rober49 The small caterpillars enter the corn stalks right where the silks enter the ears-shucks after the corn has been pollinated. That means when the silks have begun to turn brown. Then they chomp away on the kernels and get bigger and fatter along with any remaining kernels! If you use mineral oil (any cooking oil works as well to smother them) before then, the pollen is blocked by the oil on the silks and the ears won't be pollinated and therefore won't develop kernels. The small caterpillars invade the corn only when the kernels first begin to fill out. So the race is between you and the caterpillars to know when that is and you need to be wily! Just remember, that time is when the silk-tips begin to turn brown, not when the ears are ready to pick! :-) You'd need to apply bt at the same time in the same place (right where the silks enter the ears) since it needs to get down inside the top of the ear to kill the caterpillars. Bt kills them when they ingest it, oils smother them, and either one is recommended for control. If you want to use oil to smother them, I've seen some people recommend buying a can of spray cooking oil, corn, vegetable, canola, etc., and just walk down the row when the ears are ready and squirt a small amount of the oil onto the silks where they enter the corn. If you want to use bt, you can dilute the recommended amount in water and put it in a spray bottle and do the same thing.

There's no single thing that is guaranteed to work, so I employ a vast array of techniques. I plant several varieties every year, and at least one of them usually is either Texas Honey June or Country Gentleman because they have very tight corn husks that help exclude the earworms. I always plant my early corn as early as possible--usually around the third week in March here, or whenever the soil temperatures hit the right range. If you use a short-season corn (I use Early Sunglow) for your early corn, it often will mature before the corn earworms even show up. If I plant Early Sunglow in the last week of March, it usually is ready for harvest by Memorial Day weekend and the corn earworms aren't even here by then most years. Prior to planting, if you grow corn in the same place every year, if you'll plow or rototill your garden plot in the winter when it still is cold, you will kill some of the ones overwintering in the ground, or expose them to birds who then will eat them. I usually use my little Mantis to cultivate the soil in the corn patch twice in the winter, about 3 to 4 weeks apart. Some people treat their soil with beneficial nematodes which attack the overwintering one. I am not thoroughly convinced it works, but some folks swear by it. When I did it, I couldn't tell that it made a difference. I like to plant companion plants with tiny flowers (chamomile, yarrow, dill, etc.) to attract beneficial insects that attack corn earworms, like trichogramma wasps and green lacewings. You also can buy and release the predatory wasps or even minute pirate bugs. Normally, you release some predatory wasps weekly during the time the corn is tasseling and silking and the ears are enlarging. Some years I spray the ears with Bt 'kurstaki', which will kill not only the corn earworms, but also the army worms and European corn borers. If your planting is not too huge, you can apply mineral oil or soybean oil to the corn silks when they have just begun to turn brown on the tips. They used to recommend beginning this as soon as the silks appear, but then decided that using the oil that early interferes somewhat in fertilization of the silks, so now recommend you wait and start applying the oil as soon as fertilization is complete and the silks begin to brown and dry. The oil will smother the newly hatched corn earworms as they begin to travel down the silks to eat your corn kernels. You can increase its effectiveness by adding Bt 'kurstaki' to the oil you're using. It doesn't take too long to do this with a small home-garden sized patch of corn. You can use an eyedropper, a squirt bottle or something similar that allows you to put just a few drops on each set of silks. I cannot imagine doing it with an acre or two of corn though. With both the Bt and the oil you need to reapply every three days until you harvest. Some people mix hydrogen peroxide with the oil (mineral oil or soybean oil) in a 50-50 mix and spray the silks with that, but I haven't tried it so cannot say whether or not it works. Using all the above, you can probably get 80-90% of your ears worm-free most years. It is harder in a year when the air temps warm up really early (like last year) and the pests arrive really early. Some years I haven't done anything at all with Texas Honey June and have found little to no hornworms in the ears, but that's not true of the newer supersweet types. I have had some success spraying the whole corn patch every few days with Garlic Barrier which just seems to repel the pests and keep them away from the plants. Spraying with spinosad is aid to help, but I won't do it because it is a broad-spectrum pesticide, and I don't want to use anything that is broad-spectrum because of its potential to harm the beneficial insects I rely upon to help control the pest insects. Some people spray with pyrethrums, but because we have pet cats and pyrethrum can cause nerve damage in cats, I don't use it. My old farmer friend, Fred, sprays his plants with Sevin, though he doesn't always seem to be happy with the results. When all else fails and the worms get into the ears, I just remove them and cut away the damaged part of the ear after harvest. Hope this helps. Dawn

Amy, No firefighter has ever been bitten by a venomous spider at the station. They know to shake their boots and knock them together to shake loose any spiders that might have climbed in to them. I bet the beagle was surprised! Bon, I grow a type of radish called rat-tail radish and the pods are good stir-fried. The flowers are very pretty and attract a lot of beneficial insects that attack caterpillars. Mine generally reseed for me most years so I just watch and see if any sprout, and then if they don't, I sow the seeds. I've been surprised how well the tolerate the ridiculous summer heat and just keep blooming their heads off and setting seeds. I imagine any radish, if left in the ground, would flower and set seeds, but rat-tail is the one I grow as a companion plant because wherever it was that I first learned about planting radishes with squash, it was rat-tail radishes that was recommended. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: Rat-tail Radish Seed at BCHS

I found this on the manufacturers website. I then called Organic-Gardening Shop.com and confirmed what I was reading. In the end: It appears that the Bacilius Thuingiensis in the bottle is a living spoor that will reproduce and grow. It is more than just the crystals the bacteria produce. The spoors have been suspended during processing and upon dilution and application by the gardener they regain their activity and begin to reproduce and multiply. While direct sunlight (UV light) does tend to harm the bacteria heat does not harm the bacteria. This is why the manufacturer recommends applying the Bt with a sprayer so that the underside of the plant leaves can be treated; because most leaf eating worms/caterpillars do their eating from the underside of the leaf. Applying Bt to the underside will increase the number of spoors the worm will ingest - hence causing it to die faster. Finally, since Bt attacks the worms digestive system it begins to work almost immediately. Almost as soon as the worm eats the Bt it stops eating. My comment about applying molasses in the mix in order to provide an energy source for the bacteria came from Dr. Elaine Ingham of The Soil Food Web. She is one of the formost authorities on plant related bacteria and her findings of the last 4 or 5 years indicate that bacteria are not just found in the soil, but cover the plants as well. This why it is recommended to apply a little molasses to the mix. Molasses is one of the best energy sources available for bactria. If the Bt spoors have a food source on the plant they will remain alive and thus able to continue killing new infestations for a longer time resulting in longer intervals between applications (the limiting factor is of course precipitation washing the plant clean of the Bt and molasses). It appears molasses can be very beneficial, not only for the microbes in the soil but also for the bacteria that literally cover the outside of all plants. The following was taken from the fact sheet about Bt on the manufacturers website. I have included the link to the website if anyone wants to read it in its entirety. The website also contains the phone numbers for contacting the company if there are any questions. "Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) is a naturally occurring, soil borne organism that has gained recent popularity for its ability to control certain insect pests in a natural, environmentally friendly manner. Bacterial agents, like Bt, are effective in controlling insects in the larva stage only. The larva stage in an insects life cycle is the stage during which most of the feeding occurs. Since Bt must be ingested to work, the insect must be controlled during the larval stage. The larval stage is the stage in which the insect appears worm or caterpillar-like. The Bt is applied to the foliage of plants infested with a leaf or needle eating larva. If possible, apply the Bt to the underside of the leaf surface for two reasons: 1) Most larvas feed from the underside of the leaf surface. 2) Bt is broken down faster in sunlight. Application to the undersides of the leaf surfaces will prolong Bt's activity. High temperatures do not encourage Bt's breakdown." "After Bt spores are ingested by larvae, they grow and reproduce, meanwhile producing crystalline toxins. The crystalline toxins paralyze the digestive tract of the larvae causing it to cease eating. Death will follow, but time of death can range anywhere from 12 hours to 5 days after ingestion. This depends on the amount of Bt ingested, the size and variety of the larvae and variety of Bt used for control. There are different strains or varieties of Bt available that have been selected for the control of specific insects. Bt variety kurstaki (BTK) controls the European corn borer, tomato hornworms, fruit worms, cabbageworm, cabbage looper, spring and fall cankerworm, spruce budworm, and other caterpillar-like larvae. Bt variety san diego (BTSD) controls early larvae of the Colorado potato beetle. Bt variety israelensis (BTI) controls mosquitoes, black flies and fungus gnats." "The use of Bt has gained well-earned popularity because of its distinct advantages over other pesticides. Hazards to humans are negligible although inhalation or contact with eyes or open wounds should be avoided. Bt can be used right up until harvest, which allows for a longer term control as compared to other insecticides requiring a waiting period from time of application to time of harvest. There is no waiting period from time of application before re-entering the field. The different strains of Bt are class-specific, meaning beneficial or non-target insects are not harmed. The insects that ingest the Bt and later die from it are not considered dangerous to birds or other animals that may feed on the dead insect. Bt is not known to cause injury to plants on which it has been applied and is not considered harmful to the environment." Hope this helps a little. Tom