This year was my first attempt at growing corn and it doesn’t seem to be turning out well I’m in the high desert but made sure it cot plenty of water. When the cobs began to form the husks were red and then turned brown instead of the typical green. The silks also turned brown and matted very quickly. I pulled one that looked to be full grown yesterday and it was definitely not right. I have included pics. Did something get to it or is it rot? I’m not sure what it is and would prefer to have a good harvest next year. About half way down the corn looks good. Is this part ok to eat?
Corn problems
- Thread starter Abqcorn
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That looks like frass. The edges are not really showing infection. Corn borers are common. There are other bugs for corn too. You might have already found a live one by now.
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Yep, @DirtMechanic is correct. What you have there is a normal ear of corn that a corn ear worm moth laid eggs on way back when the silk first started to show and as the instar developed it moved into the ear of corn itself and started munching down on the growing kernels. I stop this completely by spraying the new silk with spinosad. This stops two things. The little beetles that sometimes shows up and it also helps with the worm. When the ear of corn has about 1/2 of its silk I spray again, this time with Bt, making sure that the Bt drains down into the ear. Some folks spray with mineral oil but I have found Bt works much better.
http://www.pestproducts.com/corn-earworm.htm
http://www.pestproducts.com/corn-earworm.htm