Prevening Insects From Eating Your Corn

So your corn is planted and seems to be thriving but you still need to watch out for insects. The three primary pests that might eat your corn crop earworms, cutworms, and seed maggots. Make sure you examine your corn plants at regular intervals for danger of infestation.

Corn earworms are pests that you will need to watch out for the most. They usually have an affinity for sweet corn and are a threat every growing season. Moths fly in and lay eggs on the leaves close to the ears and they grow into tiny caterpillars. The worms tend to feed on the tip of the corn ear. Once infestation has occurred, there is nothing you can do to save the corn.

However, there are certain ways to protect your corn crop. To begin with, to stop the earworms from entering the tip of the corn husk, you can wrap an elastic band over the tip of the ear or fasten a clothespin to the corn after the corn silk appears. This method will go a long way in minimizing the damage earworms will do to you r corn.



Secondly, you can protect your corn plants by spraying an insecticide called BT or Bacilulus Thuringiensis that contains a particular bacterium which will affect and attack only the larvae of the corn invader. This chemical spray will ensure all pest and insects are destroyed and killed. When using chemical sprays, make sure you consult the store you bought it from to ensure that you use the right amount as to not poison the crop and keep it safe for human consumption.

Other insect such as cutworms, stalk borers and stink bugs that can hurt the corn stalks as well even if you used a soil insecticide is used during planting. Many of these bugs can start killing your seeds and stalks during the first month. Be sure to keep a watchful eye during this phase of the corn production. The seed corn maggot can also kill the corn crop and in order to protect the germinating seeds and seedlings from this Sprinkler System pest, a seed treatment should be used. Sampling Sprinkler System of the soil for wire worms and white grubs must be administered supplemented with random digging of the soil with a shovel.



When you plant corn seeds, a seed insecticide should be sprayed to help against the infestation of black cutworms and other corn insects. Once insects have infected your crop, there is little you can do to save the corn. In many cases, you can't. It would be a shame to have all your https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/gardens-and-parks time and money wasted because of a little bug. Spray your crop, watch for bugs, and take swift action once you see any of these little insects appear.

By: Traveling Matt

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Matthew Kepnes has been growing corn for a number of years and loves to eat corn roasted in the husk after it has been freshly picked. You can find more tips on growing good corn on your farm and about the different types of corn you can grow at his website on the subject.

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