Storm Winds Blew Corn Crop to Ground - Can it Recover?

[Wooly]

Need some good advice from people who know. I have always loved growing vegetables, and I would like to try my hand at flowers and some fruits now that I have the time these days.

I have a stupid question that I would like to ask. I have some sweet corn in the backyard that has just started to tassel, and was very healthy and doing good until today,...when Tropical Storm Andrea passed over the top of us with 30 to 35 mph gusts. Now my nice corn crop is blown down to the ground, and it's a mess. I don't know if it will pull out of this or not? Has anyone else had this problem? and if so, is there any way to salvage the stalks?... The tassels are just begining to come through the top of the plants, and none of them have made any ears yet.. So I am hoping that I can save it.

I thought about trying to go down the rows and gently stand each stalk back upright and press the roots firm with my feet, but I might be better off to just leave it alone and hope for the best...I'll post a couple of pics if I need to..What do you think??

Thanks for any input

Wooly

[jal_ut]

Know the feeling. Have had that happen too. I do as you suggest, gently stand it up and maybe move a little soil up around it and step on it all around. Even if they don't quite stand up straight, the stalks will actually bend upwards and go ahead and produce a crop. Good luck!

[Wooly]

Thank you for your input, that is what I was thinking too. I kinda felt like this corn patch woudn't pollenate like it should down on the ground even if it was lucky enough to survive the blow down. So tomorrow morning we'll go out and stand them up as best as possible without tearing up the root system too much. I've got my fingers crossed.

Wooly

[valley]

Don't know how many stalks you have but if you have grape stakes you can drive them in and loosely tie them upright to the stake. If you have a great field of corn it would be a bit much to do.

Richard

[rainbowgardener]

Agree. Corn is shallow rooted and tall/ top heavy, so this is a common occurrence. Stand the stalks back up and hill up some soil around the base.

[RogueRose]

I've had that happen before too. I've done everything from string it up to stake it and put up soil around it. All except one or two stalks recovered. Amazon.com has a pretty good deal on some super tall bamboo stakes that work well for this.

[Wooly]

Thank you all for the helpful suggestions. and they are all very good ideas. I went out and tried to mess with the blow down this morning, and there is just too much of it to try to individually stake them and, the ones that I tried to stand up and firm around the roots was a no-go as well.

They either break off at the joints or there isn't enough of loose excees dirt in between the rows after this torential rain, to pull back up to the bottoms of the stalks without tearing up the others... Bummer.... .. I called one of my relatives who also has a vegetable garden and his corn was blown down also. It's pretty much a 50/50 chance as it is now, whether it finishes tasseling and and completes the silk and pollenation process.

Ohh well, the tomatoes look pretty good, and the butter beans and field peas might just produce a mess or two if the Mexican Bean Beatles don't completely eat them up... I hate those darned things

Thanks again,

Wooly