British Columbia: Corn plants are being eaten by something

Discussion in 'Outdoor Gardening in the Pacific Northwest' started by clloydjones, Jun 25, 2015.

  1. clloydjones

    clloydjones New Member

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    Location:
    Terrace, BC
    I have planted corn in the Terrace area for the last 6 years with varied success, depending on weather, horses soil conditions. Most years have been yielding a very good eating crop.
    Last year I had more corn than I could eat or even give away but the taste was very disappointing.
    This year, with the help of good weather, I planted 6 rows of 6 corn plants spaced according to the package directions. I started them indoors as always, moved them to greenhouse on the property and when they were 6 inches tall I moved them into the rototilled garden I use for my plants.
    [SEARCH]They were growing quite well until two days ago (June 20th, and now they are being chewed up and some stalks are falling over and some leaves have holes and turned brown. Also, some leaves are curled and growing inside each other. I have tried finding the problem with internet information but nothing seems to be consistent with what I [/SEARCH]am seeing with my plants.
    Any suggestions?
    I have taken photos of the plants and will try to include them now or later if necessary.
     

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  2. Georgia Strait

    Georgia Strait Generous Contributor 10 Years

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    Location:
    South Okanagan & Greater Vancouver, BC Canada
    1. do any of your other crops nearby and further in your garden have issues? What about the other crops you grew in your greenhouse?

    2. assuming last year was succesful (aside from taste you don't care for) - have you changed anything since last year growing season? (new mulch, imported mulch, water source, seed source, or manure etc)

    just looking for ways to narrow down possible causes.

    I'm glad you posted photos to start.

    i hope others have some solution input for you.
     
  3. clloydjones

    clloydjones New Member

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    Location:
    Terrace, BC
    There is a crop of potatoes in the same plot, but there was last year also.
    This year the owner of the property added horse manure to the soil and rototilled it in in early May. I transplanted my corn from her greenhouse in mid May. They started out ok but in mid June there were signs of changes in the leaves with leaf curl and browning of the leaves. Within two or three days after that the more serious damage was starting to show and quickly deteriorated from there to what you see in the photos.
    Are there any solutions to this problem or am I going to miss out again this year? The weather has been very cooperative this year and it seems a shame not to take advantage of it.
     
  4. pmurphy

    pmurphy Generous Contributor 10 Years

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    I had a similar problem a few years back when I would find the young plants outside the garden fence (we had a 3ft chicken wire fence around it to keep the dog out), chewed through or just generally had a "played with" look to them.

    We eventually discovered a young raccoon was actually playing in the garden and playing with the plants - not eating them - and playing with the plant markers throughout the yard (I still don't know what some of my plants are because the tags either went missing or I had to remove them because he/she was playing with the tags and damaging or killing the plants)........said raccoon was living under our neighbor's deck and when that entrance was sealed up, it moved on.
     
  5. clloydjones

    clloydjones New Member

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    Location:
    Terrace, BC
    We do not have racoons this far from the coast so I'm fairly certain it isn't that, but I do appreciate the post.
    I think someone from the Georgia Strait may have found the answer when he/she wanted to know if I had manure added to the soil this year. This is the first time it has been added and may be what has caused all of the damage. I just don't know how to cure the problem at this point.
     
  6. Sundrop

    Sundrop Well-Known Member

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    Location:
    Kootenays, BC, Canada
    Search the Net for herbicides in horse manure. I am sure you will find the answer to your dilemma in the articles there.
     
  7. clloydjones

    clloydjones New Member

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    Location:
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    Thanks. That seems to be the most likely reason for my situation.
     

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