Diseased plants may be more susceptible to stalk rots. Planting corn seed with good germination and seed vigour will substantially reduce your risks to seed rots and seedling blights, especially in backwards springs. Good quality corn seed can stay in the ground up to a month but under very wet conditions this will decrease. Seed treatments will provide additional protection to young vulnerable seedlings. If one of these pests is present in high enough numbers, you may need to use a seed treatment, soil-applied insecticide or may need to consider planting an entirely different crop.
Wireworms are click beetle larvae.
They have long, cylindrical bodies that are hardened and copper-brown in colour. Wireworms are most active during the months of April to June. Because of their long life cycle of up to 6 years, the larvae can damage several successive crops, feeding on the roots of weeds, grasses and crop plants. Wireworms are more likely to be found in reduced or no-till fields, sandier soils or where sod, small grains or alfalfa have been ploughed under. Non-uniform growth or gaps in the stand occur from larvae feeding on germinating seeds.