Some people don’t eat gluten, but corn gluten is a great way to feed your lawn. In Harmony uses non-GMO, OMRI-certified corn gluten.
You hear a lot these days about gluten and how people are shying away from gluten in diets. But did you know that one of the best products to put on your lawn is corn gluten?
Corn gluten is an all-natural fertilizer made from a by-product of manufacturing corn starch. For years corn gluten has been used as filler in cheaper dog and cat foods. But it has really started to gain traction as a quality product to use in our lawns and gardens.
In Harmony uses non-GMO corn gluten, certified as organic by OMRI (Organic Materials Review Institute). This makes our corn gluten even higher quality than most. We’re protecting the earth while helping your lawn.
Corn gluten is a 9-0-0 organic fertilizer with 8.23 of the 9 percent being water “insoluble.” The “insoluble” means that the product is incapable of washing away. It remains available until the plants can use it. So when the rains return, the lawn will green up vigorously. This makes the product very beneficial to dormant and drought-stressed lawns.
The only after care that our clients have to do is to water it in once after application. This will start the decomposing process so that it cannot be sucked up by a lawn mower.
Corn gluten has been used as a pre-emergent weed control in some home garden products. A few of these products are sold under the Down To Earth brand of garden products. Down to Earth products can be found at many quality garden stores.
Corn gluten is safe for people and pets. Due to the strong smell, some dogs can be attracted to it. It seems to be especially true if they eat dog food with corn gluten as the filler, because it smells like their food. Some dogs may be allergic to corn gluten. If this is the case, then the dog should be kept out of the product until it watered in really well.
Some animals or birds may find it curious and be slightly attracted to it. We have found that this mostly happens just after it has been applied, probably because it is bright yellow and catches their attention. Most animals will leave it alone after the initial watering when the smell disappears.
So even though some diets are becoming gluten free, you will find that our gardens want to be gluten full.
The smell is terrible! This is the second time I put down the large recommended amounts (last time was in the fall last year) and it was 3 weeks of something dead in my yard. My wife wouldn’t go outside and thought something was dead under the deck. I tried a few anti stink treatments but I don’t think they did much and were expensive. Will heavy watering help and will it reduce its effectiveness ?
We use corn gluten in late summer to help lawns recover from drought stress. We ask our clients to water it in. That helps the corn gluten soak in. It is not raining at that time of year, so that also helps reduce the smell; it tends to dissipate. I did find a couple of websites online that mention things, such as spraying molasses, that you could use to make the smell go away, but it sounds like you have tried them already. Sorry we can’t be more helpful.