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I had some ears of corn ready to harvest and found worms at the top end of the ears, grrrrrrrr. How do I prevent this and get rid of them from my other, developing ears??????
I'm so ticked! I was able to salvage the ears as the worms were just on the end but ewwwwww!
It's probably to late. When I had corn in the garden I leaned to dust the silks with sevin dust as they started to emerge. You should be able to read on a package at a garden center. You don't ever want to dust any other part of the stalk. Keep it away from the top where bees work. I only used it very late in the day when the bees had gone home to their hives. It's been years since I did this but most likely nothing has changed. You should also check with your county extension agent. They can help with current information. You also can maybe google corn ear worm. HTH
As soon as the silk tassle appears put a good amount of mineral oil on the tip of the ear (where the silk is coming out). This will prevent the insect from laying the eggs that turns into worms.
My personal philosophy is that worms are a good sign. There are no worms on GMO corn because the cannot live on it. Happy worms mean good food for me! I just cut of the nasty, wormy part and *enjoy* the rest of it.
Bacillus thuringiensis, a soil-borne bacterium raised in the lab, can be used to kill the worms if it is applied before they enter the ear. Bt is also invaluable to organic growers for controlling pests in other crops. It is safe to use and leaves no residue.
Available at most Garden Centers.
Depending on how much corn you have, you can just pull back the husk and pull them off. If you have alot of corn(acres), that is just part of raising a crop. I wouldn't put any chemical on the ear, your gonna eat it.
GMO corn is not bad for you, and not many are made to resist insects. Wheat, corn, soybeans all have some sort of genetic modification and they were modified to protect consumers. If we didn't have GMO corn, could you imagine what a bushel would cost.
Good luck w/your corn, one of the best things about summer.
Thanks, y'all!!! I staggered my planting so I have ears developing at different times on the stalks! So, it's not too late to address it on the younger plants! (I will try the mineral oil idea!)
Otherwise, yes, I just cut off the ends affected by the worms and still have more than three-quarters of the ear untouched. On one of the ears, though, the worm munched about halfway down the ear, grrrrrr.
As soon as the silk tassle appears put a good amount of mineral oil on the tip of the ear (where the silk is coming out). This will prevent the insect from laying the eggs that turns into worms.
My personal philosophy is that worms are a good sign. There are no worms on GMO corn because the cannot live on it. Happy worms mean good food for me! I just cut of the nasty, wormy part and *enjoy* the rest of it.
20yrsinBranson
That's what I thought also.
Remember the produce guy in an organic store I worked in, proudly showing me the worm at the end of each ear, explaining it was healthy for it to be there and still alive.
Now I must admit, I do peek always looking for that dreaded worm .. and even though I buy organic, haven't see one recently .. so what's up with that
Remember the produce guy in an organic store I worked in, proudly showing me the worm at the end of each ear, explaining it was healthy for it to be there and still alive.
Now I must admit, I do peek always looking for that dreaded worm .. and even though I buy organic, haven't see one recently .. so what's up with that
As mentioned earlier there are organic insecticides available. Many for at least since the 70's. Guess I'm hard headed but I still use my sevin dust in limited fashion. After drinking DDT as a toddler I'm not to worried about sevin that does not come in contact with what I'm eating. I've seen worms destroy 5 acres of my corn one year and I'm not letting that happen again. When we have a few dozen plants what is practical is one thing but imagine going from stalk to stalk covering literally millions of stalks and ears by hand. My concern is will we need a lottery to see who lives and dies because of food shortages? There has to be some middle ground. And as why there are no worms I can't answer. I knew a farmer back in the 70's who preached organic but bought sevin in 50lb bags. How do I know? I was asked to deliver to him. Organic is a vary good thing. But when prices get high there is room for dishonesty. That is one of my concerns about paying a very high price and not getting what I paid for. Organic is supposed to be regulated by the USDA like the meat industry is. I'm afraid that corn ear worms are here to stay. You can control them but never eliminate them.
Nomadicus, that reminds me .. another friend who worked in a small organic store years ago, found the owner spraying raid on the crates of organics!!!
Yep, crime knows no boundaries. More education really needs to be done for the consumer about the organic process. Sorry, but don't offer me organic rice from the far east if you know what I'm saying. Organic can be just as dangerous as non organic. There is a right way and a wrong way. Just a few days ago there was a blurb that got snuffed out rather quickly about a buy that was killed by his compost pile. Now that is serious. There are do's and don'ts with organic too. Crop rotation needs to be used to help with the bugs but often time the small gardener has a real space problem. I'm afraid there is no simple solution. If I had one I throw the worlds larges City Data party ever because I could certainly afford it. I get just as upset with the spay to be spraying guys that don't know how to kill anything but bees and other beneficial bugs as I do the purist that preaches absolute orgainc. Think about this. Crude oil is organic but would ya want it on your cereal or to cook with? Got to go cook. Maybe just maybe I didn't stir up to big a can of worms.
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Organic is a vary good thing. But when prices get high there is room for dishonesty. That is one of my concerns about paying a very high price and not getting what I paid for. Organic is supposed to be regulated by the USDA like the meat industry is. I'm afraid that corn ear worms are here to stay. You can control them but never eliminate them.
I get just as upset with the spay to be spraying guys that don't know how to kill anything but bees and other beneficial bugs as I do the purist that preaches absolute orgainc. Think about this. Crude oil is organic but would ya want it on your cereal or to cook with?
Got to go cook. Maybe just maybe I didn't stir up to big a can of worms. 
