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New England

I see leaf spots but also see the purple hue. could it be both disease and lack of phosphorus? I have not run into this growing corn but I'd like to know too

5/23/2026 11:02:26 PM

Grittyville, WA

I could flush the soil with soluble fertilizer. If the nutrition was correct then surely the corn could outgrow any soil pests. I was seeing more red in it than purple, but it could certainly be. It might be short on all 3, npk. Link below appears to vote nitrogen.

[Last edit: 05/24/26 1:54:57 AM]

5/24/2026 1:18:01 AM

Grittyville, WA

https://blog-crop-news.extension.umn.edu/2021/06/scouting-for-nutrient-deficiencies-in.html?m=1

Corn and soybean. Corn is a great thing to plant as an indicator because it has been exhaustively studied so there's good resources for visual nutrition inpections.

In other words, a grower could plant a few corn plants at the back of their pumpkin patch or along the edge and it would act like a signpost telling which minerals the patch might need. As a windbreak it would give a free soil analysis around the entire patch.

Soil testing is truly useful if the grower first knows if the patch nutrition is, well, patchy. This is why Im not a fan of mixed soil sampling to get an average.

It is more useful to know if the soil sample was taken from a good or poor area and not mix those samples together. That's what I think. Granted there are things I'm not clever enough to understand.

[Last edit: 05/24/26 1:52:51 AM]

5/24/2026 1:51:27 AM

New England

My intention of a tasty wind breaker this year around my patch as well so I will watch those closely, thx

5/24/2026 5:17:18 AM