Insects

One of the most challenging aspects of raising good sweet corn is managing insects that like the corn almost as much as we do. These are mainly the Earworms and Corn Borers.  The adult moths are the ones you smash on your windshield while driving at night in the summer. These moths fly in and lay a mass of eggs on the underside of the leaves above the ear. Each egg is about the size of the head of a pin. When they hatch, the tiny little worms fall into the leaves next to the ear or on the silks themselves, and chew their way in. They damage the plant and sometimes bore right into the side of the ear. Earworms concentrate on invading the ear itself. As they hatch, the burrow in and eat their way into the end of the ear.  Both types of worms grow rapidly and become noticeable in a very short amount of time. The only way to prevent them from doing damage is a diligent spray control schedule. Once inside the protection of the ear or stalk they can no longer be controlled, so timing of a controlling spray is crucial. Through most of the summer, spraying every three to four days is necessary to provide a worm-free product, but is sometimes impossible due to weather conditions.  Since the silks of the ear are present three weeks before being harvested, the earlier a failure occurs in the control the more mature (bigger) the worm will be (and the more damage that will be done).  Another control method is planting insect protected corn varieties.  We have embraced this technology since 2007 and it has drastically reduced the amount of pesticides used on our farm.  For more information, see the article about BT in the "All About Sweet Corn" series.