My first year for a "real" garden, several rows of 2 or 3 varieties of corn! The first batch, Silver Queen, looked tall and gorgeous and the tassles were waving in the breeze -- well, it is still tall and gorgeous, except for the tassles. The tiny (1/4") little black beetles that show up with the July rains by the THOUSANDS, usually coming in through the window screens and getting in my hair while I try to sleep, are back in full force and EATING the tassles off my corn! I figured out how to keep them out of the house, by spraying the window screens with Raid, but obviously do not want to spray my corn with Raid or any poison. I've been going out 2 or 3 times a day and shaking the little devils into a pail of water, then feeding them to the chickens, but every time I go out there the ears are full of the beetles again. Yesterday I discovered they were also eatinng the Swiss chard that is planted next to the corn. I've tried several "natural" remedies but so far nothing has worked, there are still thousands and thousands of them. Oh, this morning I also found the beetles on the blossoms of my potted dwarf grapefruit, now that is a REAL crime.
Today, while picking tomato hornwoms & Colorado potato beetles off my tomatoes, I realized the tomatoes are probably the only thing I have growing that the little black beasties are not eating. So I opened a can of diced tomatoes and with a paint brush, swabbed the tops of every corn ear with tomato juice, hoping the change in smell will discourage the bad black bugs. Right now I am afraid to go look and see if the ears are again full of beetles. The corn is supposed to be ripe in another week, if any are not ruined.
I am in northern Arizona -- has anybody else had this problem? If so, what did you do about it?
Oh, my used-to-be beautiful corn!
If no other ideas surface, I'd go out there with some veg oil or mineral oil and paint it on the silks and the tip of the ears to discourage whatever wants it. If it will be ready in a week, it doesn't need the silks but those bugs will probably want your corn too. I've read that a few drops of oil in the ears will discourage the worms too.
Sounds like sap beetles, The adults are a pest, but the larva will be little white maggots that infest the ear. Corn with maximum ear cover slows them down. I am not organic so I have no problem with them. Hopefully organic folks will chime as there are organically approved insecticides like pyrethrin, but I do not know how effective on this pest.
Thank you both. Nobody around here seems to know what these beetles are called, so I will look up sap beetles. Went out at 5:30 this morning and guess what, the beetles seem to enjoy the tomato juice. I swear there were more of them than ever before -- 40 or 50 on each ear. And yes, they keep working their way down into the ears, get farther every day. Haven't seen any little maggots but I assume, at the rate these critters multiply, they must be breeding. I know that after the rainy season they usually disappear, but that won't be until about Labor Day -- maybe there is hope for the corn I planted 2 wks ago and yesterday.
At this late date I am afaid to use even Pyrethrin on the Silver Queen but maybe I can use it on the later varieties.
I'm going out again now and will try the veg oil. I hope they hate it!
More than you want to know about Sap beetles: http://scarab.msu.montana.edu/HPIPMSearch/docs/duskysapbeetle-sweetcorn.htm http://fciig.ifas.ufl.edu/frsapbe.htm http://entomology.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/field/corn/sap_beetles.htm http://www.specialtycrops.colostate.edu/grower_grants/2003/2003_gg_sap_beetle.htm http://www.ars.usda.gov/is/AR/archive/apr97/sapbeetle0497.htm
Farmerdill, thanks for the urls. My beetles look and act exactly like sap beetles, except for two details. One, the antenna on mine do not seem to have the knobs on the tips like the pictures on those websites, and two, I figured they must be breeding nightly rather than monthly because every morning there a jillions more of them!
Twiggybuds, I didn't have any mineral oil but tried castor oil, then switched to veg oil, and that seems to work better than anything else I have tried. A few drops didn't work so I have been flooding the ears with veg oil and I guess it smothers them. This morning a few ears didn't have any bugs, a few had lots, and some just had a few. I really flooded the ears then,, and this time left the dead ones on the ears, and when I came home tonight I checked them and most of them didn't have any new beetles. Yay! I am gong out tonight to do it again.
I want some corn! At least thanks to all the veg oil, I won't have to put butter on the ears when I cook them!
I'm so glad something is working. Please come back and let us know how the corn turns out when you eat it. It's awful to have to resort to such extremes but folks just got to have their corn.
Last night I couldn't resist and picked two ears of Silver Queen, dropped them into boiling water, cooked for 3 minutes, and that's what I had for supper! Yum. They were sure sweet. The ears are smaller and kernels smaller than what you buy at the store, but my ground has never been worked before and all I had added was horse manure, so that explains the small size. Otherwise, they were perfect. I cut the top inch or so off due to the beetle damage (which was minor), and there weren't any worms.
BTW, the veg oil is working great!
AZgrammie,
STOP shucking and boiling that wonderful corn you so lovingly grew!!!!!
Go look for my "Microwave Corn in the Husks" recipe in the tags and give yourself the treat you deserve after all your hard work!
Linda
Oh Gymgirl! I didn't know you could microwave it -- in the husks? I just looked it up, and see what you mean. Tonight I will give it a try. Thanks, I didn't even know about the tagged pages.
My power is down right now due to a controller that has gone bad (I am off the grid) so am being carefull of my electricity use -- I hope I can do 2 minutes in the microwave. Right now I am limiting myself to a few minutes a day online, just to check my email and Dave's Garden!
Lo
hire a mopving truck and get the heck out of there. LOL
sorry, i have no remedy for your problem as i don't hve bug problems.
AZgrammie,
Did you ever try the microwave corn in the husks?
Herbie, I don't want to leave! I love it out here except when the little black beetles are here. They are beginning to pack up and move to somebody else's corn patch, anyway. Gymgirl, I did try it with two ears for myself. One turned out really well, the other not so good -- it wasn't really ripe so maybe that had something to do with it. I gave 6 ears to a neighbor and they said only half of them were fully formed, so guess I am rushing the season. I did get my new controller installed so I have plenty of power now and can use the microwave (and my Mr. Coffee!) And read Dave's Garden at my leisure. 8^)
I have the sap beetles in my fall strawberries, and I have set out a trap for them with fermenting overripe berries.
gymgirl...i've tried your microwave corn in the husks and have found this is my preferred method!!! i love it, hubby loves it, kids and grands love it too!!! this is the way to cook corn on the cob! thanks for the method...virginia