Anyone who has planted corn before has undoubtedly live one of the many problem grow corn whisky that can pop up . Although these plants are quite hardy , they can also be finicky . Under- or over - abundant lachrymation can get issues like maverick temperature , low pollination , and sure insect action .
Then there are the disease and pests that harry corn whisky . Here are some of the main issues you may come across when growing corn .
1. Kernels Aren’t Germinating
corn whiskey essence can germinate anywhere from one to three week after planting them . If your kernels have n’t sprouted after a month , dig some of them up to see what they look like .
Do the kernels seem schmaltzy and rotten ? If so , then your land might not have sufficient drainage . Although corn needs a lot of piss to grow well , accumulated moisture can rot the seed before sprouting . to boot , if you plant your clavus too early in the spring , the cold land can put them into torpor or vote down them before they can germinate .
or else , do the kernels seem ironical , but there ’s no sign of life-time ? They might not be get enough water supply , or again , you might have plant them too early . There ’s also the chance that the kernels are old and/or unfertile .
Do n’t embed your corn until at least two weeks after the last frost escort in springtime for good results .
2. “Failure to Thrive”
If some of your kernel have germinated , but the seedling seem weak , dig around in the soil a mo . You may be dealing with seed edible corn maggots or click beetle larvae . These jerks have it away to erode on sprouting seed and new emergence and will extinguish your seedlings .
The in effect way to eliminate these pestis is to turn out your crops on a regular basis . wrench over the planting seam thoroughly in fall so your wench friend can eat on the worm , maggots , and larvae nesting in them . to boot , you could bait these worms and maggot with potatoes . Spear white potato slices on sticks and nestle them a few column inch deep into the corn bed soil . control these traps a few multiplication a week , and either drown the dirt ball when you incur them or feed them to your chickens .
3. Young Plants Look Sawn Off Near Soil Level
This has happened to me with both clavus and sunflower , and it turn out that cutworm are to blame . These grubs sleep in the grunge during the day and feed at night when they wear away their way through plant stem right at the soil grade .
you may take a torch and go hunting for them at night , throw them into a bucketful of soapy water to drown them as you go . to boot , you could create protective “ collars ” for your plants .
Just take cardboard rectangles that are at least 6 inches long and enwrap them around the bases of the plant stalks . Push them down an column inch or two into the filth , leaving the balance of the board divulge above .
As an added step , you’re able to wrap treble - sided viscid magnetic tape around these taking into custody . They ’ll trap the grubs as they judge to get to your plants so they ca n’t wreak more mayhem .
4. Fallen Stalks
corn whiskey borers can countermine stalks beneath the surface , so they fall over . Additionally , gamey wind and small child or pets can stomp their way through your plants . Eliminating garden detritus can fend off the borers , and fencing off your corn can keep intruder out of that patch .
Additionally , grease that ’s overly high in nitrogen can make your corn plants fall over from exhaustion . Choose well - aged compost as an amendment and endeavor to keep nitrogen grade lower .
5. Uprooted Plants
In gain to the aforementioned child and pets , wild animals can do a lot of damage to your corn plants . Large birds can pull them up in search of tasty pith and worms . Additionally , raccoon and squirrels like to grope for through the soil to look for big , juicy grubs .
attempt using row covers to protect the seeds and seedlings until they ’re about a foot tall to avoid this frustrative corn whiskey growing job .
6. Holey Plants
Are there holes all over your corn plants ’ leaves and stems ? Several different insects can cause those , but the most common is the corn flea mallet . These small chitinous beasts take bite out of corn whiskey leaves and transmit a nasty disease called Stewart ’s wilt . It ’s a bacterial transmission that transforms your plants ’ vascular systems into sludgy , vile stack .
Be sure to grow the soil over deeply before planting to expose beetle larvae to sharp-set dirt ball . This should excrete most of them . Additionally , check plant thoroughly for beetles and destroy them if find . last , since these jerks crawl around rather than flying , the ubiquitous double - sided taping can work wonder to keep them away too .
This taping will also catch grasshoppers , which like to wipe out corn whiskey leaf as well .
7. Mottled Leaves
Corn can be susceptible to dwarf mosaic virus and sugarcane mosaic virus , which stimulate mottling and striping on farewell . It can also moulder them decently down the stems into the root .
There are no discourse for this issue . All you could do is pull out up and burn your Indian corn plants so the pathogen ca n’t spread . Then turn the soil over and let that area lie fallow for a few year .
Also , commend that louse can spread mosaic virus . wipe out aphid as soon as they seem , and plant flowering specie that pull in parasitic wasps .
8. Rolled Leaves
If your leafage are curled or rolled inwards , then you belike have n’t been watering your Indian corn sufficiently . These plants are dense drinkers and need ordered moisture to develop decent . If they do n’t have enough to booze , they can shrivel inwards with thirst .
9. Dried-Out Leaves
Corn works are heavy drinkers and deficiency of wet is a common cause of Zea mays grow problems . If they do n’t get adequate wet , the leaves will shrivel up .
First , they ’ll move around jaundiced and curl ; then , they ’ll turn brown and wilt . you could offer them a lot of water when the leaf are still yellow , and they may convalesce . However , once the leaves turn brown , your only option is to snip them off , so they do n’t rot on the stalks .
9. Purple-Striped Leaves
Are your corn plants shortsighted and wimpy , with over-embellished - veined leave ? Then you may be contend with a phosphoric deficiency . This is really quite common and can be battle using bonemeal as a soil amendment . you may also tender your plants a diluted fertilizer tea made with a recipe that has a 5 - 10 - 5 nutrient ratio .
10. Deformed Kernels
With corn whiskey smut , the pinna stop up looking as disfigure as the Elephant Man , with big , grey , knobbly ear . If you ’ve ever had soot show up on your corn plants , you ’ll have it away it . Smut is triggered by theUstilago maydisfungus , which is extremely transmissible . If dirty word come along on one of your works , fortune are several others are also infected by it .
The only full news about filth is that it ’s considered a dainty in some places . This fungal issue is most common in the Southern USA and Mexico , and some mass look at the ensue blight a delicacy . If you do , then corn smut might not be a grow problem so much as a welcome surprise !
It ’s known ashuitlacochein Mexico and is also know as the “ Mexican earthnut . ” Apparently , it taste like a cross between Zea mays and mushrooms , but it ’s up to you whether you need to risk sample a bite .
You really ca n’t foreclose or get rid of filth , as it ’s a very stubborn , ground - borne pathogen . Your best bet is to rotate your crops regularly and choose dirty word - resistant miscellany to found .
11. Fungal Issues
In addition to the smut mention above , you may also have to contend with other fungal issue like rust ( Puccinia sorghi ) , leaf blight ( Colletotrichum graminicola ) , gray folio blot ( Cercospora zeae maydis ) , and tar berth ( Phyllachora maydis ) .
Many of these fungal pathogen repose in the filth and can be notoriously difficult to eradicate . Choose assortment that have been breed to resist fungus and unclouded detritus so air and light can reach the dirt . Crop rotary motion is ideal , and if any severe blights pass off , it ’s best to plant elsewhere for five to seven years .
to boot , essay not to irrigate your corn plants from above . practice irrigation hose at the soil level to offer moisture , as water accumulation within the leaf folds can promote fungous growth .
12. Tiny Little Bugs
If you ’ve never discover a corn plant absolutely covered with aphid , view yourself fortunate to have avoided this rough-cut corn growing problem .
These little blighters can be immensely partial of your Indian corn plants . You may find that leaves fail to unfurl or that the full plants are bent over and bow - looking . Seriously , aphid are insidious .
Hose them down with neem oil and/or diluted knockout soap , and sprinkle them all around them with food - grade diatomaceous earth to get rid of them .
13. Lack of Silk
If silk is n’t developing in your corn ’s ears , check up on them for insects . Beetles and earwigs are notorious for draw close inside them and mop down silk as it develops .
If you line up them , beak them out and drown them so they ca n’t return . Then twine the aforementioned bivalent - sided tape around the stalks to catch any other intruders . Hose down the flora with garlic and spicy pepper pesticide as added deterrents .
Alternatively , if you find that there ’s niggling silk developing and your corn foliage are move around yellowed , you may be dealing with a nitrogen deficiency . fertilise your plants with a high nitrogen diluted compost Camellia sinensis ( like Pisces the Fishes emulsion ) over the row of few week and see if it improves .
14. Irregular Kernel Development
Have you opened up corn ears to key that many core have failed to develop ? The most rough-cut case for this corn growing problem is the deficiency of steady , sufficient wet during the development stage . Seriously , these plants ask a TON of water at root level from silking through to harvest time time .
Another rationality for this kind of under - development is the want of thorough pollination . Do you have at least a 12 maize plants ? If not , then there may have been deficient pollen to fertilize all the silks . Alternatively , if the weather was really windy during pollination meter , the pollen may have been flung from the tassels forth from the silk , leave in thin fertilization .
15. Stunted Ears
Lack of adequate nutrition plus deficient growing space = teensy corn ears . check that to work sight of aged compost into the territory before planting . Then space out your plant , so they ’re 8 inches to 10 inches apart . A want of alimentation can keep the ears small and also slow their development process .
People who live in colder climates with scant growing seasons may also have this . For example , the last icing engagement in my zone 4b region is May 30th , while the first frost date is September 14th . That ’s only 106 grow Day . Now , consider the fact that Indian corn has to be sow 10 - 14 day after the last frost date . That drop my corn - growing days down to around 90 .
Many fresh corn varieties take 90–110 days to ripen . This means I ’d have to get seed in asap and hope and beg for enough high temperature and rainwater to mature them . Corn does n’t like to be transplanted , or else I would start the seeds indoors in the first place . or else , I am for smaller varieties like popcorn or cultivar that mature in 70–80 days .
16. “Popped” Kernels
This issue can happen for several rationality , but I ’ve see it when there are drastic temperature shift during the acquire season . For model , I lost an intact popcorn crop a few years ago when we had a vicious heatwave . temperature jump off from around 85 ° F to 114 ° F overnight and hold up for over a hebdomad before dropping again .
That was enough to fast - racetrack kernel development so they broke through their seed coats . There ’s no way to cure or keep it : all you could do is salvage what you could and try again next year .
17. Rotten-Looking Kernels
Corn earworms and other caterpillars can work their agency down into the ears and make them appear as though they are rotten . It ’s nice and cosy in there , with plenty of nutrient for them to devour . Fend them off with gummy tape and transfer them by script when and if you find any .
Prevention is Best
Many — if not most — of these corn grow problem can be prevented through proper care during the growing season .
Check out ourguide to spring up corn whisky herefor some helpful tips on how to get the most out of your maize . Whether you ’re just growing enough for winter Zea mays everta evenings , or you ’re aiming to feed your family and residential area , these guidelines can facilitate to keep your flora levelheaded , felicitous , and fertile .
Choose disease - resistant varieties when possible , and make certain your soil is rich and well - draining . Corn needs full sun , and your plant also require to be planted in blocks for right pollenation . Take reward of good companion planting , keep the plant well - fed , and you should have a not bad harvest !
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