Use a string line to support heavy corn stalks

Several days ago my corn, which I had carefully planted, grown from seed, and have grown quite fond of blew down in the wind! What to do? If I let it stay there it would die on the ground or I could try something…

I decided to run a string line attached on both sides of the fence on both sides of the corn. This kept the corn upright; little wobbly, but stable. Then I added a bag of soil around the corn stalks and some of the exposed roots to keep it upright.

I went to bed that night hoping that my corn would be alright. The next day I saw that the corn looked somewhat better and some of it was beginning to stand on its own! The day after that the corn wasn’t leaning on the line anymore and was standing straight and tall. My quick thinking and quick actions had saved my precious corn! Now it is even stronger and is still growing taller every day. The golden colored tassels on the top are beginning to emerge. I have a feeling that my corn will not only continue to survive, but also thrive.

A week ago the corn in my garden was doing great! They were not only knee high by the fourth of July…..they were going to be shoulder high!

Then a pop up rain & windstorm came and knocked down eighty percent of my corn right down to the ground.

My first thought was, that’s it!  It’s over! My corn is going to die and all that hard work of planting and weeding was wasted.

My second thought was, I not going to give up that easy!

So, after the rain stopped I went out to my garden and gently picked up the corn. Unfortunately it wouldn’t stay up on its own it kept flopping down.

I decided to run a string line attached from one side of the fence to the other on both sides of the corn. This kept the corn upright but still leaning. Then I went to the garden store and bought a bag of soil to build up the area around the base of the stalk.

 This seems to be working for now. I guess the test will come with the next windstorm.

A reader wrote in with a problem regarding some sort of slippery mold discovered in her yard:

I was walking in the back of my yard today and almost slipped on this slippery mold-like substance. It is spread out over a vast area. It looks like little piles of slimy poop, but no animal could possibly scatter that much in the area without me seeing it! It’s everywhere! Can you help me identify it? It’s black, in piles about 3 or 4 inches around.

Our response, which we hope was helpful:

It seems like this could be a version of Dog Vomit fungus (nice name right?) – in which case you might take a look at this recent post on our blog: I Have Slime Mold In The Mulch In My Garden!

It could also be a mold called Nostoc, which starts out bluish/greenish but can turn black.

All mold/fungus is slimy and slippery, usually popping up after significant rainfall especially if the area never has a chance to dry out.

What can you do?

For long-term, you may want to look at how that part of your yard is draining. If drainage is poor, you may want to get a landscaper in to correct the slope or lay some drainage piping.

Short-term, try these techniques:

Most organic approaches:

• Apple Cider Vinegar – Use 1-2 Tablespoons per gallon of water. This is a good natural herbicide.
• Corn Meal (any kind of corn meal is OK) – Dry Method: Work 2 pounds of cornmeal into the soil for every 100 square feet. Water well, to activate the fungus killing properties. Wet Method: Cornmeal Juice – soak 1 cup of cornmeal in 1 gallon of water overnight. Strain liquid and use as a spray.
• Milk – 3 ounces of any kind of milk in a gallon of water used as a spray.
• Baking Soda – One tablespoon of baking soda per gallon of water, use as a spray. Follow up with compost at 1 cubic yard per 1,000 square feet to reestablish microbial population, as baking soda is very hard on the soil microbes.

Last resort – non organic:

• Bleaches and Peroxide – great fungicides. 1-2 tblsp per gallon of water.

Good luck!

Joyce & Gayle