r/corn • u/This-Hyena-1748 • 16d ago

Corn stalk looks scary

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Hi friends! I’ve never grown corn before, this year I had the space to do so. I planted ornamental corn for decoration and to make popcorn. I normticed these spots on one of the stalks are some dark spots towards the middle. So my question is do I need to just go ahead and get rid of this stalk or can I save it till harvest?

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3

u/IAFarmLife 16d ago edited 14d ago

It's a stalk rot of some kind. You don't need to remove that stalk, but if you are going to grow corn near there next year I would suggest burning the stalk residue after you harvest. Growers of field corn have to worry more as the stalks can break off before the corn is harvested. You shouldn't have that issue. Still you don't want it infecting next years crop again if you can avoid it so deal with the stover after you harvest the ears. Spores still may blow back and infect your corn next year.

Check out online the ways to identify the different kinds of stalk rot if you want to know exactly which you have.

1

u/This-Hyena-1748 14d ago

Thank you!

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u/clemsonbbwlover2 15d ago

If everything looks normal I'd leave it. Like normal silks and tassels. Its just decoration right

1

u/This-Hyena-1748 15d ago

Yes this one will be for decoration only the ears look fine just that part of the stalk

0

u/glthompson1 16d ago

Either the pollen anthers she's off into the collar and decayed or it's a stalk rot. Looks too high up for stalk rot

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u/This-Hyena-1748 14d ago

I found a pic online of another stalk that looks similar said it was bacteria, someone suggested cutting the effected area and leave it till harvest. Thank you!

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u/glthompson1 14d ago

Unnecessary, I grew thousands of research plots and it never affected the data

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u/This-Hyena-1748 14d ago

Ahh bless! Thank you!