Using Corn Gluten as a Pre-Emergence Herbicide in the Fall

Posted by Katie Elzer-Peters
September 21st, 2009
Filed in Weed Control
Tags: corn gluten, lawns, Weed Control

Using a pre-emergence herbicide in the fall can drastically cut down your weed problems in the spring. Luckily, organic gardeners practicing natural lawn care techniques do have a commercially available pre-emergence herbicide at their disposal: corn gluten.

You can’t just go to the grocery and buy corn gluten. As with other garden remedies, corn gluten is commercially available from garden supply companies. It can still be a little tricky to find these products in mainstream garden centers, so one of the easiest ways to purchase them for use is through an online garden retailer that specializes in organic gardening, such as Gardens Alive.

Why Use a Pre-Emergence Herbicide in the Autumn?

If you are devoted to your lawn, or have a perennial garden with over-eager plants that constantly re-seed, using a pre-emergence herbicide can be a big help, in terms of time, money and the environment. Obviously, using a synthetic, chemical treatment is not idea. However, research at Iowa State University has shown that corn gluten consistently provides a pre-emergence benefit when used over a period of years at the right time, seasonally.

When you hand-pull weeds, you loosen soil, which leads to erosion, and sediment problems in a watershed. Hand-pulling also takes time, and isn’t usually feasible for an entire lawn. A granular product like corn gluten that can be applied with a normal rotary spreader will act as a weed suppressant and as a source of nitrogen.

Timing of Application

The key to success when using a pre-emergence herbicide is applying it at the correct time. There are generally two cycles of weeds throughout the year:

• Spring - Weeds that sprout in the spring and thrive during the summer
• Fall – weeds that sprout during the fall and thrive during the winter.

In order to prevent the weeds from sprouting, you need to put down pre-emergence herbicide before the weeds sprout. For summer weeds, you need to apply pre-emergence herbicide when the temperature is above 50 degrees for three or four days in a row. For winter weeds, apply pre-emergence in September.

As you begin to use corn gluten to prevent weeds, you will learn the right timing for application to stop weeds in your area.

For a more in-depth article on corn gluten, including a list of several suppliers, click here.