That 'organic lawn spray' I laughed at actually fixed my crabgrass problem

My neighbor Mike kept pushing some $40 bottle of corn gluten stuff. I rolled my eyes hard. Figured it was hippie nonsense. After 6 weeks of using it though, my yard looks better than his chemical-treated one. Anyone else get surprised by a local service product they doubted?

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ruby_foster932mo ago

Irishenderson makes a good point about the corn gluten being a pre-emergent, but I think there's something else going on here that nobody's touched on. When neighbors push a product that hard, they usually have a reason beyond just being helpful. Mike might not be a botanist, but after years of trial and error with his own lawn, he probably noticed that crabgrass just wasn't showing up as thick in spots where he'd used that stuff the previous season. That pattern recognition from a regular guy can be more reliable than you'd think, especially when he's got nothing to gain by lying about it. And the fact that he's still using it while you see results for yourself tells me it's not just dumb luck.

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irishenderson2mo ago

Corn gluten meal is actually a pre-emergent, not a killer of existing crabgrass so it might've just prevented new seeds from sprouting while the old stuff died off naturally. Still, if your yard looks better that's what counts. Just wanted to mention it so people don't expect miracles on mature weeds.

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