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sheeshshe
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toppling corn..?

I went out there today and there were a couple stalks of corn that were toppling over, I look down to mound up some dirt and one of them looked chewed upon. is there a pest that chews down the stalk at the bottom? or is it just well, something happened and its falling LOL. OK, I"m falling asleep here and not makign sense...

gnight..

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rainbowgardener
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There is a corn rootworm borer that will chew into corn stalks, but I think it's more a southern thing. Otherwise, mainly small animals like squirrels.

Corn is shallow rooted and prone to toppling over anyway. Mounding it up as you suggested is the best thing for that. Even corn that has fallen over and is lying flat on the ground, usually will be ok if you stand it up again and mound the soil up around it.

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farmerlon
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Raccoons love corn too! They will often tear down the stalk, to make it easy for them to sit and eat the ears.

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Gary350
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I have rabbits, squirrels, turtles and lots of birds none of them every eat my corn plants at the roots and none of them eat the ears when they are ripe.

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sheeshshe
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thank you :) its good to know that if it tips its not going to die on me :lol: my corn has never got this tall before and I"m a bit perplexed at its enormousness LOL! (I've been giving it a lot of nitrogen this year and yeah, super tall and thick)... so yeah. heheh I hope I don't kill it!

specgrade
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I found a few stalks leaning sideways and discovered a squirrel had tried to make crop circles in my garden. Maybe time to break out the Benjamin/Sheridan .20cal.

I am curious to know what bothered your crop?

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rainbowgardener
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Gary350 wrote:I have rabbits, squirrels, turtles and lots of birds none of them every eat my corn plants at the roots and none of them eat the ears when they are ripe.
Something weird about your garden then! :) I don't know about the turtles, never had them in my garden. But when I used to live on a property with more land, I tried growing corn, but gave up on it, because EVERY critter loved it! Course I had a few more of them, all the ones you mention plus raccoons, opossums, groundhogs, wood rats, DEER, so I can't say for sure which ones were causing all the damage.

But I know for sure squirrels love corn, because we feed our squirrels corn to help keep them away from the bird feeders.

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sheeshshe
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I've grown it before but it never did well because I didn't throw down masses of nitrogen, but it did grow corn, just small ones... the squirrels and raccooons and whatever else didn't touch them. hmmmm. weird. I bet they do this year since my garden is so very inviting to everything this year... :roll:

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This has been a good year for growing corn; too much nitrogen might make for top heavy plants, but I am betting on the raccoons; traditional corn thieves in our area...

HG

R. Mills
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I have the same thing. I have determined that it is either the heavy rains and/or the chipmunks. The chipmunks like knawing on the leaves and at the base of the plant

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I have had some corn going over, a combination of wind and climbing beans... I am staking...

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garden5
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Let's not forget about our friend the possum, either.

In truth, there are a multitude of corn-plant culprits. Perhaps go out after a rain and look for tracks around downed plants. That will help narrow down the field.

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sheeshshe
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hmm good idea. :)

I do know something is eating the silk... whatever that is I don't know.



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