Fall armyworm alert: sweet corn

by George Hamilton and Alan Eaton, UNH Cooperative Extension

Our vegetable insect trapping network (largely funded by a NHDAMF grant) has detected a significant Fall Armyworm (FAW) flight July 22^nd to 25^th. They strongly prefer young (whorl stage) corn for egg laying, so growers may wish to watch whorl stage corn for symptoms Aug 2^nd to 12^th. Typical FAW damage is lots of holes chewed in the foliage, and lots of messy frass. Insecticides are most effective when you use high gallonage, a wetting agent, and direct the spray down the whorl.  You can view the trapping data at http://extension.unh.edu/IPM-Trapping.

Soon the second generation of European corn borer (ECB) will begin.  In addition to corn, this generation of ECB can damage chrysanthemums and fruits of pepper.