How to plant tomatoes with corn meal?

Growing tomatoes can be challenging due to the number of fungal diseases that kill leaves and stunt fruit development. Weeds also slow down the growth of tomato plants, making it hard for gardeners in areas with cool summers to get their plants large enough to ripen fruit before fall sets in. Adding horticultural corn meal and corn gluten meal to your garden when planting tomatoes can improve your results. These corn meal products are an organic alternative to chemical fungicides, herbicides and nitrate-heavy fertilizers.

1. Till or turn 25 pounds of corn gluten meal into each 1,000 square feet of soil a few weeks prior to transplanting tomatoes. This will provide the nitrogen needed to jump start tomato growth because corn gluten meal is about 10 percent nitrogen by volume, according to the University of Minnesota Extension Office.
2. Mix in approximately 40 pounds of horticultural corn meal into each 1,000 square feet of soil if you prefer to directly sow your tomato seeds into the ground. Corn meal has less nitrogen than corn gluten meal, but won't interfere with the germination of the seeds like the gluten meal will.
3. Sprinkle half a cup of corn gluten meal around the base of each tomato plant as soon as you are done transplanting. This will suppress the growth of a range of weeds by interfering with seed germination, according to the Horticultural Department of Iowa State University.
4. Apply corn gluten meal or horticultural corn meal around the plant as rain washes it away to prevent soil-borne fungal diseases from spreading to the tomato plants. Corn meal attracts and feeds micro-organisms that destroy fungi, states the University of Texas Ladybird Johnson Wildflower Center.

Things you will need:

1. Horticultural corn meal
2. Corn gluten meal
3. Shovel

Tip

• Use horticultural corn meal or corn gluten meal, not the corn meal sold at grocery stores for consumption. Food-grade corn meal is mostly starch, but horticultural products are milled for higher protein content and contain more nitrogen.

Warning

• Don't apply wet corn meal directly to the leaves of the plant. This encourages mold growth and won't stop a fungal disease that is already damaging your tomato plants.