so they go away. You might also spray a 10 foot circle around the mound so they don't just move a few feet and set up a new camp. Some people have fortified the sugar mix by adding a few ounces per gallon of orange oil. Orange oil softens the exoskeleton on the ants which seems to hasten their demise....See MoreBayer Natria & Serenade--do they work on blackspot?
Comments (21)Milk contains lactic acid - a weak acid. Greencure is a weak base. This mixing would be similar to those who mix baking soda with vinegar. ----------------------------------- "Antibacterial activity of lactoferrin is best studied; it originates from the iron-binding properties of lactoferrin, which deprive the bacterial flora of an element necessary for its growth.[22] Antibacterial action of lactoferrin is also explained by the presence of specific receptors on the cell surface of microorganisms. Lactoferrin binds to lipopolysaccharide of bacterial walls, and the oxidized iron part of the lactoferrin oxidizes bacteria via formation of peroxides. This affects the membrane permeability and results in the cell breakdown (lysis).[22] Although lactoferrin also has other antibacterial mechanisms not related to iron, such as stimulation of phagocytosis,[23] the interaction with the outer bacterial membrane described above is the most dominant and most studied.[24] Lactoferrin not only disrupts the membrane, but even penetrates into the cell. Its binding to the bacteria wall is associated with the specific peptide lactoferricin, which is located at the N-lobe of lactoferrin and is produced by in vitro cleavage of lactoferrin with another protein, trypsin.[25][26] A mechanism of the antimicrobial action of lactoferrin has been reported as lactoferrin targets H(+)-ATPase and interferes with proton translocation in the cell membrane, resulting in a lethal effect in vitro.[27]" I would be hesitant to add anything that would change the hydrogen ion (H+) concentration/equilibrium as often biological mechanisms are very pH sensitive. Here is a link that might be useful: Link for quote...See MoreCornmeal for Brown Patch Disease Works
Comments (58)I don't need to restate anything I've already said in the seven years since this topic was started. What year is this? 2016? Okay I've used cornmeal on my lawn every year for the past 14 years and it's worked for me. Your mileage may vary. It does not seem to work against red thread, rust, or whatever the fungus is caused by 2 weeks of saturation rainfall. But it does work against the disease caused by blocking off the air to certain grasses. Here's the entirety of kimmsr's link text. I had previously reported that cornmeal was being tested for use as a fungicide, siting a study by researchers at Texas A&M Research Station in Stephenville, TX that was highlighted by Howard Garrett, the Dirt Doctor. I tried it around a couple of tomato plants, but the results were very disappointing. The cornmeal first caked and later turned moldy - not an auspicious experiment. I was then notified by someone at Cooperative Extension in Washington State that the initial testing was for a specific problem under specific conditions, not for a general purpose fungicide. Even then, the cornmeal did not show any promise. It would have been nice if something as available and safe as cornmeal turned out to be effective to, but that is not the case. Cornmeal is not an effective fungicide. -Marie IannottiGardening Expert The Stephenville experiment was done in the 1990s. The specific problem and specific conditions were a variety of assorted fungal diseases on peanut plants. The suggestion was made that by using ordinary corn meal against a variety of diseases (which are common in all gardens), that a farmer would get the same effect as crop rotation. What that means is by using the corn meal a farmer would not have to rotate his crops every year, and he could plant peanuts year after year. That is a huge bonus for a peanut farmer. The paragraph on corn meal was buried in a very long list of possible attacks against disease in peanuts. Doing an experiment once is not considered to be scientifically relevant. Why it was not continued or picked up by other researches is beyond comprehension...unless someone with deeper pockets did not want the research done. TAMU was well known as deeply anti-organic in the 1990s and 2000s. From what I've seen the 2010s are only marginally better than previous decades. As Betty said in her original post corn meal worked for her. It worked for me, too, 14 times. I believe it was working for Ms Iannotti, too, but she did not recognize it as working. She said the corn meal turned moldy. That mold she was seeing, assuming it was the blue-green trichoderma, is exactly the fungus that works against her diseased plants. By not knowing what she was doing, she missed an opportunity to learn something....See MoreTea Tree oil for Blackspot and Powdery Mildew?
Comments (6)Far too many people have been conditioned to think that the solution to a problem must come from a store and that, generally, the more it costs the more effective it will be. Then there are those that will use severla solutions at one time and will never know which one was effective and which were a waste of time and energy, not to speak of money. The first step any real organic gardener/farmer will take to prevent problems with insect pests and diseases is to try to make the soil the plants are growing in as healthy as possible which can prevent many problems. The second step is to determine in the perceived problem is bad enough that some action is really necessary, followed by the third step which is to identify the problem and seek the least toxic solution to that problem. Fourth is to stand back and observe what this action did, before doing anything else. Lastly review the process and determine if this action produced the desired results and if needed go back to step 1. What affect does Tea Tree Oil have on beneficial insects?...See Moremrskjun
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