For the first time, this year I finished my garden plantings with preen mulch and I must admit I had less weeds.
by
Donna J
+8
However, my garden yield was much less from the tomatoes, eggplants and peppers. A friend told me that the weed killer in the mulch must have had something to do with it. Could this be so? I noticed I had many unshaped produce. Here is a picture of an eggplant. It was supposed to be a black beauty but never got much bigger than this one.
Many of my black beauty eggplant did not get much bigger than this and often were misshaped.
11 answers
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Preen vegetable garden mulch is corn gluten. It effects the germination of the seeds. Did you direct seed your garden or use transplant seedlings? If you seeded and used the corn gluten at the same time it may have affected the plants.
360 Sod (Donna Dixson)
on Sep 17, 2011
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Corn gluten is about as safe as it gets. I would be surprised if it was to blame for your garden's lower yields this year, but, as Four Seasons says, it could have had an effect if you directly sowed seeds.
Douglas Hunt
on Sep 18, 2011
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Usually misshapen eggplants are caused more by low moisture and high temperature conditions.
James A
on Sep 18, 2011
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A couple of other thoughts occurred to me. Corn gluten does add nitrogen to the soil. If you also heavily fertilized with nitrogen it could have possibly affected your yield by forcing your plants to heavier leaf production and less fruit production. The heat stress this year due to our high temperatures and few rain drops caused an overall diminished crop production.
360 Sod (Donna Dixson)
on Sep 18, 2011
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I think the reduced yield from your plants may have been due more to the heat and humidity of the past summer and fewer pollenating insects than the corn gluten in Preen. Corn gluten goes keep seeds from germinating but if the plants are up and growing it should not affect them.
Mike and Anne
on Sep 18, 2011
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I think Four Seasons Nursery hit the nail on the head,
Hoffner Nursery & Landscaping
on Sep 19, 2011
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I think my problem might have been with the fertilizer as Four Seasons suggested. I used the miracle grow garden soil and the preen. Yes, my garden was green and bushy in no time but my seedlings did not do well at all. Next year I'll have to try to go 100% organic. Thanks for your help everyone!
Donna J
on Sep 19, 2011
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Well James we sure had plenty of that didn't we. Low moisture and high temperatures. It has been a brutal summer. I am looking forward to some rain.
Paul M
on Sep 19, 2011
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For the first time in years, I had smaller tomatoes and watermelons that ever. I think it was because of the hot dry weather, although I had a drip system by each individual plant with a good layer of wheat straw on top. The soil around the garden was so dry for so long, watering did very little to help because it just soaked into the ground between the rows.
Lanelle L
on Sep 19, 2011
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The active ingredient in Preen is triflurain, per its label. This is a chemical seed suppressant however there are specific instructions on how to use the product when planting various vegetables seeds.
Petunia
on Oct 12, 2014
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I checked on corn gluten with university researchers. Linda Chalker Brown at UW and Jeff Gilman at UMN are great resources for us home gardeners. Here is what they found: Corn gluten meal (CGM) is a protein-based, natural product with potential pre-emergentherbicide activity CGM has no effect on established weeds CGM is not selective and can inhibit germination of desirable plant seeds as well as weeds Though it may be effective in the Midwest US, CGM is not as effective in other climate zones, such as those in the Western US There are no scientific data from field trials in the Western US to support the use of CGM in weed control Other environmentally friendly weed-control treatments (such as sub-irrigation, mulch, or soil solarization) are cheaper and often more effective than CGM
Petunia
on Oct 12, 2014
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