[knarf]

I'm in SW Pa, a LOT of water since February.

When I tilled around late March/early April, I noticed grubs and thought, "Great ... NOW what?"

I decided if I till extensively, they'd become fertilizer.

I have a plot about 20/20 within a 50/50 garden that is planted in sweet corn and the corn is up about 4-6 inches. Unfortunately, about 1/4 of my corn patch is being hit by grubs ... beautiful, healthy plants cut at ground level, liring in state, waiting for the mourners and burial.

Is there anything I can do NOW, or do I have to wait until the fall to treat the garden?

[cripplecreek]

Sounds like you’re getting a better deal than government gives you. They’re leaving 75% for you.

[television is just wrong]

check out cedarcide.com a more natural insecticide from cedar wood. I have not tried it just thought I’d let you know about it.

[JRios1968]

Bush’s Fault!

[ErnBatavia]

It might be bad for your crop, but a cure is Diazinon....granule or liquid (if it’s still even legal). Warning - it’s really smelly, but it works like a charm.

[Dacula]

Garden Ping worthy

[pennboricua]

Take a look here
http://www.vegedge.umn.edu/vegpest/seedmag.htm

and here

http://extension.oregonstate.edu/catalog/pdf/ec/ec1586.pdf

Maybe this will help.

[jaydubya2]

If you till in diatomaceous earth, it will kill grubs, but it also kills other soft worms.

[CDFingers]

Try milky spore disease. It is a microbe that kills the grubs which then releases more microbes. Its supposed to last 10 years and is only harmful to grubs.

[jaydubya2]

If you till in diatomaceous earth, it will kill grubs, but it also kills other soft worms.

[Kirkwood]

Squirrels are attacking me out this year. They ruined all of the corn and are now eating the green tomatoes. I’m catching them in traps every day and have netting over everything, but they are sneaky devils. I guess next year I have to put the entire garden inside a cage.

[YoungHickey]

I thought this was a Linux thread. :P

[Vigilanteman]

Next year, before planting corn, turn a flock of chickens loose in the field. They are excellent for rooting out grubs. As an added bonus, their poop is nitrogen rich. One chicken will clean about 100 square feet of garden in a week. So 25 chickens would handle a 50' x 50' plot of garden just fine.

You can probably still do this if you care to replant the corn. Given the climate of SW PA, you can still get a corn crop if you plant in mid-June.

If, however, you don't care to go to this organic extreme, Diazanon is the next best thing.

[mrsmith]

http://ento.psu.edu/extension

An alternative “organic” treatment would be to let a commune have a festival there. The smell will drive them away.

[CynicalBear]

Diatomaceous earth. Use it liberally on the ground around your plants.

[Alas Babylon!]

What you're describing here is a cutworm.

There are many ways to foil them.

Putting up a small barricade made of cardboard around each plant is a relatively easy way to protect your plants. This, again, is a slow process, but it can be quite effective. The barrier has to extend below the ground an inch or two and out of the ground about the same. This stops the cutworms from reaching the plant.

I use empty cardboard toilet paper rolls. Easy for corn. Carefully place over the plant and push into the soil.