Sweet Corn Weed Control

[dellwoodbu]

Looking for advice. We plant about an acre of sweet corn each year for family consumption/freezing. We have a hungry family. The patch is too big for the hoe method. In years past we used atrazine and dualII. worked well but we no longer have a good source I think these things require special licensing to administer. Used just a cultivator last year without any spray, it was a disaster.

So the questions is what to use? Is there something commercially available to the general public that will kill the weeds not the corn? The ideal solution would be go buy 20 gallons of weed-b-gon at wal-mart. Economics are not really the issue. And surrounded by golf courses and farmers spraying 1000"s of gallons of the "good stuff" enviro-friendly is not too big of a concern either.

FYI: 3010 Diesel Deere, 2 bottom deareborn plow, 4 row 494 deere planter, 4 row 3pt cultivator. Tractor and plow from grandpa"s collection. planter a free gift if i promised never to return it. cultivator about $40 on auction.

 

[John (C-IL)]

The atrazine is the restricted use product that you have been using. You can still buy Dual without a license. Spray the Dual for control of the grasses and then get some 2,4D. you should only need a quart for one acre.

 

[BhB]

Last summer I used 2-4D and my farm advisor/buddy put some in boiling water and said he could smell the 2-4D and didn't think I should use the corn. He felt that the lack of rain caused the corn to absorb the 2-4D. The first pass with the plow was a little hard to do but I just plowed it under. One acre down the drain. Still don't know what I will do this year. Good question hope we get some answers.
Bill

 

[dellwoodbu]

I guess I thought 2-4D killed pretty much everything. We had used it as a brush killer. Spray post emerge, pre emerge?

 

[Dave from MN]

I put in a about 2 acres of sweetcorn every spring. I dont spray. I wait till the grass/weeds sprout and then disc them up, then I plant right after. I disc every time just before I plant the next how ever many rows the following weeks. I cultivate as soon as I can, we do pull some weeds but it doesnt take near as long as you would think. People I sell to want the spray free worry free corn. I am able to water it, if the corn gets grass, weeds in it and is too tall to cultivate, I spend a few hours walking through with the weed whip and let it lay, really help retain moisture. I sprayed once a few years ago, it stunted the corn and it never seemed to really recover from that.

 

[philcaseinWPA]

spray post emerge on the emerged weeds. 2,4-D at the proper rates will not kill the corn. The corn may be brittle for a while after spraying so don't cultivate. 2,4-D has no soil activity, it must be absorbed by the weed to be effective. If the corn is too high do not use or use drop nozzles. READ THE LABEL!
Phil

 

[John N Mi]

Long before we had the sprays an uncle used geese to control weeds in his garden /corn patch. He put the geese into the garden after the stuff he planted was up about six inches. The geese preferred the tender new growth weeds. They would also fertilize the corn patch.
John

 

[steelfronts]

There are weed control products that are labeled safe to use on sweet corn. the others can hurt the plants and maybe the consumer. In the 60's we would seed rye in the fall and lots of manure. In the spring we would plow down the rye the day it was knee high and before it headed. Worked the seed bed good aand planted. Then started cultivating with shields as soon as you could tell where the row was and usually two more times. Had pretty good control.Now days there is round up.

 

[JMS MN]

2,4-D is a broadleaf killer. Does nothing to grass. Other options- rotary hoe, tine tooth harrow, whe plants are small. Row cultivator after that. Also banding the herbicide covers only about 1/3 the ground, kills the weeds in the row, cultivate the middles. Good option for restricting the amount of chemicals. BUT- do the math correctly- you are covering only 1/3 of the "acre". Using roundup- remember that the seed needs to be compatible to the herbicide.

 

[paul]

If you don't use spray, you need to be killing the weeds with iron before you see them....

As other mention, work the ground & plant into it. If you get lucky on timing, disk your growund, catch a rain, wait 3 days, harrow the ground to bust up that first flush of weeds & plant right after the harrow. Takes a bit of luck tho, this will make a lot less weeds as you get the first flush dead.

As the corn is just starting to lift the ground, harrow it - you can use a spike harrow, or a rotory hoe, or a spring tine harrow. This will not hurt the corn, and it will put a bunch of white roots on the surface - these are little weeds trying to sprout.

Then every 7 days, cultivate it. First time you will need to barely move or have rolling shields on the cultivator or dirt will cover the corn. If you start seeing 3-4 inch high weeds, you are lost. You need to be using the cultivator in good looking ground.

The last time through (3rd or so cultivation) you want to drive a little faster or change the shanks some, to throw dirt between the corn plants & smother some of the weeds growing there.

When the corn is thigh high it sure isn't hard to hoe out the troublesome weeds from an acre of corn - if you worked it right with the cultivator to start with.

--->Paul

 

[paul]

Just had me spray lincece meeting the past week. Gotta do that if you are farming. In my state anyhow you can attend for free, if the $50 or whatever is too much for you.

Before using any chemicals, I think you need to learn a lot more about what you are doing. You are kinda the reason us farmers have less & less access to products like atrazine, an the paperwork is getting more & more difficult.

Used properly these chemicals do a good & safe job. Buy a jug & spray it on willy nilly and it creates problems for all of us......

Glysophate kills most green things (Roundup, etc.)

24d is becoming a restricted use product because it is bad for our eyes & we should wear eye protection. It kills broadleaves, and will harm corn after the 6th leaf appears or if applied too heavy.

Atrazine kills grasses but it likes to linger around a while before breaking down & goes through sandy soil into water supplies so keeps getting more & more restricted.

Dual keeps tiny seeded weeds from sprouting, won't affect green plant so much tho.

All of these need to be applied at the right time to do the right thing in the right amount.

--->Paul

 

[Ben Jenkins]

I raised organic vegetables for three years. During those years I was Organic Valley's biggest sweet corn producer. The best method I found was to plow the field in mid to late April then disk it every ten days until late May early June. With todays seventy-eighty day varieties you can get away with late planting which allows most of the weed seed to germinate and be tilled under before the corn even goes in the ground. The warmer soil temperatures at that time of the year also helps for faster germination of the corn. Seven days after the corn was in the ground I would run a John Deere 400 rotary hoe over the fields to knock down any late germinating weeds. After the corn was Up I would use a cultivator with either rolling or stationary shields until the corn was too tall to cultivate. Obviously removing the shields as the corn got taller. You have to cultivate once a week and drive in the opposite direction each time for this to work.

 

[Anonymous-0]

Cultivate close to plants really requires a front mount cultivator so you can see how close you're getting. Rear mounts and close spacing- you're going to need some big mirrors or you'll get a sore neck looking back. Final pass with disk or spike drag before planting late gets some, after that cultivate and if picky walk with hoe after about calf high to get weeds direct in row. RN.

 

[Anonymous-0]

WEED-B-GONE is a contac killer for broad leaf only. How can one family eat 1A of corn?? Thats at least 12,000 ears.

 

[Gun guru]

Go to doityourselfpestcontrol.com
This site has herbacides too, dont know what you need but they sell commercial grade stuff, to regular shmoes like us.

 

[JDemaris]

I haven't checked lately on what you can - and can't buy without a license. The chemcials also depend a lot on what weeds you have and also your soil PH. Many of the best herbicides are not allowed for direct-consumption crops like sweet corn.

Where I live in New York - culivating is just about impossible due to very heavy weed growth and rocky soil. I've been using - before planting a good dose of Roundup. Then, after planting but before the corn gets to a two-leaf stage - a mix of Bicep Lite II and Prowl. It works very well for full season control.
For a two acre plot I use 5 qts. of Bicep Lite II and 3 qts. of Prowl with 52 gallons of water.

 

[Lee in Iowa]

You've already gotten a lot of good ideas from others for chemmical free weed control. The only things I can add are that research has shown tillage at night can reduce weed germination rates, they believe the weed seeds need that momentary flash of sunlight to trigger germination. The other thing is flaming, propane burners that are aimed at the base of corn plants in the row to get the weeds in the row that the cultivator doesn't. Small weeds are killed by the flame, but it doesn't hurt the corn. But it would probably be expensive to set up and do on a small scale. Lee

 

[TWJanak]

I believe Accent is labeled in sweetcorn over the top up to a V5 or so, not sure though, so check the label. It will give good postemergence control of certain annual grasses. Honestly there are a lot more pre-emerge herbicides that will carry you through the season quite well. Problem is hardly any are labeled for sweetcorn. I would say a family big enough to eat an acre of sweetcorn is big enough to hand hoe after cultivation.

 

[teddy52food]

I wouldn't eat it if it is full of herbisides. I always thought people raised their own garden produce so they wouldn't have to eat the stuff grown with all those chemicals.

 

[JMS MN]

Trying to figure out your post. Advisor put 2,4-D in boiling water and could smell the chemical? Or put ears of corn in boiling water and could smell the chemical? When was it sprayed? Chemicals are sprayed long before ears are forming and the corn plants break down the chemical while the weeds get killed by their absorption of it. Sounds like mis-application.

 

[Anonymous-0]

12,000 good ears would bring 4 grand sold road side.2 grand if 1/2 was sold,well worth some manual weeding.

 

[Alex-41JDb]

Got just tool for ya, JD 400 rotary hoe, selling for my grandfather-in-law. Email me if interested. By the way a 3010 on one acre is my kind of horsepower per acre ratio. LOL Have fun, Alex

 

[Joe Ferguson]

Hi

I plant aprox one acre of corn the rows are little larger than usual I use a little 20 inch walk behind Troybilt rototiller I can then pass close to the plants and it is a good walking exercice for me. Done that for several years and like it.

My 2¢

Joe Ferguson

 

[Indiana Boy]

You might consider using Preen. I use it on our garden every year and have had good results. It prevents anything from germinating after it is applied. Just after the corn has emerged, sprinkle the granules before a rain or water them in. You will have a few weeds to pull or cultivate that were already germinated before Preen was applied, but it does a pretty good job and doesn't stunt the plants. You can usually find it in bags on sale in the spring at Wal-Mart or any farm or garden store.

 

[Timis]

2,4-D is hard on corn - thats why its not used in modern corn production. It's a growth hormone that causes the corn to grow more quickly and get weak. (this is also why broadleaves get longer and limp before they die) What I've used in the past is Impact - its been out a couple of years - I don't think its restricted use, very safe to humans and corn has a lable for commercial sweet corn (same day reentry for humans) It will bleach the weeds (turn them white) b4 they die - a 30 oz jug will cost about $400 but you only use b/w 1/2 and 3/4 oz per acre.(post emerge) It will control most grasses and all broadleaves. If money really isnt an oject thats what I'd do. Other new products like Laudis are similar. If your in a corn growing area you can probably get a partial jug from a custom applicator or even an empty jug - the residue will do 1 acre - buy the staff dinner or doughnuts and he'll probably give it to you. another piece of advice - if the ground will rotate to tomatos or a broadleaf crop use caution a 3x rate will show up next year - if corn its no problem - impact is somewhat safer to corn than Laudis on sensitive varieties- there is also Liberty sweet corn available from NK