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Garden Gate:  Oh NOOOO!!! My COOORRRRNNN!!!  |
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Ninibini
True Blue Farmgirl
7577 Posts
Nini
Pennsylvania
USA
7577 Posts |
 Posted - Jun 24 2011 : 07:29:58 AM
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Oh my word! What HAPPENED? How do I fix this? HELP!!! Last night we had TORRENTIAL rains and winds... This morning, I went out to inspect the garden and found one patch of my corn lying on its side as if it had been plowed down!!! NONE of the other plants in my garden - including the squash, onions and garlic surrounding it - were affected like this!!!
Oh, no! No! Noooo!!! What do I do??? It almost looks like part of a crop circle!!! Should I just leave them as is - will they come back up on their own? Or should I try to stand them? If so, how should I support them? I don't want to lose them!!! AGH!!! I feel so sick to my stomach... PLEASE HELP!!!
Thank you!
Hugs -
Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
www.papercraftingwithnini.myctmh.com
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homsteddinmom
True Blue Farmgirl
441 Posts
Brandee
bullard
tx
USA
441 Posts |
Posted - Jun 24 2011 : 07:53:01 AM
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Corn will do that in a rain storm as they put alot of there roots close to the top of the ground. I would try to stand them back up and put more soil around the bottom for support.
Homesteading Mom in East Texas. Raising chickens, Rabbits and goats here on my farm! |
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Ninibini
True Blue Farmgirl
7577 Posts
Nini
Pennsylvania
USA
7577 Posts |
Posted - Jun 24 2011 : 08:08:15 AM
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Thank you SO much, Brandee! I actually broke down and called the County Extension after posting. They were wonderful - a wealth of knowledge and support. They're going to be added to speed dial today! LOL! The gentleman I spoke with said basically to do the same as you are recommending. He also suggested I try to stake them just like you would tomatoes. He said they will probably stand back up on their own over time, but that would require a lot of their energy. He said what we really want is all the plants' energy to go into producing the corn, not standing up the plants. I hadn't thought about that. So, this afternoon, when my DH gets home, we'll be pulling out wood to make stakes and staking the corn... Thank GOODNESS it's not anything that can't be fixed! I'm SO relieved!!! :) Hugs - Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
www.papercraftingwithnini.myctmh.com
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
Posted - Jun 24 2011 : 09:56:40 AM
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Poor corn! I am glad that you were given good advice on how to fix it! Mine is only about 3 inches high right now and I just planted more last night so I will have a staggered harvest. I am really looking forward to having my garden producing! Your's looks great! You are about a month or more ahead of us here!
Alee
Farmgirl Sister #8
www.farmgirlalee.blogspot.com
www.allergyjourneys.blogspot.com
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embchicken
True Blue Farmgirl
1487 Posts
Elaine
Ocean
NJ
USA
1487 Posts |
Posted - Jun 24 2011 : 5:51:38 PM
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Nini~ I am so happy that there is a way to "fix" the corn. It is disheartening when we care so much for our gardens and nature comes in with a whammy!
~ Elaine
Farmgirl sister #2822
"Find yourself a cup of tea; the teapot is behind you. Now tell me about hundreds of things." ~Saki
http://embchicken.blogspot.com
http://gusandtrudy.blogspot.com |
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Ninibini
True Blue Farmgirl
7577 Posts
Nini
Pennsylvania
USA
7577 Posts |
Posted - Jun 24 2011 : 9:12:34 PM
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Thanks, girls! My DH was out there after work tonight putting stakes up... Suddenly my little patch of corn looks REALLY tiny. He wasn't about to stake every single stalk, so he put a perimeter of stakes around them with string to hold them together. It looks puny. I'm going to sneak out there tomorrow night while they're at the ballgame to check it out more thoroughly. I think what he did will work to keep them up, but I'm afraid he has squished them so close together that they won't thrive. I don't want to hurt his feelings, so I'm just going to wait til the coast is clear and see what I can do to "help" the plants... Maybe move the stakes out to a wider circle around them, and maybe build up the soil at the base and add some compost, too.
<sigh> They were so beautiful and strong before last night. I heard "cracking" when he was standing up some of the stalks and kept gasping, so we decided it'd be better that I leave him and my son to do it without me hovering and watching. I wanted to cry. They wanted to do it for me, and I didn't have the heart to interfere (well, actually, I had the wisdom NOT to interfere), so I let them do their thing. I know they stepped on some of the squash plants surrounding the corn, too, so I'm just praying everything will be okay. I'm sure we'll get SOMETHING out of it - I just hope it's somewhere near as much as I anticipated! :) It's all good, though: nothing ventured, nothing gained! Lesson learned! :)
Alee - I did stagger two different plantings myself! I've never done it before this year, but I'm really excited about the prospect of continual corn on the cob! I just hope it's not too late in the season for us. It's worth a shot, though. I'm waiting a couple of more days to pull up the remainder of the beets (over by the large fully exposed window on the garage), then I'm going to beef up the soil and try one last planting... I feel a little bit like a little kid anticipating the arrival Christmas - rather than visions of sugarplums, I'm having visions of buttery corn on the cob!!! LOL!
Happy gardening, girls!
Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
www.papercraftingwithnini.myctmh.com
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Candy C.
True Blue Farmgirl
823 Posts
Candy
Mescal
AZ
USA
823 Posts |
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woolgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
901 Posts
Elizabeth
Great Lakes
IL
USA
901 Posts |
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Alee
True Blue Farmgirl
22941 Posts
Alee
Worland
Wy
USA
22941 Posts |
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Ninibini
True Blue Farmgirl
7577 Posts
Nini
Pennsylvania
USA
7577 Posts |
Posted - Jun 27 2011 : 3:10:16 PM
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Funny you should ask, Alee! Everything seems to be okay!!
Yesterday my husband and I were out there working on trellises for the cukes, the melons and the spaghetti and acorn squash... I swear I’ve married Tim Taylor II! LOL! He created some really heavy monstrosities out of pallet and industrial packing wood for me. I asked for a few small trellises, and he put his whole heart and soul into them! LOL! I don’t have the heart to criticize about the size and weight - I’m just very thankful to him for getting into the spirit! What can I say? He loves me! :) They look pretty sturdy, anyway. The squash especially was completely taking over. I hope everything will survive now that he‘s actually taking interest! LOL!
ANYHOW...
I decided to strike while the iron was hot. I gently - GENTLY - showed him that the corn wasn't going to survive if we left it all tied together the way they did. They looked similar to those old paintings of sheaves of wheat gathered up in the field - I was so worried! He rolled his eyes a little, then I explained my concerns a little bit more. Suddenly he sighed, “All right - let me see what I can come up with!” He proceeded to pull out more wood (from where I have NO idea - Chriss Angel has nothing on my husband! LOL!), and went to work creating a frame-type box around the corn section. He reasoned that this way, if they start bending again, they can just lean on the wood. Not bad - I actually think it’s pretty ingenious! The stalks still all look a little squished in there to me; the plot looks smaller, but I think it's okay. It's just that the corn section looked so lush and wide before, that's all. But I honestly do think the corn will do a lot better now. They “seem happy!” I’m not sure we did the right thing with the trellises, either, but so far, so good. When all was said and done, we did lose some onions, some squash vines and a few volunteer tomatoes under all the footstomping my guys did; but all in all, I do believe they saved the day! :)
Thanks for the compliments - I’ve never had such a lush garden before! I think it’s the weather. We’ve just been sooooo blessed this summer, and I am truly grateful. :)
Hugs -
Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
www.papercraftingwithnini.myctmh.com
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kristin sherrill
True Blue Farmgirl
11303 Posts
kristin
chickamauga
ga
USA
11303 Posts |
Posted - Jun 28 2011 : 08:56:59 AM
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Nini, your garden is so pretty. My corn does that in rain too. It almost always stands back up soon after. Sometimes I have to help it back up though. That's a good thing you have around them now. That should keep them up.
Kris
Happiness is simple. |
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Heartbroken farmgirl
True Blue Farmgirl
604 Posts
Annette
rio vista
Ca
USA
604 Posts |
Posted - Jun 29 2011 : 11:14:13 AM
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I just found this post. Oh Nini how sad you were! I wanted to cry for you! I literally held my breath until the post where you said the stalk were creaking and popping. I cringed. I am so glad it all seems to have worked out. We rained hard here yesterday, and three of my tomato plants laid over:(.
Your garden is beautiful, lush and green. So glad all is well again.
The tears I shed then, watered the flowers I harvest now.
www.broken908.blogspot.com
http://forums.familyfriendpoems.com/broken908
"The aim of education is the knowledge not of facts but of values."-Dean William Ralph Inge |
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Ninibini
True Blue Farmgirl
7577 Posts
Nini
Pennsylvania
USA
7577 Posts |
Posted - Jul 06 2011 : 10:06:47 PM
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Thanks, girls! Believe me when I say, I feel very blessed. My garden has never looked this good - it's all thanks to my wonderful farmgirl friends and some "sacred" new gardening books I have on hand. I'm learning... I'm learning... My husband is amazed to see our garden compared to those of neighbors whose gardens always make mine look like the Charlie Brown Christmas Tree lot... LOL! He says he can't call me "Al Capone of Green Thumbs" anymore! LOL! YES!!! How I have loooooonged to shed that title! :)
Just a little update: ALL IS WELL!!! I've got HUGE spaghetti squash on the vines, my cukes are popping up all over the place, we've gotten a few zucchini and there are a TON of yellow squash out there, too! In the other patch, I've got about 5 small pumpkins, too! Yee hah! All is well! Let's just hope it stays that way!
Silly question, though - for some reason now, all my onion "stalks" are completely bent and leaning over - not browning, just leaning over, kind of like the corn was... Should I just leave them that way, or maybe set up some stakes with twine around them to hold them up... I've never had this happen before! Just SO much rain, I suppose. I'm not complaining, though - tonight was the first time I've had to water since late April!
Why don't you all post pics of your gardens, too? I'd love to see them!
Hugs -
Nini
Farmgirl Sister #1974
God gave us two hands... one to help ourselves, and one to help others!
www.papercraftingwithnini.myctmh.com
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Garden Gate: Oh NOOOO!!! My COOORRRRNNN!!! |
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Oh NOOOO!!! My COOORRRRNNN!!!
