Lol, I bet it smells good if nothing else. Hey those plants came in and don't look real great. I'll send you a pic and you can see if you want it or not. I think it needs to be potted up longer. They look like new rooted cuttings. If not I'll just keep both and hope one of them lives.

I've used molasses on outdoor plants. There's a carbohydrate synthesizer on the market called Sweet that I use on my container plants and I believe it containes molasses. I've also heard of farmers spreading molasses on a new field to sort of innoculate the soil. What is the corn meal for? We sometimes plant a cover crop of alfalfa and plow it under.
Karyn

Well Karyn, you suprise me, cornmeal is used for almost everything. You can put it around your roses or any plant it it will stop a fungus. Put one cup with 5 gallons of water set for 1 hr then strain the solids , then spray on your plants for fungus, its better than anything you can buy. You can even mix cornmeal with water and put your feet to get rid of athlete foot or nail fungus(that is the thicking of the toe nail in older folks). But corn gluten meal on your yard twice a year depending on the weather and you willl not have sticker in your yard. Our yard was full, until we did this last year. This year we have maybe 12 sticker plants on one acre. It works.

There must be a difference between corn meal and corn gluten meal.

Someone told me to put cornmeal in my flowerbeds last year and that it would help the plants and feed the worms. They said the worms would air-e-ate (don't know how to spell it) the ground and so it would be a win win situation. Unfortunately for me, about a week after I sprinkled it on the ground most of my plants started having something wrong with them.

The cannas and Banana tree leaves started having little yellow bumps on them that looked very much like the cornmeal itself. I don't know if there was something in the soil and the cornmeal woke it up or what. But I personally will NEVER sprinkle regular cornmeal from the grocery store on any of my plants or flowerbeds. The lady that swore by it told me to just sprinkle it by the handfulls and water it in. This proved to be a nasty mistake, my plants were fine before I tried this in my beds.

I'm just praying to God that when all of them come up this year that whatever it was does not come back as well.

Any thoughts anyone????

Thanks in advance, Marian

Is there a difference between corn meal and corn glutton meal. My kids' nanny used to buy stone ground cornmeal to make tortillas. Is that the stuff I want to use or is it something else?
Karyn

All I know is that corn gluten meal is used on lawns only, to prevent stickers and some other weeds from being able to spout, and this I know works, but the key is to get it on the ground at the right time. My husband does this twice a year, before the stickers can sprout. Dry Cornmeal, I use only for 2 things, it works on roses if you have black spot, I sprinkle it around the rose, and work into the soil, I also spray the rose with the cornmeal and water solution, this works for me. I also use it for brown spot on the lawn, and it does work. I listen to a garden show every Sunday on chanel 55am( for Southern Texas) a guy by the name of Bob Webster( owner of Shades of Green) he says that cornmeal can be used on stressed plants, he recommends it all the time, even for trees. I will call in today and tell him what happened when you used the cornmeal and see what he says, and post his answer. He is the best source I know in Texas . Barbra,

Marian I just got off the radio, and Bob Webster said that the small yellow bumps on your plant leaves, were not caused by the corn meal, you have something else going on in your garden. He said that he uses it to treat plants that get fungus, such as roses, tomotes, crepe myrtles, and daylilies. It would not hurt your other plants. I also asked him about rust on dayliles and he said their is a new product that is just wonderful, called Plant Wash, and it is the best product for daylily rust ao far, he also said to put cornmeal around the plants. I think you might be able to reach him at 1-800-599-5555, hes on until 11am. Barbra,

That would be wonderful Barbra. Because I have been worried to death about what was causing this problem. Of course you could see the spots on the plants. It looked awful plus you can run your fingers over them and feel them, they stick out like small little bumps about the size of the cornmeal or a little larger. And they were all over the leaves. The week before I added the corn meal the plants were all just fine.

Like I said, I'm just praying it does not effect my plants when they come back this spring. I am suppose to be sending out cannas to alot of people for postage. I certainly don't want to pass on something to other folks that might have something terrible wrong with them?????

By the way, I didn't mix it into the soil. I was told to just toss hands full of it on the ground and water it in, which I did. Even after watering the ground still had most of the cornmeal on top of the soil. (frown)

I will be very interested in knowing what Bob Webster has to say.

Thanks for asking him. Marian

Marian, your neighbor should not have told you to just put the cornmeal in your flowerbeds, Bob said to use cornmeal only if your plant has a fungus, but that it would not hurt your other plants if you put it down. The molasses is ok, to use in your beds, it helps, bring in the living micro. I will let you know if the molasses works, I have that new camera, and plan to use it this spring. My husband and I just finished putting living compose in all our flowerbeds, next week he said we are going to put a thin layer on all our lawn. He worked me like a slave today, but he's going to cook steaks tonight, so I guess it was worth it. It was such a beautiful day to work in the yard. Barbra,

That just grips my soul and I can't call that guy because I just saw your post. We must have been typing at the same time. I certainly would have called him. I'm really worried aabout it.

Anyway it was a wonderful day to work in the yard/field/pasture or whatever you want to call this place.LOL

We burned alot of brush and stuff and George cleared about 5 more acres out back for me to plant my brugs, pink and red dogwoods, and a few other things. I worked moving iron ore rocks and outlined somemore of my flowerbeds with them. We also put a couple of concret picinic benches back together with the use of the big tractor. We knocked them over when digging the pond out front and just now got around to putting them back up. LOL We usually tear up a bunch of stuff when we're working on something.

I have a flat tire on one of my little wagons that pull behind the lawn mower tractor. So I had to use another one that I don't like very well. Of course the one with the flat was full of those iron ore rocks. So it is setting there cockeyed pitiful looking.

The weather was so wonderful ( in the 70's here) it made me forget we still have a couple of months of cold weather.

I'm glad someone is having steaks for supper. I'm have a bologna sandwich. I've spent all my money on the Lily Auction. I just hate being a flower ADDICT, but my yard looks pretty. (Most of the time)

Marian

Marian, Bob Webster is on every Saturday and Sunday from 8am to 11am. I know that he answers all the questions for central and south texas, I sure hope you can reach him, he is great. He ownes Shades of Green Nursery,in San Antonio, you can send him an email, and he will answer your question on line, just in case the toll free number doesn't work from where you are in Texas.

I do not believe there is enough humus in our sandy soil to kick start anything. Just kidding. I have seen it at the farm and ranch store for $ 9.00 a gallon. I have been thinking of using it as a soil binder. I read somewhere where this guy just uses sugar on his yard. It brings back what the pesticides and chemicals kill.

Barbara how much is corn gluten. I have used a preemergence herbicide for sand burr. I hate those stickers. My sheep like them. Go figure I cannot see how they eat them. I will try molasses this spring along with my big granule sulfur.

Jim, it is 15% cheaper in San Antonio, than it is is Rockport, in San Antonio you get a 50lb bag for $22.99, in Rockport $24.99 for a 40lb bag, they do not have it in Ingelside, we drove over to check. We had to go to 2 diffrent feed stores in San Antonio, to get it, each one only had 3 bags left, they sell out almost as fast as they get it in. Linda Collins is the one that told me about it, she gets hers at Moore's feed store and pays, the $24.99. I think you can get it cheaper in Corpus Christi. You would have to put it down this week for it to work, before the baby stickers form. We put it down in Feb, and Oct its takes at least one year before you can see the results. I think I saw maybe 8 or 9 sticker plants in our entire yard this weekend, and I pulled them up. This stuff really works. Call the master gardeners in your area, they can tell you the best place to get it. Barbra,

We use corn gluten mill as a seed germination inhibitor..I use it in the pathways in the veggie garden..Also corn mill can be used in a tank/pond to help keep the algie down. I use Black Strap Molasses as a part of an organic regemen ...It stimulates the micro-organisms in the soil..
Here is a link with some organic recipes..

Here is a link that might be useful: Recipes

I really like that link. Good 'recipes' and have been reading in the forums a little-some good ideas there as well :)

what the heck are stickers?

Barry, up North they are called grassbur, or sandbur.
Barbra,

never heard of either! burs I know but we don't get any nuisance burs in the lawn!
What .....do they stick you if you walk barefoot? :)

ROFLMBAO!!!!! Barry .. If you ever had one you would know I'm sure some of us more Southern folks would be more than happy to send ya a few...LOLOLOL
Kylie

Barry don't feel bad, I don't know what they are talking about either. The only "stickers" we have are brambles, the wild blackberries. Those things come up everwhere and are next to impossible to get rid of but they don't grow in the lawn, just the gardens.
Karyn

I don't know what stickers are either. But if they are anything like the spikey little balls I stepped on a few times while on vacation in SC, you can keep them,lol. Karyn I do know abou the wild blackberries you are talking about. They grow wild all through the woods around here but I never had a problem in ther garden. That would be a pain to deal with.

Shawn.. That would be them.. You step on them bare foot and it will bring ya to your knees...and they spread like wilfire...Dang hard to get rid of...

Sounds almost like a "spiny norman" - aka thistle. They reach out and GRAB you. You can walk a foot away - but somehow - that spiny norman has reached out and grabbed your leg and gotten itself stuck in your SOCK. . .

And what about those burrs man - remember when you a kid and they got stuck in your HAIR?

You'd go to school one day with all these "cutouts" in your hair because mom would just give UP. . .(grin)

I bought 2.5 gallons for $ 13.00. Tastes pretty good. LOL I sprayed 1/2 of my growing area and liked how it greened everything up that I sprayed the other 1/2. Wonder if it will stick mites???? I saw some grasshoppers having a real hard time trying to hop. The residual on the leaves gets washed off in the morning when the sprinklers come on. I will see if the results are long term enough to benefit putting it in the plant tool box.

Faaaaaaaast question everyone - I finally found the Tea Tree Oil.

Got that black molassis - can't find the seaweed stuff.

Can I swap fish emulsion into the compost tea recipe instead of the seaweed extract? I know it will be smellier, but is that a suitable substitute?