I've been reading across these forums that corn meal and cracked corn make for a good preventive but not curative fungicide. Does the good bacteria CM attracts work against most fungal issues or is it hit or miss with some of these diseases? I also understand that the better your soil is the better the corn meal works since everything is more in balance.

I have a few areas in the lawn that I can't really tell if there is a problem or not. They look thinner than other areas and a couple of small spots that are sparse to bare with some dead grass (no bigger than maybe the size of a small dinner plate). These bare spots could be from damage from working around the yard or the kids messing around or something else. I guess what I'm wondering is if it is fungal, and I use corn meal or cracked corn, will it pretty much stop most fungal issues if I allow it time to work, or is it a select few. I'd rather not go the synthetic route for fungicide but I don't know if it is better to hit the lawn once with a synthetic and then try and maintain it with corn meal?

akrug wrote:I've been reading across these forums that corn meal and cracked corn make for a good preventive but not curative fungicide. Does the good bacteria CM attracts work against most fungal issues or is it hit or miss with some of these diseases? I also understand that the better your soil is the better the corn meal works since everything is more in balance.

If the fungus attacking the lawn is surface-based, corn meal will work as a preventative (but a poor curative). It's more hit than miss for those.

Sub-surface fungal issues, like faerie ring, are more miss than hit. Although my neighbor's faerie ring stopped as soon as it reached the property line and hasn't been seen on my side at all.

I have a few areas in the lawn that I can't really tell if there is a problem or not. They look thinner than other areas and a couple of small spots that are sparse to bare with some dead grass (no bigger than maybe the size of a small dinner plate). These bare spots could be from damage from working around the yard or the kids messing around or something else. I guess what I'm wondering is if it is fungal, and I use corn meal or cracked corn, will it pretty much stop most fungal issues if I allow it time to work, or is it a select few. I'd rather not go the synthetic route for fungicide but I don't know if it is better to hit the lawn once with a synthetic and then try and maintain it with corn meal?

While the corn won't hurt, posting a photo is best. It may or may not be a fungal disease, and may not be a disease at all.

Here are a few pictures of two different spots that could be fungal or could just be damaged or missed seeding. I was also doing some work earlier in the year with a chainsaw in this area so I'm wondering if it could have leaked a little oil on the lawn.

This one appears more circular in shape:



Here are 3 closeups of the grass in the deadish area:







Here's a different spot nearby:



And 3 closeups of this area:

Good pix...sort of. Anyway, classic fairy ring shape in the first picture. Classic spots on the blades visible in the last picture. If you can take closer pictures with better resolution I think we would see the spots more clearly. I see disease.

I have used corn meal at 20 pounds per 1,000 square feet to cure fungal disease year after year since 2002. That is until last year. Last year I used it over and over and never got ahead of the disease. We had outrageous amounts of rain in the winter last year and my lawn (mostly shaded) never got going. I had thin, yellow turf that let in weeds and got a good stand of bermuda going in the back. This year is a different story. We've only had 5 inches of rain. Grass is dense, weeds are gone, and bermuda is being encroached upon. Only spot of disease I noticed has been attributed to a leaking faucet. Last week I did notice there are some gray leaf spot developing. I'm watching it to see how it goes. Otherwise my lawn has never looked this good (many corn gluten meal apps this year).

Do you think it is worth while to spot treat areas like these with a chemical fungicide followed by corn meal applications, or would you do the entire lawn with the chemical fungicide then corn meal? Or just skip the chemicals entirely and go all corn meal?

I also thought that with Fairy Ring or Necrotic Spot Ring, that the area in the circle becomes completely dead. In my case it seems that there is still some viable grass, although I guess it could be on it's way to becoming dead.

You see all kinds of things with fungal diseases. Yours doesn't surprise me.

Once you use a chemical fungicide, the corn meal will not work at all...except as a fertilizer. The fungicide prevents the predatory fungus from growing.

The way you approach this is really up to your and your local conditions. Down here we can't expect any good results using chemical fungicide after about May 1st. It's too hot. Check the label for anything you are considering using to see if it can be applied in your conditions. Since this is the organic forum, I suggest trying corn meal first. Give it 3 weeks to see results.

I decided to throw out some more fine cracked corn and keep an eye on the spots. On a side note, does corn gluten meal provide any fungicide benefit or is it just a pre-m?

It's not much of a pre-M either. Mostly, at about 9-0-0, it's just a good feeding, if somewhat expensive.

I've been using CGM heavily every month this year and still am seeing gray leaf spot over a wide area and one small area of take all root rot. So my experience is that the CGM has had no preventive effect. The one spot of take-all is from a leaking sprinkler. The area of gray leaf spot I am attributing to my wife hand watering without a shutoff valve on the hose.

And I agree CGM is not much of a pre-m either.

As a fertiizer, I have compiled prices from my feed stores and can report the following:

Material -> Price/pound of protein

Coffee -> $0.00
SBM -> $0.69
CGM -> $1.07
Alfalfa -> $1.41
Corn -> $3.33