![]() Jerry Parsons, who by happy coincidence is an extension faculty specialist at Texas A&M. Nevertheless, we’re informed that a gardening personality has “continued the study and finds cornmeal effective on most everything from turf grass to black spot on roses.” This is directly refuted by Dr. Microbes can grow on cornmeal, and in fact cornmeal agar is commonly used in labs as a growth medium for many species of fungi. Then we’re referred to “further research” (at an undisclosed location) where cornmeal was shown to contain “beneficial organisms.” Well, no, cornmeal doesn’t contain organisms, beneficial or otherwise. This is hardly news – it’s one of the reasons agricultural scientists recommend crop rotation as part of an IPM program. ![]() But it’s not really research – it’s just an observation on what happens when you don’t plant the same crop two years in a row in this case, rotating corn and peanuts reduces peanut pathogens. ![]() If you’ve followed the link to column in question, you’ll see that the original “research” is attributed to one of Texas A&M’s research stations in Stephenville, TX. He referenced an online article entitled “Cornmeal has powerful fungicidal properties in the garden.” He hadn’t been able to find any reliable information and thought it might make a good topic for our blog. This week I heard from one of our European readers, questioning the use of cornmeal as a fungicide.
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