A Devourer of Corn
WORMS!!!!
You might look at this picture taken on the first day of boiling hot skin searing summer and think-- boy, that looks like some pretty shitty corn, and you would be right in thinking that. All of the ears of corn, that sat perched up along the stalks looked happy and healthy as they progressed, I did not see any tell-tale signs of any bug feasting infestation. It must have happened the week I was on my Gulf Coast trip. As soon as I let up, and the heat and afternoon rains set in ahead of schedule, they snuck into the garden and into the corn. This was my 3rd attempt at growing corn and this was the closest I actually got to harvest. I used an organic product called spinosad, anyone heard of this stuff? Have any luck? From everything I read, and from what I could tell during morning inspections, I thought we had it made this time around. Back to the drawing board. A summer homegrown corn boil with some cow sized steaks are still in my future. Anyone have any luck growing corn in Florida this year?
I realized taking this picture of our ruined crop, that I hadn't taken pictures of Cole in forever, and so I will remedy that. I apologize for the nasty worm invader photo, but I have to share the carnage along with the triumphs. I can't just go around blogging about gardening without showing the disasters along the way. I have my fingers crossed I will be showing off some cantaloupes on here at some point, but man is it hot this year.
Any good ideas for things to plant during these ridiculously hot months? I might just skip planting and work on building the soil up for another year. Why doesn't that sound fun at all?
All the Love in the Universe ~ Me
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24 comments:
So sorry about the corn...keep trying, though! I don't have any awesome advice. We're trying our hand at gardening this year for the first time. SO FAR, the squirrels have stayed away. Last night we had tortilla wraps with our very own lettuce and basil inside! We are eagerly waiting for the peppers, tomatoes, and green beans.
dude, that was so gross and cool at the same time.
i have not been having any luck this year either with much of anything. here in central Pa the heat started way too early, and everything is getting burned up in the sun. This is my first garden ever, and it looks like the only thing that is surviving is Watermelon and carrots. sorry man. next year!
@ Mama Cas- Oh man, we ate the heck out of some green beans this year. I was actually about 4 weeks late planting this year, and had it not been for that, we would have had so many more beans, but they grew the best out of everything. Well they tied with the cucumbers. I made 10 pints of pickles this crop. And only one jar left.
Good luck with the rest of your garden. Yum to fresh basil in a wrap.
@ Jess- gross/cool is what I do best :)
I have never heard of that product. I grow organic as well...for insecticides, I make my own.
In a spray bottle I add:
3 cloves garlic (smashed with knife)
2 tbsp. hot sauce
1 tsp. dish detergent
Water to top of bottle
I spray it on all my plants after I water them real good. So every 3 days or so.
Sorry about your corn. I haven't tried to grown corn yet. Better luck next year.
i'll be blogging about my tiny cabbage harvest today! we've had a couple yummy tomatoes and i'll be making a little (and i do mean a little) cole slaw today...
i went to palmers yesterday and bought eggplant. she said i may still be able to that but other than herbs, we are shut down for the heat.
boo
first garden
lots of slugs
What we do around these parts is cut out the infested bit and throw 'em in the boilin' water. Any worms 'll cook and float to the top!
Anyway - There are a lot of pests of corn and what you have looks like a Lepidoptera (moth and butterfly Order) not a fly which is more common.
I found this nifty caterpillarID thing yesterday, maybe you can find it to better target your pesticide application? http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?guide=Caterpillars
Although I would say it looks like it could have arrived when you were away from the size of it.
@ Dalia- I actually did that with a few ears, I was the only one who ate it. It wasn't stunning, but I did too much work to let the bugs just have it. Thanks for the link and the lead on the culprits, they were the same invaders last season as well.
@ FSF- BLECK!!! Eggplant. good luck :) SLUGS!!!!!
@ Keeper- Thank you for that recipe, I will put it in my arsenal for next time.
@Genovetta- Umm watermelon and carrots are totally the best. I hope it grows well for you.
I grew up on an organic farm. We would spray canola oil on the corn silks and husk and then sprinkled on cayenne pepper. It kept the worms and bugs from eating our corn and it now keeps the squirrels off my corn. Good luck!
Family Sized Fun - Put a dish of beer in your garden. Slugs love beer and will fall into the dish. It's gross but works really really well.
Well, it doesn't get more organic than that, I suppose.
so close and yet so far. damn nature. everything here in the far north is a few weeks ahead of schedule, but our harveset is still months away for most stuff. Stiil, I got to make some dolmas for the first time with grapevine leaves from a crazyass vine last niight. Fresh parsley from the garden too! And the strawberries... omg. Love it!
Great pics as usual...
ummm. yeah. corn on the cob rocks my world. worms do not. but that picture of the worm?? dude. amazing. good luck with the garden. it's hot here too in TN and just keeping everything from wilting and dying is a job.
nasty worms…
i heard beer works good for slugs. better than just putting a bowl of beer in your garden is putting a bowl of beer in your garden (use the crappy kind) and then open up a bottle of the good kind, toss it back and say cheers to the slugs. it's a technique we employ over and over (except for the adding more beer to the bowl thing. it takes them a long time to drink all that)
My jalapenos and sweet banana peppers grow like weeds in these super hot months. Did you plant any?
Honestly at this point I'd do what you said and work on your soil for next year. When it's so hot, your plants don't get that easy head start that they do in the Spring to grow strong before the intense heat takes over.
And even though I'm sorry that you have those little dudes, I do love the worm picture :)
I need to get a gardening post together.
Here in Pacific Northwest our corn is usually covered in ear wig bugs, which I thought was disgusting until I saw your photo! Yuck!
Your corn looked fantastic! Damn worms!
If that was my corn I would be tossing it to the chickens :)
Ick. Looks like corn earworm grows bigger in Florida than it does in these parts. I've found ears damaged by the caterpillars, but haven't seen them on the corn. I did find corn earworm in my tomatoes once. To me, that seems even more disgusting and offensive. NOBODY gets my tomatoes except me.
Corn earworm, maybe?
http://www.gardeners.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-Gardeners-Site/default/Page-Show?cid=5292&utm_term=PDD
There are some tips up there ^^^ if you check the link.
I've never grown corn myself, so I have nothing of my own to pass along on this matter except my condolences for your harvest!
That's okay. The lovely thing about gardening is that, when one thing is an utter failure, something else always works out! I bet your melons will benefit from all the heat!
oh no :( hope you will post some pictures of cole soon! :D It's been ages...
for some dumb reason i was not expecting the worm picture and it totally grossed me out. cool.
Well, I'm totally not an entomologist, but I hope these two sites help (not that you can't find them yourself, but in case you hadn't) http://www.weekendgardener.net/garden-pests/corn-earworm-060706.htm
http://extension.entm.purdue.edu/veg/PDF/SweetCornFoster.pdf
Better luck next year. I have zero gardening skills, nor the time, so I don't try. But I'll gladly cheer you on. :)
Besides attacking them at the plant level, try to increase your worm predators. Bats, parasitic wasps and chickens are all good options. Never seen corn worms before, but parasitic wasps, though they sound scary are friends to vegies, foes to wriggly pests! Plant some parsley, carrots other flowering plants around your garden to attract them and let (some of) the carrots go to flower. Where I live, chickens help break the life cycle of codling moth on fruit trees, so they could do the same for corn worms.
No need to wait for next year, you still have time for a good fall crop coming up soon! It's too hot here in TX for much else to grow right now but starting in mid august everything will be back in the ground and growing until november, so I'm sure you'll have the same time frame just about.
oh no, say it ain't so. i love that corn pic, for what it's worth!
You know what I just realized? After seeing all your gardening efforts both on here and in real life, I almost completely forgot that you hate vegetables. Haha.. Has that changed, or do you just like providing for the family?
P.S. I need more pickles. Those "failures" lasted about 24 hours in my care. Yum.
I have my first corn growing in my yard. Now I'm all wigged out that it's going to be full of bugs. ick!
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