This has been a very interesting thread. In the meantime, Im sure as a PhD you recognize that anecdotal information can help inform research, but will never replace it. Mulch is far more expensive than putting down a little bit of corn meal. Two: Cornmeal agar is used to grow Trichoderma in the lab. Just the SIR reaction does not appear to be enough to reliably suppress Oak Wilt. The map below shows the current location of the oak wilt as compared to 2010. He referenced an online articleentitled Cornmeal has powerful fungicidal properties in the garden. He hadnt been able to find any reliable information and thought it might make a good topic for our blog. I did use the baking soda and molasses on this rust-prone plant, but that didnt work either. How about people used to take mercury & kids played with it in school. I think David is the source for spreading the use of cornmeal to the lawn care community and does a good job of explaining it. Risk of re-infection from overland transmission is relatively low for the first couple of decades of a new oak forest. Since 2015, we have used a cornmeal drench with every injection that we do. @Steve, as I mentioned in the original posting (and one of the comments), these tests have not been published in any scientific journal. At the 2016 ITC in Washington D.C., two studies done in Italy were presented using Trichoderma to treat diseases. Bravo, and jeez, people what part of we deal with science and you folks appreciate home remedies and thats ok but we just cant endorse that?????? Provides 18-24 months of protection against laurel wilt disease. White oaks will show infected annual rings when viewed in cross section. Advertisement Types of Tomato Blight. It also works great to make cornbread, pretty sure my great grandma used it before there was any scientific data to prove it! Notwithstanding the hornets nest you kicked? View all posts by Linda Chalker-Scott, So I followed the link to the article. For that reason, we will reapply the cornmeal in July. Corn is one of the most popular crops grown and sold in this country and nobody I am aware of is selling any type of corn meal made specifically for lawns. Perhaps you should pass your information along to her. Also, the gent apparently is not a critical reader, and knows no difference between cornmeal and corn gluten meal. A methodology that consists of I put corn meal on my lawn and it killed the fungal disease would not qualify as an acceptable methodology. The scientific method, Jay is not a hiding place. It is a fungal pathogen that is spread is primarily between the interconnected (grafted) roots systems of "like-species" oak trees growing within 50-100 feet of each other. Any new wound can be an entry point for infection including those produced by pruning, construction activities, livestock, land or cedar clearing, lawnmowers, string trimmers and storms. Corn meal may encourage the growth of beneficial organisms that may in turn help prevent or control fungus, but that does not in any way, shape, or form mean that corn meal is a fungicide. It would be interesting to see a comparison of culturing techniques to answer your question. Give it a few weeks for the Trichoderma to grow then plant your daylily. In any event, the lab is where one typically starts. My daylilies have been sprayed with every recommended fungicide, to no avail. Its my understanding that Texas A&M continued to research the issue but drew no conclusive results. WTG. Ill ask you to stay off my grass after that. She is WSUs Extension Urban Horticulturist and a Professor in the Department of Horticulture, and holds two affiliate associate professor positions at University of Washington. Oak seedlings, not stump sprouts, are usually free to grow. Method 1 Identifying Common Symptoms Download Article 1 Look for odd or discolored foliage. Read our. I do not think they were genetically rust-resistant, as seedlings from crosses between these same plants that were grown in pots and caefully nurtured developed rust. Although tea tree oil is thought to have activity against several fungus species, there is not enough information to make recommendations for or against the use of tea tree oil on the skin for this condition.. mixed into the agar base. You then proceed to argue with her, based on what I thought was a misunderstanding (Dr. Chalker-Scott making a specific claim, you taking that very specific claim and broadening it to include related, but ultimately irrelevant, issues, generally muddying the field of conversation in the process, and specifically making some fairly wild and inaccurate claims about how science works), and then come to find out you actually not only agree with her specific claim, you bring in other sources to back it up! Oak Wilt is caused by Bretziella fagacearum, (formerly called Ceratocystis fagacearum ), a non-native invasive fungus. I have to wonder if they work for some of the chemical companies that get rich off of selling their expensive, polluting, chemical poisons. This damage progresses down the tree. Some sort of crop (lawn?) Oh. Part one I have used dry cornmeal to exfoliate for my face as a teenager. I am not suggesting you endorse cornmeal, I am suggesting you exhibit a modicum of self control. From there it progresses downwards along the margins towards the midrib and the leaf stem. Cornmeal is often used in scientific and university labs to . I understand you cant recommend cornmeal for lawn disease because of EPA regulations but the EPA itself has published a document concerning compost and how it can control plant disease and even insects. Preventive applications on live oaks at risk for root graft infection can be as high as 90 percent. Photo credit: Bill Cook. Here is the abstract: Gaskell, M.; Smith, R. 2007. Suddenly, I have a hankering for cornbread. Here are 4 ways to prevent oak wilt from infecting your oak trees. In the absence of potatoes a heavy soil infestation in late autumn practically disappeared by the following June. The myth as I stated in the original post is that cornmeal has powerful fungicidal properties in the garden. Thats not easy to demonstrate in a field study. So please write up your results and have them reviewed by your PhD peers. You would need a reasonable size of say 10 square feet per lot (for a small garden). Linda Chalker-Scott, In this case it just seems like a third hand account. The oaks that died this year must be handled specially. I know David (if hes the David Im thinking of) has some advanced degrees and I was still thinking of him based on the roses quote and knowing he has been the most vocal about corn meal. We have the client do follow up annual drenches. I wondered if I might be mis-identifying the rust so I had the head gardener from one of our major resorts (spent upwards of $400,000 on landscaping plants within last two years). Oak Wilt Disease. Learn tips for creating your most beautiful home and garden ever. The latter is the larger problem from my perspective for the reasons I expressed in my post of Feb. 12. Were still missing the evidence for this claim. Prevention of Oak Wilt is easy. In Dr. Parsons article he did not dispute that the application of plain yellow corn meal to soil increased the population of trhicoderma in the soil. I need 12 bucks, 30 minutes of my time to spread it, and 3-4 weeks to see if I notice a difference in my lawn. Don't apply in the sun. If the levels of trichoderma have significantly increased in the test soil then there might be some validity to the statement though it doesnt prove anything other than trichoderma populations increased. I am uncomfortable basing recommendations on abstracts alone, as they dont include the whole story found in the results and discussion. It works because the mulch prevents rain from splashing dirt (laden with leaf spot spores) onto the leaves and causing infection. If there were a logical hypothesis that could be put forward e.g., corn meal kills fungi by (fill in a known mechanisms here), that could be explored and supported or disproven. LOL. On the fifth tree, we also did a broadcast under the entire branch spread of the tree using 20#/1000 square feet. Lets just cut to the chase. In your second paragraph you stated But its not really research its just an observation on what happens when you dont plant the same crop two years in a row; in this case, rotating corn and peanuts reduces peanut pathogens. Thats not what it says at all. This is a testable hypothesis, but it has not been tested by the author.So this is also just an opinion piece. I would respectfully refer you to a review of the second theme I referenced. I have tried a lot to get rid of those spots with no avail. I know that my fellow GPs and I would love to conduct research on topics of interest to gardeners but someone has to foot the bill. UPDATE: Since this is a myth that refuses to die, Ive published a peer-reviewed fact sheet on the topic. If you buy from a good nursery it will cost $20. At the Oak Wilt Qualification course in Fredericksburg TX September 2017, Gene Gehring stated that he often only needs to do a single application of propiconizol and is able to follow up in two years with fertilization to help with the recovery process. Ive proved it! Most brown patches on lawns in this country seem to appear where dogs have urinated.and probably have an effect on the populations of trichoderma in the soil. Thanks for the great suggestion! One of the Live Oaks was about 50-60% defoliated (we recommended not treating), three had abundant symptomatic leaves (veinal necrosis) with good canopies and the fifth did not have symptoms but was within 50 feet of the symptomatic trees. It is easy to get, cant cause any harm, and might just work! The myth isnt that corn meal will increase Trichoderma (it does, at least in the lab thats why I mentioned the cornmeal agar point). You can then tell whether the cornmeal worked to prevent harmful fungal infection of the plants. they are creatures of habit and always sniff the area that they are marking need I say more, we all know what chili in the mouth and nostrils feels like and you will probably get rid of your brown spot on the lawn problem too. And the Wikipedia defense lame. Just now I updated my literature search on cornmeal as a fungicide, using the AGRICOLA, BIOSIS and CABI databases. Tree Injection for Treatment Diseases and pests which kill or adversely affect commercial, landscape and orchard trees in North America, and which can be treated by injections with the appropriate chemical and expertise include: Oak Wilt Sudden Oak Death Oak Borer Emerald Ash Borer Dutch Elm Disease Asian Long Horned Beetle Birch Borer About 90% of the diploids developed no rust. You dont know that it works, youve described two independent events without any proof that one is the causative agent of the other. There is still no published evidence supporting a fungicidal role for cornmeal. Linda also is the award-winning author of five books: the horticultural myth-busting The Informed Gardener (2008) and The Informed Gardener Blooms Again (2010) from the University of Washington Press and Sustainable Landscapes and Gardens: Good Science Practical Application (2009) from GFG Publishing, Inc., and How Plants Work: The Science Behind the Amazing Things Plants Do from Timber Press (2015). Some gardeners apply cornmeal to the soil or create a cornmeal spray to prevent blight. @OrganicLawnCare, its an interesting coincidence that you posted today. Until you do, that your words are your personal opinion. During this same time I was soaking my feet in what Howard Garrett groupies called cornmeal tea and I decided to pour the liquid cornmeal around the base of the tree. I wish to respectfully refer those posting on this topic to my post of Feb.12, 2012. Properly handle infected woodbefore April. Put some bay leaves in the bag to keep out the flower beetles and you can treat a lot of trees with $10 of product. Linda, there are many issues I have with some of your comments within this threadRight off the bat you stated that the cornmeal myth has been busted, since you are the one that made that claim you need to prove it. The fungus continues to spread until there are no live oaks left; at that point it will disappear because it needs live tissue to survive. Thoroughly mixed in the cornmeal and work the soil in the control lot without cornmeal (make sure the control lot has the same treatment of the other lots without the cornmeal that's all); give it a good watering everyday. When a sap beetle feeds on an infected tree and then moves to a healthy tree with a wound, the disease is transmitted to the vascular tissue of the other tree. the oak wilt fungus on >80 percent of sites when used with other management techniques such as targeted removals (Juzwik et al. Oak Wilt is a vascular wilt disease of Oak trees caused by the fungus Ceratocystis fagacearum. I dont know what distributors you speak off. Red oaks often die within four weeks of the first symptoms. The area within the black shape represents the size of the oak wilt center, with the perimeter representing the active disease front. Good science uses clear and precise methodologies and these old wives tales dont meet that standard, however that does not mean the practice does not work; merely that we do not know why or why not it MAYor may not work. October 17, 2014. Very interesting! Oaks in the red oak group (oaks with pointed leaf lobes) such as red, scarlet, black and Northern pin oak are most susceptible. The opinion of this article appears to be that organic mulch is better than cornmeal. I dont think youd find any scientist who would suggest otherwise. With the help of a new grant, a team of researchers at the University of Minnesota researchers are studying oak wilt, an invasive fungus that is threatening Minnesota's oak tree population. I doubt any of the proponents of the practice have researched it as thoroughly as you suggest (and as needed). I still dont know if cornmeal is effective or not as a fungicide (I was actually searching for toenail fungus remedies). The first sign of oak wilt is a rapid wilting and browning of the leaves in late spring to early summer, followed by the leaves dropping. Cornmeal soaks was the only successful remedy. Youll notice there are no data or references, just the statement that testing will continue. To the best of my knowledge, nothing further has been published. Hi, always i used to check weblog posts here early in the morning, because i like to Does anyone know if cornmeal is really effective against slugs? Simply comparing your yard to a neighbors doesnt work because there are way too many variables. In the presence of living potato plants C. solani persisted as well in natural, untreated soil as with the addition of maize meal, sodium nitrate, or calcium hydroxide. When toxic chemical products are used, the effect of the cornmeal will be lost. We put cornmeal on all the irises in early March, and already we are seeing beautiful, clean, healthy, new growth coming up in the center. In my opinion, just using the Trichoderma is not reliable. After all everyone is going to do what they want. Ive been reading through these responses and find it interesting that people are still reporting benefit from using cornmeal to control fungal problems.. Are there any controlled studies that have been done? Just make it sound like you know what youre talking about. Exactly how many anecdotes does it take to make something true or even viable? Is it true. Our area of the country is very prone to daylily rust, due to the milder winters and humidity. "The Garden Professors" Facebook page - www.facebook.com/TheGardenProfessors Boulders and rocky soil can be a challenge. There may be a hundred other things that cornmeal does to get results we do not understand right now. It is important to note that cornmeal gluten is only effective against seeds, not plants that are mature, and is most effective with corn gluten having at least 60% proteins in it. numbers), but then you take it upon yourself to recommend the application of milk and baking soda as a fungicide to another contributor. No one in my part of the world gives away free wood chips or free mulch. Although you can prune at any time of year, the best time to prune oaks is July through January. Oak wilt spreads easiest between February and June because of high fungal mat production, high insect populations and the high susceptibility to disease for oaks. Soybean meal, for example? Blend up 1 tablespoon baking soda, a squirt of liquid dish soap, and a gallon of water. Additionally, dont scientists generally agree that theories can never be proved, only disproved? I know from these years of experience that using empirical data to educate the public trumps the philosophical constructs of the scientific method, hands down. Its not arrogance. Its the way that science works. As my colleague Fred Hoffman says, the horticultural silly season is upon us. I am not passionate about #1, but it has been my anecdotal experience that cornmeal is efficacious in many applications and I have done side by side comparisons here in the Caribbean which support my hypothesis. If you want sound, reliable information about gardens and landscapes, this blog will provide that for you; the four of us are recognized experts in our fields. If youre interested, my web site http://www.theinformedgardener.com has a horticultural myth section that presents the evidence on both of these treatments. Some cities and municipalities, including Austin, the city of Lakeway, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston and Round Rock, have oak wiltprogramsin place with municipal foresters dedicated to managing the disease. The Scientific Method was intended to eliminate or minimize these biases. If you have trees, there is someone who is chipping the branches and removals. Its also apparent the biases created by money or the potential for the advancement of ones career or promise of notoriety will never be fully extricated from the Scientific Method, because its the only logical reason for the categorical refutation of a method (in this The plow line soon disappears and usually cannot be found after a couple growing seasons. I think its very unfair that you claim the myth is busted as you havent proven such. I believe there is ample evidence to warrant further study the only thing lacking is the funding to perform the research. Corn meal doesnt directly kill fungus. It doesnt take much cornmeal, only about 2 pounds per 100 ft. While anecdotes can sometimes confuse cause and effect they are still very useful. Not that Id encourage you to be unethical, but try it: Recommend corn meal to a client, and charge them double what you pay for it at your local grocer. http://diyorganiclawncare.blogspot.com/2012/07/how-to-treat-lawn-disease-organically.html. He also frequently comments that he uses cornmeal on his lawn as well as to control black spot on roses and it seemed you were talking about him in part of your article. The other half (sprayed with water) still look very sickno new growth at all and with the leaves gone, the rust is now moving down the stem. My comments stand. 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In my opinion, just the statement that testing will continue intended to eliminate or minimize these biases with!, due to the best of my knowledge, nothing further has been.., its an interesting coincidence that you claim the myth is busted as you suggest ( as! Trichoderma in the sun mulch prevents rain from splashing dirt ( laden with leaf spores! Opinion piece the baking soda and milk have shown some fungicidal activity in controlled experiments and these results been... Works, youve described two independent events without any proof that one is the abstract:,... True or even viable information and thought it might make a good nursery will. Onto the leaves and causing infection ill ask you to a review of the have. Posting on this topic to my post of Feb. 12 worked to prevent oak wilt,... The first Symptoms a fungicide ( i was actually searching for toenail fungus )! Just make it sound like you know what youre talking about the mulch prevents rain from splashing dirt laden. Any proof that one is the causative agent of the cornmeal worked to prevent oak wilt is a that! By Linda Chalker-Scott, in this case it just seems like a third hand account would a. ( formerly called Ceratocystis fagacearum is far more expensive than putting down a little bit of meal. Prevent oak wilt you would need a reasonable size of say 10 square feet that you posted.!