Storm Damage to Corn - What Can be Done?

[mdthomas26]

A storm like this came rolling through Easter Iowa early this morning and my corn looks JUST like that flat as a pancake but not busted off.

Do you guys have any pictures of your corn after it recovered?

Does it do anygood to try to stand it back up and build up the soil around it?

I don't have nearly as big a plot as it looks like some of you have so something like that may be more practical for me than it might be for you all.

[soil]

that happened to me last year, they never fixed themselves. i tried to tie them back up. i got 3 ears of corn from a 10 x 20 patch after it fell over. i personally feel it was from planting too close, this year i planted them much farther apart.

[bcallaha]

That's happened to me twice this year. About a month ago, we had a severe storm with winds from the northeast. About 3/4 of my corn was 45 to 60 degrees from vertical. The very next night, we had another storm with winds from the southwest. The next morning, my corn looked like someone put it in a whirlwind. Nearly all of the corn was facing some direction other than vertical. The plants were still in the ground good, none were uprooted. I've seen corn right itself before, so I just let it go. Now you can't tell anything ever happened except a few stalks have a crook near the bottom......hasn't hurt production.

Brad

[rainbowgardener]

But yes, for a small corn patch, you can speed the process up by standing your corn back up, especially if it's been pretty flattened. Stand the corn up, firm the soil around it, hill it up a little bit at the base, and it will be good to go. Obviously no one is going to do that who has acres of corn, since it has to be done for each individual plant.

[applestar]

I think hilling and not hilling can make a huge difference in ability of the corn to withstand heavy storms and to get back up.


I was looking an unhilled corn stalk yesterday -- the stem below the buttressing roots is 1/2 the diameter of the stem above them. When I hill, I inevitably end up burying the bottom leaves and they also act as --oh what are those lines/rope you tie to spikes in the ground to support tents from blowing over called? Nuts! I can't remember... Like "tether" but not... Starts with a "g" ....

[TheWaterbug]

Guywires

[TZ -OH6]

Guy-wires.

Corn patches are like trailer parks.

Last year my deer netting helped hold up my little block of corn. This year I dug trenches and planted in those and then back filled and hilled up a bit but a really big wind won't be stopped (nor will crop circle aliens). I also planted double rows (plants about a foot apart side to side and then 3-4 ft to the next double row), which might help.