Corn in Compost?

Posted by Grace Marie Newton on July 27, 2012 at 7:11pm

It is okay to put your dried up corn plants and cobs in the compost and to use as mulch?  I planted some non GMO corn and suspect it is diseased.  I looked at the cobs  they were black and powdery.  Would corn add diseased to the soil?

Thanks,  Grace

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  • Heather Green September 5, 2012 at 10:11pm

    I was recently reading about composting corn cobs. I read some information that suggested using them beneath new plants. They said the corn acted like a sponge... I guess a little hugelkulturesque. Does anyone know if this is true?

    • Grace Marie Newton > Heather Green September 6, 2012 at 5:24pm

      Thanks Heather, that sounds like a great idea.  I was just wondering the other day how can I create my own rain system.

  • Vynnie McDaniels July 28, 2012 at 10:33am
    Heya Grace - you'll have no problems putting GMO corn cob (or any fruit/veg) into your compost. It will all break down and have no affect* on your soil. (*note: this is an anecdotal statement, not based on scientific study) Even being moldy (decomposing), this is just part of composting anyway.
    Diseased plants (GMO or not) are generally a concern in the compost, as some pathogens may not degrade during composting, and could carry over in the soil to affect some plants (often plants similar to the one diseased). To mitigate this situation (and most concerns about things that carry through from the compost), you can avoid putting things into the compost altogether, or be sure to fully 'cook' your compost. This would entail stirring/turning the compost often (daily/weekly) and letting it 'cook' for 4-6 months. At this point of the stage, most anything in the compost should be unrecognizable and look like dark rich (store bag-like) compost.
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/27753387@N08/7108869251/in/photostream
    Bottom line, no worries, you're good. :-)
    • Grace Marie Newton > Vynnie McDaniels July 28, 2012 at 7:17pm

      Thanks Vynnie, 

      Love your link it is giving me a lot of ideas on how to landscape my yard.

      I pretty much thought composting the corn was a bad idea, but I thought I would ask. 

      Yesterday I went to pull out the corn stalks and sunflowers and I could not do it.  They provide so much shade to the little seedlings.  I am just going to leave the stalks there and plant under them. 

    • Linda Enger > Grace Marie Newton July 29, 2012 at 9:13pm

      hmmm disease does not sound good to have hanging out for shade shade or not... but I look forward to what Vynnie says on that . 

    • Grace Marie Newton > Linda Enger July 30, 2012 at 6:21pm

      Linda, Don't worry the corn is in the trash.  I guess my heart was not in that garden, it's been a problem child all summer long and needs to be completely redone once winter comes.  I finally got some  vine plants growing there and I did not want to lose them.  Today I planted fava beans, sunflowers, caraway, cilantro in half of the garden.  Tomorrow I will plant more vine veggies on the other half.

    • Linda Enger > Grace Marie Newton July 30, 2012 at 10:23pm

      Grace,

       not too early to plant cilantro?  ALrighty! Thanks for the heads up.

      Glad to hear you trashed the corn.  I have more than my share of questionable plants that get pulled and trashed. 

    • Grace Marie Newton > Linda Enger July 31, 2012 at 5:26pm

      Linda,  I am following Catherine's and Mark's planting calenders.  I planted corn this weekend, but in a different location from the diseased corn.

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