Any gardeners on here? (sweet corn issues)

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

I've always wondered if there are any gardeners on here.

I'm growing a double row of sweet corn along one edge of our back yard this year. Years ago I tried at our old house, and our entire crop was destroyed by squirrels. The squirrels bit off every single plant just as they were
starting to tassel. Squirrels won't be a problem this time, because at our current location there are no big trees near us, and there are lots of dogs and cats around.

This year I've planted 6 different varieties of sweet corn, all supersweet or sugary enhanced varieties. They are doing quite well right now, but my father told me that insects will likely be a problem with the last ones I
planted, which are only a couple of inches tall right now. (evidently insect populations become concentrated towards the end of the season) I planted each section 10 days after the one before it, starting at the end of May. My plants are doing very well so far, with each plant putting up 2 to 3 tillers, the typical plant forming 2 or 3 ears.

Anyway, I found an entire ear invaded with corn smut yesterday, so now I'm not just starting to think about insect control - I'm also worried that with all of the rainy days we've been having lately, fungus might be a problem. A week ago
I tore out an entire plant because I found some sort of red rust growing on the leaves, just to make sure it didn't spread to neighboring plants. I grew up using diazinon to control pests in my gardens, and benlate to control fungus problems like downy mildew. Both of these are no longer available, so I'm not sure what to replace them with.

Anyone have any suggestions for effective insecticides and fungicides to use in a garden these days? I'm trying to be a little bit proactive, and make sure I have something on hand to control both of these issues
if they start getting worse. Thanks for any suggestions from seasoned gardeners!

Moved from OT.
admin allisolm

 

[Scarpozzi]

I've always wondered if there are any gardeners on here.

I'm growing a double row of sweet corn along one edge of our back yard this year. Years ago I tried at our old house, and our entire crop was destroyed by squirrels. The squirrels bit off every single plant just as they were
starting to tassel. Squirrels won't be a problem this time, because at our current location there are no big trees near us, and there are lots of dogs and cats around.

This year I've planted 6 different varieties of sweet corn, all supersweet or sugary enhanced varieties. They are doing quite well right now, but my father told me that insects will likely be a problem with the last ones I
planted, which are only a couple of inches tall right now. (evidently insect populations become concentrated towards the end of the season) I planted each section 10 days after the one before it, starting at the end of May. My plants are doing very well so far, with each plant putting up 2 to 3 tillers, the typical plant forming 2 or 3 ears.

Anyway, I found an entire ear invaded with corn smut yesterday, so now I'm not just starting to think about insect control - I'm also worried that with all of the rainy days we've been having lately, fungus might be a problem. A week ago
I tore out an entire plant because I found some sort of red rust growing on the leaves, just to make sure it didn't spread to neighboring plants. I grew up using diazinon to control pests in my gardens, and benlate to control fungus problems like downy mildew. Both of these are no longer available, so I'm not sure what to replace them with.

Anyone have any suggestions for effective insecticides and fungicides to use in a garden these days? I'm trying to be a little bit proactive, and make sure I have something on hand to control both of these issues
if they start getting worse. Thanks for any suggestions from seasoned gardeners!

Moved from OT.
admin allisolm

My wife is the gardener in my family. My parents had a garden through most of the 80s and 90s to help supplement our food budget. We typically grew potatoes, corn, tomatoes, beans, etc and canned/froze everything we could.

Corn is tough to spray for bugs. We usually used sevin dust on everything. My dad would put some in some nylon hose that he or my mother no longer needed (that's a joke)....but he'd fill the sock with dust and use that to sprinkle the dust. The trick to corn is, you have to wait for the corn to start to form before you use insecticides. The timing is crucial to be successful, so you have to wait for the silks to form and they basically need to be halfway formed. Depending on rain and heat, the timing can vary by weeks. You basically just want to keep the bugs off the ears, so when they are young and forming up, you can spray the plants. Typically, worms are the issue, and they usually don't hurt much. They usually start at the top of the ear, so you can just break that off while shucking. (I shucked 90 ears this week).

Sevin dust isn't popular with a lot of people anymore. You can get a lot of oil extracts and make some decent organic pesticides. Oregano oil, peppermint oil, etc..just research what works. I'm old school and like the toxic taste of normal pesticides.

 

[Leymenaide]

Insects at silk - synthetic pyrethroids
worms use - B.T.
both safer then seven.

 

[GunsMadeAmericaFree]

Saw a bunch of giant sized red ants on my sweet corn yesterday. At 3/4" long, they were at least twice as large as anything I've ever seen around here before in Ohio. They were only on one plant, so I'm going to keep watching. If I see them appearing on other plants, I may spray Sevin.