Yes, you can use them for the same purpose, and No, you don't have to run them through your food processor.

I was recently reading about a guy who read about corn gluten meal. He wondered if it was just the corn gluten part that had the weed-suppressing effect, or if other parts of the corn plant did also.

Apparently the WHOLE PLANT has that property! He used cornmeal, and that worked. He even shredded all his leftover corn stalks and tilled them into the soil, and they had the same effect.

Our next question... but does it prevent corn seed from sprouting in that treated area? NO! So now this guy (sorry, I don't remember where I read it, I read too much) just shreds his corn waste and tills it in before he plants his corn, and his corn gets a good head start.

But he does agree that TIMING is crucial. Find the instructions for using the corn gluten meal, and do what it says. If you apply it too early or too late, it will be ineffective.

Sue

Thanks for asking and answering. Over in the soils group they mention spreading cornmeal on the soil as an organic builder and I wondered why since the only difference from corn gluten and ground corn was the agitation sp that would be done by a heavy rain. The heavy rain could cause the gluten particles to combine. A light rain may not have the agitation to cause the gluten particles to string.

I have gained a lot of information from that group but they seem to be defensive about what they believe a person should already know.

Take soil forum with grain of salt..er corn gluten LOL. There's a lot of 'scientific' types over there. Unless you're prepared for an in-depth conversation on the proportions of the scientific table of elements in your soil, simply take what you need and can use, and leave the rest.