Vegetables Gardening - Growing Organic Vegetables

With your corn being shredded and uprooted, it does sound like critters. My corn this year was not uprooted or shredded... it just fell over...none of the plant was damaged or shredded. I asked the local Master Gardeners and they sent me some information that talked about various problems with corn. One is called "Lodging" (falling over)... they said the cause of that is excess nitrogen fertilizer... so I wonder if I gave them too much of a good thing?! Anyone here know about that?

Blessings,
Carmen zone 9

Carmen & Group:

Dr. Mittleider says, on page 78 of volume 1 of The Garden Doctor, that Lodging is caused by a deficiency in Potassium. All cereal crops can be affected this way by potassium deficiency late in the growth cycle.

There are other causes of lodging also, and some "experts" indicate nitrogen excess can be a cause. Others describe disease conditions which favor lodging. Here is a fairly comprehensive article on the subject, which names several possible causes: http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/crop1271

You can also find an article I wrote in the FAQ section of the Foundation website at www.growfood.com on the subject.

Jim Kennard

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