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Corn is very essential for eating and making other eatable products. Growing corn is also an interesting experience for many gardeners. However, there are some problems with growing corn.
Corns are assailable to infections by plant pathogens, especially throughout the growing season under desirable environmental conditions.
Seedling blight, seed rot, foliar diseases in mid-season, stalk disease, and end rot are rare problems corn plants face. Many corn problems are mainly caused by pathogens that exist in residual crops in the soil.
Below are the list of corn problems and how to overcome them.
1) Tiny Shot Holes
Many corn farmers find it difficult to get rid of corn flea beetle which can riddle leaves with tiny holes and transfer stewart’s wilt. This is a bacteria disease that leaves the vascular system of the plant weight with slime. In essence, it makes the corn stunted and in the end it dies.
Solution
- Spray with pyrethrum or rotenone.
- Pick off the beetles
- Prepare the garden to sort the large holes in leaves, corn earworm, armyworm, beetles, and grasshopper.
- Chop off foliage and corn leaves.
Particularly, insects which eat the corn, should be picked and put in soapy water. As corn farmers, note that the loss of small amounts of leaf tissues cannot reduce the yield of your corn.
2) Seedlings Are Cut Off
A species of worm commonly known as cutworms, which are brown grubs, conceal themselves in the soil by day and feed themselves at night.
To solve this problem, you will have to hand pick grubs from the soil, remove the weeds, and always keep the garden free from plant remains or rubbish.
Solution: Insert a 3 inch collar which is always in cardboard form around the stem of the young plant grown from seed and slowly push the collars 1-inch inside the soil.
3# Uprooted Seedlings
Birds and crows will forcefully pull out the seedlings of the corn just to feed on the seed.
Solution: Carefully cover the young plants which we grew from seeds with bird block until it is fully set up.
4# An Inward Roll of the Leaf Edge
Some farmers believe that the cause of the leaf edges roll inward is because of the soil moisture.
Solutions: Corn farmers should deeply water the corn to 4-inches. Then you will have to place 3-4 inches of an organic protective covering which will be spread on the soil to prevent erosion and control weeds on the planting bed to conserve the moisture of the soil.
5# Yellow Stripes on Leaves
A common bacterial disease known as Stewart’s wilt is a bacteria that affects the vascular systems, making them become clogged with slime. The infected plant will turn yellow, become stunted, and wilt.
Solution: The control of the flea beetle which spread diseases to the corn can be eliminated through picking off beetles, constant cultivation of the garden, and spraying the garden with rotenone.
6# Leaves Turning Purple
The purple margin starts with the leaves at the base of the plant. It shows the deficiency of phosphorus in the soil.
Solution: At this point, corn farmers will have to perform a soil test, and add a concentrated amount of bone meal to the top of the planting bed. Lastly, use a commercial fertilizer that is rich in phosphorus 5-10-5 to grow your crop.
7# Greyish Spot on Leaves
Northern and Southern corn leaves blight are fungal diseases that favour wet environments.
Solution: Add organic material to the planting bed to keep the soil well-drained. You also need to avoid overhead irrigation and keep the garden clean because of the unwanted weeds.
8# Insufficient Nitrogen
The yellow leaves that form tassels are caused by a nitrogen deficiency in the soil.
Solution: As a corn farmer, you have to water compost tea or fish emulsion and lastly add aged compost to planting beds to get sufficient nitrogen.
9# Reddish Brown Blisters
They are destructive diseases of corn produced by fungi and are characterized by usually reddish-brown pustular lesions, commonly known as rust. Rust destroys plants and can be found in your corn seedlings.
Solution: You have to plant rust-resistance varieties. Also, avoid irrigation and cut off infected leaves.
Conclusion
As stated in this article, gadners do experience some problems when growing corn. But with the comprehensive guided liested here, the corn growing problems can be solved. I believe I have been able to open your eyes to see most growing corn problems and their solutions.
Reference
- Growth and Production of Some Variety Corn (Zea mays L.). Planted under the Canopy of Palm Oil 12 Years Old in Swamp Land
- Research on corn production efficiency and influencing factors of typical farms: Based on data from 12 corn-producing countries from 2012 to 2019
- In: Corn Crop Production Growth, Fertilization and Yield CORN CROP PRODUCTION: GROWTH, FERTILIZATION AND YIELD
