Help with corn please!

[tuffy]

Yikes, We planted the whole corn garden 16 days ago. Weather and rain have been good although a little cool for this time of year(1 hr north of Albany, NY). The corn has a strange problem. It seems that when it came up and was about 1 inch tall it just died, fell right over at the soil line. We have never had this happen before. It is new seed and planted as we do every year. Anyone heard of this? We are hesitant to re plant without knowing what happened, fearing it will again die.
Thanks for any suggestions or help!

 

[allabout]

Hmmmmm.....did you fertilize and apply too much?? That does sound strange. Maybe someone else might have other suggestions.

 

[Hattie the Hen]

Has there been any crop-spraying near you lately? This happened to me & my neighbours a few years ago!

Just a suggestion!

I'm so sorry you lost all your plants!


:rose Hattie :rose

 

[seedcorn]

Need pictures to be sure what is going on. Did they change colors before dieing? If so, what colors did you see?

How deep are you planting the seed? need to be 1.5" deep.

Insects to look for include wire worms (love wet, cold soils); white grubs (in absence of dead materail, they will eat corn roots); cutworms (plants will look like someone cut they off w/scissors).

Need more details besides they are coming up and dieing.

 

[GrowinVeggiesInSC]

It's my first year with corn, so I have no suggestions, just wanted to say from South Carolina.
My husband is fron Albany!
I am sure someone can help you out, thise forum is so helpful!

 

[bid]

It kind of sounds like damping off...although it is a bit unusual that it would affect every plant.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The description I have for damping off is: the seedlings stems have reddish brown constricted areas near the soil line with mushy rotted roots. Does this describe what you are seeing.

 

[tuffy]

Thanks for all the suggestions. It does sound like damping off. I guess thats from too much rain? It did happen to all the plants that sprouted but not that many did sprout. Re planted all last night so hopefully a better result. Thanks, the forum is a great place to get quick answers!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Rodale's Vegetable Garden Problem Solver about damping off says your goal is to help the seedlings germinate fast and grow steadily. Suggestions are to improve soil drainage and add compost to encourage populations of beneficial microorganisms. Make sure the soil is warm enough. Sow seeds at the correct depth. You don't want them too deep as they take longer to emerge, which leaves them vulnerable longer. Soil should be damp but not soaking wet. Don't overcrowd the seeds.

Wet and cool both contribute to damping off.

Since you replanted last night, this won't help much, but I'll throw it out here for educational purposes. Good luck on the replant.