Yuck! What is this?

[N80]

My wife and I were pulling sweet corn out of my little corn patch when she felt this ear and said it felt kind of mushy and must have worms in it. She peeled back the husk and then threw it down on the ground when she saw what was inside. She's not afraid of a corn worm but this stuff grossed her out. Anyone know what it is? This was the only one we found.

Is there anything I need to do to prevent it in the future. All the rest f the corn has been good. Not even a worm.

 

[randy41]

corn smut....its edible.

 

[N80]

corn smut....its edible.

I'm pretty open to trying all sorts of weird foods but I think I'll pass on the corn smut.

What does it taste like?

 

[MDM]

I get a few of those a year out of my Silver Queen patch. I'm not sure what it is. I always thought it was some sort of disease or fungus. If you had let it go a little longer, it would have busted out of the husk and looked more scary.

 

[ray66v]

It is a fungus that grows in the corn plants. When it matures it will expel out new spores that will reappear next year.
Pull the plants out of the ground and remove them to another area as soon as you notice any sign of it. This will help minimize the problem next year. It can and will also appear on the tassels.
The only option other than that, for control, is to plant a different variety of corn that says it is smut resistant. All part of the fun!

 

[N80]

I did a Google on 'corn smut' and that's exactly what it is. It is fungus and as you say will burst out of the husk and the pictures of it are gross. Apparently considered a delicacy in Mexico.

There also doesn't seem to be a lot you can do about it but it also doesn't seem to do lots of damage either.

When you find it you are supposed to remove it and burn it to kill the spores and it is best to do that before it pops out. That's what we did.

Learn something new everyday. Thanks guys.

 

[N80]

Ray, we must have been posting at the same time. My corn is Silver Queen and what I've just read says it is near the top of the list for being susceptible to this stuff. I will pick a more resistant variety next year. But, other than this one ear all the rest have been great...and quite tasty. Although, it has been sweet and tender but the flavor has been just a tad bland to me. We got a lot of rain right before the ears matured.

We did not pull up the whole plant, since we did not know what the stuff was. Other ears on the same stalk were fine. If I find anymore I will pull up the whole stalk. I have some later plantings coming up and even though its a bit spotty I don't want to see anymore of this smut stuff.

 

[ray66v]

I have had to deal with the stuff for the 25 years I have grown corn.
Your still going to get some smut, if it is in your soil, even with a resistant variety. But, it will likely be a lot less.
I forgot to mention, it can also appear on the very bottom of the plant where it meets the soil. Once a stalk has it somewhere, it will continue to show up, so it has to go.

 

[MossRoad]

I'm pretty open to trying all sorts of weird foods but I think I'll pass on the corn smut.

What does it taste like?

It tastes like Chicken, of course!

 

[tomd999]

Hiya,

I thought it tasted like "Tasty Wheat"....

"Mouse: That's exactly my point. Exactly. Because you have to wonder: how do the machines know what Tasty Wheat tasted like? Maybe they got it wrong. Maybe what I think Tasty Wheat tasted like actually tasted like oatmeal, or tuna fish. That makes you wonder about a lot of things. You take chicken, for example: maybe they couldn't figure out what to make chicken taste like, which is why chicken tastes like everything." The Matrix


Tom