Native Corn Springing Up, Garden Pests under Control
Maine-grown sweet corn got off to a slow start because of wet spring weather, but University of Maine Cooperative Extension vegetable and small fruit specialist David Handley says recent hot, sunny weather has corn in many parts of the state “jumping right out of the ground.”
Handley expects homegrown corn to begin showing up at southern Maine farm stands any time now, and should appear further north as summer weather nudges crops along.
Handley, at Highmoor Farm in Monmouth, also reports that weather that’s good for corn also is good for corn pests, but adds that farmers have been effectively controlling pests.
Handley can be reached at (207) 933-2100 or by email at david.handley@maine.edu for details about crops. Handley also is featured in an online Extension video (http://www.youtube.com/theuniversityofmaine#p/search/0/o3zlq9BdoGY) on safe food handling, which begins with planning a garden’s location, when to apply manure as a fertilizer and proper hygiene when picking fruits and vegetables.
Extension pest management specialist Jim Dill in Orono says garden beetles can devastate backyard vegetable plants in a few days without intervention in some cases. He suggests using a commercially available organic pesticide or, depending upon the size of the infestation, something as simple as a vacuum to suck them off plants.
Dill is featured in a Cooperative Extension web video (http://umaine.edu/ipm/blog/2010/10/21/how-to-get-rid-of-japanese-beetles/) discussing Japanese beetles and ways to eliminate them from the garden.
Late blight, Dill says, has been reported on tomatoes and potatoes in southern New York, Delaware and Virginia, but not in gardens in Maine, thus far. The Cooperative Extension website has a page (http://umaine.edu/highmoor/blog/2011/07/05/late-blight-grower-and-farm-stand-alert-july-5-2011/) about late blight, including descriptions and photographs.
Dill can be reached at (207) 581-3879 to discuss garden pests and fungi.
Contact: David Handley, (207) 933-2100; Jim Dill, (207) 581-3879