Ground corn cob

[joedaddy805]

Has anyone ever used ground up corn cobs in there soil? I was wondering if it would be like perlite. I have a lot of it i picked up and use it on the bottom of my bird cages. I was wondering if it is like coco soil. Thinking of using it along with soil or just use it to start seedlings.

 

[David Bowman]

No, I have not used it before but I would think it would absorb moisture so in that way it would be more like coco coir or sphagnum peat moss rather than perlite. If you do decide to go ahead and try it I would make sure it has been cleaned/washed before you use it, don't want any corn borers eggs or leftover sugars contaminting your grow.

 

[joedaddy805]

Ok thanks for the info if i do use it ill just boil it to kill anything off then give it some good washing. Would you even recommend using it?

 

[David Bowman]

I don't know enough about it to say one way or the other. I know that it is full of cellulose fiber but not sure it won't breakdown into a mushy mess before the grow is complete. I know that feed corn cobs are used to supplement feed for cattle, but not coco coir or sphagnum peat moss, so it may not hold up that well. I guess if you boil it, that should give you a bit of an idea on how it will hold up.

 

[Outragedpluto]

Has anyone ever used ground up corn cobs in there soil? I was wondering if it would be like perlite. I have a lot of it i picked up and use it on the bottom of my bird cages. I was wondering if it is like coco soil. Thinking of using it along with soil or just use it to start seedlings.

Awesome question!!! We use the corn cob pellets for our rabbit. This seems to be a fantastic addative to soil. As said before i dont think it will act as perlite since it is organic and will break down as microbeasties colonize the pieces. Found this great video on the topic!!

Corn cob seedling mix - YouTube

Keep us posted on your findings.

 

[joedaddy805]

i have a few thousand pounds of this stuff.

 

[joedaddy805]

Maybe ill try it on some radishes.

 

[David Bowman]

 

[Nyhm Reaper]

I was watching the video and I noticed that the one with the corn cobs only had 3 plants sprout where the other containers had much more. Could that not be why those 3 with the corn cobs mixed in were bigger? 3 plants get much bigger off nutes than 6 right?

 

[David Bowman]

All other factors being the same, yes that is correct.