North American Fruit Explorers mailing list at ibiblio

[Road's End Farm <organic87@frontiernet.net>]

On Feb 15, 2009, at 5:28 PM, Kevin Moore wrote:

> A few drops of a good non-toxic mineral oil on the silks when they turn brown (after trimming them back,) works for me. But that might be a little too labor intensive for anyone with a large block of corn. Earworms don't seem to bother them. Mineral oil is probably not truly organic, but it works well and doesn't contaminate the environment as far as I can tell.

Applicators are sold for this purpose; they're supposed to speed things up quite a bit (though if you're happy with what you're doing, the applicator might not be worth the cost.) And you can get oils acceptable for certified organic use, if it matters to you. -- Links below may not be the cheapest source, but should give you an idea.

Applicator:
http://www.johnnyseeds.com/catalog/product.aspx?scommand=search&search=zealator&item=9038&category=292&subcategory=319

Suggested oil to use with it:

http://www.johnnyseeds.com/catalog/product.aspx?scommand=search&search=golden%2bspray%2boil&item=9534&category=292&subcategory=625


--Rivka
Finger Lakes NY; zone 5 mostly