Reduction of Stewart’s Wilt Disease by Controlling Flea Beetles in Sweet Corn, 1981

‘Sugar & Gold’ sweet corn were planted to a Sassafras sandy loam field on May 6. Plots consisted of 4 rows of corn on 30-inch centers and 25 ft long. A 15 ft alleyway separated each plot within each replicate. Twenty plants in the outside 2 rows of each plot were artificially inoculated with Stewart’s wilt bacteria on May 27 using an injection needle (one of the 2 untreated plots received no inoculation). Furadan 10g granules were placed in the furrow at planting time. Furadan 4F and Sevin 80S were applied as foliar spray on May 28 and Jun 3 using a tractor-mounted boom sprayer with one nozzle over the whorl calibrated to deliver 55 gal/acre at 250 psi. All 4 rows per plot were treated. Percent infected plants, percent dead plants, plant heght and yield data were recorded from the middle (non-inoculated) two rows only.