This is a public-interest archive. Personal data is pseudonymized and retained under GDPR Article 89.

Re: corn

An alternative to mineral oil is Bt.

Olin Miller wrote:
> 
> Scot wrote:
> >
> > I am growing corn for the first time.
> > It is starting to form 'silks'.
> > Should I treat these silks with something to avoid pests?
> > ~smile~ Scott...
> 
> In warm areas of the US, like our low desert, the corn earworm is a
> serious pest.  Years ago I used to treat the silks with sevin dust and
> it was pretty effective.  But since I no longer use chemical pesticides,
> I've tried using a few drops of mineral oil on the silks at two week
> intervals with limited success.  It seems most things will adversely
> affect pollination unless you can tell when pollination is complete (I
> never could), then apply the mineral oil.  The earworm is the larval
> stage of a nuctuid moth that is present in most of our gardens and the
> same as, or similar to, the cotton boll worm and tomato fruit worm and
> will also feed on either but seems to prefer corn.  I'm currently
> experimenting with planting a short season corn in the spring and a long
> season corn in the fall to try to evade the active period of the moth -
> results for the past two years are pretty promising.  Another
> alternative is to do nothing and simply cut away the damaged part of the
> ear along with the worm which is always near the tip - havin someone
> elso prepare it helps not to think about while you're eatin it.
> 
> Olin Miller <millero@worldnet.att.net>
> USDA Zone 9b, Sunset Zone 13

-- 
bloke@magi.com (Bill Loke)[Z5a] Kars, Ontario, Canada
"Experience is something you don't get until just after you needed it the 
most."
References:
Other Mailing lists | Author Index | Date Index | Subject Index | Thread Index