Corn has to survive a number of disease threats throughout the season, such as
gray leaf spot
, northern corn leaf blight, tar spot and common and southern rust. Managing these diseases early is essential to keeping your corn crop healthy and protecting your yields.
What pest and disease affect corn?
Corn aphid
is the most common aphid species on maize and can affect any crop stage. Adults and nymphs suck sap and produce honeydew. High numbers can cause plants to turn yellow and appear unthrifty. Yield loss may occur on water stressed plants.
What is a fungal disease that attacks corn?
Corn smut
, plant disease caused by the fungus Ustilago maydis, which attacks corn (maize) and teosinte plants. The disease reduces corn yields and can cause economic losses, though in Mexico the immature galls of infected ears of corn are eaten as a delicacy known as huitlacoche.
What does corn blight look like?
Typical symptoms of northern corn leaf blight are
canoe-shaped lesions 1 inch to 6
inches long. The lesions are initially bordered by gray-green margins. They eventually turn tan colored and may contain dark areas of fungal sporulation.
Which disease is caused by Puccinia?
Leaf rust
, caused by Puccinia triticina, is the most common rust disease of wheat. The fungus is an obligate parasite capable of producing infectious urediniospores as long as infected leaf tissue remains alive.
What are the worst pests for corn farmers?
According to Extension entomologists in Indiana, Illinois, Iowa and Nebraska,
corn rootworm
is by far the region's worst insect pest for corn. Soybean's top insect pest is less clear, but the four most often mentioned in the Midwest are soybean aphids, bean leaf beetles, Japanese beetles and spider mites.
What bugs does corn attract?
- Seed-corn maggot adults (Delia platura) appear similar to small houseflies. …
- Southern corn rootworm adult (Diabrotica undecimpunctata howardi). …
- Corn leaf aphids (Rhopalosiphum maidis) infestation on a sweet corn husk. …
- Corn flea beetle adult (Chaetocnema pulicaria). …
- Corn earworm moths (Helicoverpa zea).
How do you control corn leaf blight?
Treating northern corn leaf blight involves
using fungicides
. For most home gardeners this step isn't needed, but if you have a bad infection, you may want to try this chemical treatment. The infection usually begins around the time of silking, and this is when the fungicide should be applied.
What causes GREY leaf spot in corn?
Gray leaf spot on corn, caused by
the fungus Cercospora zeae-maydis
, is a peren- nial and economically damaging disease in the United States. Since the mid-1990s, the disease has increased in importance in Indiana, and now is the one of the most important foliar diseases of corn in the state.
What causes corn blight?
Southern corn leaf blight is caused by
the fungus Bipolaris maydis
. There are two races of the pathogen. Race O normally attacks only leaves. Lesions are tan, somewhat rectangular in shape, and have reddish-brown margins.
What kills rust on plants?
Some rust spores can overwinter. If these good gardening practices aren't enough to control the rust in your garden, try a product that contains a
sulfur or copper fungicide
, or use sulfur dust or Neem oil. Always make sure whatever you use is safe for edibles, if that's what you are treating.
What is a rust disease?
Rust disease is
caused by a fungal parasite that needs living plants to survive
. Rust diseases occur most often in mild, moist conditions. Rust is spread by spores that are transferred from infected plants to healthy plants.
Which plants are attacked by Puccinia?
Wheat leaf rust (Puccinia triticina) is a fungal disease that affects
wheat, barley and rye stems, leaves and grains
. In temperate zones it is destructive on winter wheat because the pathogen overwinters. Infections can lead up to 20% yield loss, which is exacerbated by dying leaves, which fertilize the fungus.
What is the most destructive pest?
- Locusts. Locusts are notorious in the agriculture industry. …
- Japanese Beetles. …
- Mormon Crickets. …
- True Bugs. …
- Corn Rootworm. …
- Colorado Potato Beetle. …
- Stink Bugs.
What do you spray on corn?
In corn with Roundup Ready® 2 Technology,
Roundup® brand glyphosate-
only agricultural herbicides can be applied broadcast up to the V8 growth stage or 30-inch tall corn, whichever comes first. Drop nozzles should be used for optimum spray coverage and weed control when corn is 24 to 30 inches tall.
