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market-farming - Re: organic corn (fwd)

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Chronological Thread  
  • From: "Bill Shoemaker" <wshoemak AT inil.com>
  • To: "market farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Re: organic corn (fwd)
  • Date: Tue, 23 May 2000 08:29:46 -0500



>there are varieties of corn that are "tighter" and more "closed" (excuse
>my very technical language!) where the silks are and apparently this >can
be a good deterrent as well to the moth that lays its eggs in the >corn.
Someone tell me if this is so, or correct me if I am in error here.
>Thanks!
>Megan Miller-Morgan
>University of Oregon RARE Program
>Lincoln County Extension Office



Though it's true some varieties have tighter husks at the the tip and better
coverage of the tip, this is not a deterrent to corn earworm larvae. The
moth lays eggs on the silks after the silks have emerged from the tip. The
larvae hatches out and immediately begins to crawl down the silk to enter
the ear. These larvae are too small to be prevented from entering. I've
tested sweet corn cultivars for 15 years. I've seen cultivars that were so
tight that the silks came out unevenly. They still were subject to corn
earworm damage. Other strategies need to be in place to keep out corn
earworm.

Bill Shoemaker
Sr Research Specialist, Food Crops
Univ of Illinois - St Charles Hort Research Center





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