preen

[tyrupp]

I was wondering if preen weed preventer for vegetables really works (please delete) I'm not a leaper, but a gardener for 25 years

[travis]

It works just fine as a pre-emergent herbicide. That means it doesn't kill weeds after they have emerged from the soil and begun their rapid overtaking of your garden beds.

Of course, you should read the precautions since the formula for flowers and ornamentals will poison you if you apply it to your veggie gardens. And the type that's formulated for veggies is nothing more than an extremely expensive form of corn flour.

But then all that info is on the label, and you should never use any pesticide without reading the label first.

[tyrupp]

I guess I should have said preen for vegetables, ( please delete)

[lurley]

I know there is a regular preen and an organic preen (which is the corn gluten meal). Both work to prevent seeds from germinating. ANY seeds, not just weed seeds, so only use it where you are putting plants, not where you want to grow something from seeds. And are you sure about regular preen being poisonous on veggie beds? I am really good about reading labels and what I remember was it was fine to use. Before the organic version became available around here I put regular preen down in my strawberry and asparagus beds to help me keep ahead of weeds. It didn't stop everything but it certainly helped and made the weeding I had to do more manageable. Never poisoned anyone, but of course it was a month or more between application and harvest. I'll have to recheck the label next time at the store as I only have the organic (corn gluten ) variety on hand.

[travis]

You're correct, Preen will not kill you outright in the dose you'd pick up in your food. When I said "poison," I meant it will poison your body tissue in more subtle ways like many chemicals do that you pick up in the environment. I'm sure if you use it as directed, you won't notice any adverse effects right away.

Here is some food for thought though:
http://www.pan-uk.org/pestnews/Actives/Triflura.htm
Triflura is the primary active ingredient in the Preen synthetic formula.

[lurley]

Good information, thanks Travis. I try to keep all my crops for eating as "clean" as possible, and if I find I can't grow something without chemicals, I just give up and don't grow it. Occasionally a crop I can normally grow and depend on to produce will have an issue and I'll try all organic pesticides, fungicides, etc before resorting to synthetic chemicals. At our old place I could never grow carrots or lettuce or cukes. Once I built raised beds for the carrots and lettuces, I can now grow tons of them. The cukes just seem to like it here better, at least in years they don't get mildew and croak early.

[BigdaddyJ]

You can get corn gluten meal much cheaper at an Agway or Feed store. I used it last two years in veg garden. It doesn't prevent all weeds from germinating but it is better than no protection at all.

[lurley]

Another good source sometimes is the local grain elevator if you have one.

[gardengalrn]

Here's a late question but would answer a concern of mine. I was going to use Preen this year as all of my attempts at weed control have failed big time. In the research I did, the sources said that "most" veggie seeds could be planted even at the time the Preen was put down. Smaller seeds would have less of a chance germinating because they were closer to the surface. Of course, cost is a big downer. Is it the very same thing as corn gluten meal? I was to understand that you can't plant ANY seeds where you have put cgm down. Thoughts?