Your 2026 Garden

[StarOnFire59]

I didn't get my beans either. Not because of bugs, though. That was the feral cat pooping & peeing in the raised bed right where I planted the beans.

 

[dirkandlorie]

We get those too, not too many, but we'll see one occassionally. I believe they are called Corn Flea Beetles.

Regardless of what they are, while the corn is young, spraying the little cobs with a Neem oil solution once a week at night, or after a rain, will usually prevent them. The Neem oil is safe and natural.

You could get a smaller jug, but we use this on our fruit trees, rose bushes, etc. too. You mix I think it's a tablespoon in a quart sprayer with a couple drops of dish soap.

I use it regularly on my fruit trees and roses also, won't be too much trouble to add the corn too. Thank you again, you are being a wealth of information for me. I don't believe much of what I Google online, but experienced gardeners... that's where all the knowledge is.

 

[tripletfeb]

This is going to be my first year of growing corn. I've always felt it took up too much space and was so cheap to buy that I didn't bother. Last year I couldn't find my favorite super sweet corn anywhere, just regular, so I bought nothing. No corn, all year, waah! I need all the advice I can get from y'all to ensure I don't go through another year of no corn. After 50 years of growing food, I am a newbie again. Help me please!

Corn is a air pollinator so plant it in a square instead of a row. 3x3 or something like that, instead of 1x9

 

[tripletfeb]

Thank you, so happy to have experienced advice! Is the inter planting of squash or beans to shade the feet of the corn?

It's called companion gardening. The beans and squash can help retain moisture, like living mulch. Corn is a heavy feeder, beans help fix nitrogen in the soil, so they supposedly balance each other.

Seems like I'm late to the party because I was gonna type this answer also. Just like I repeated you above

 

[fuzzi]

Seems like I'm late to the party because I was gonna type this answer also. Just like I repeated you above

We're good, no worries!

 

[fuzzi]

I didn't get my beans either. Not because of bugs, though. That was the feral cat pooping & peeing in the raised bed right where I planted the beans.

I have ferals. I put a short fence around my bed, on the inside, starting at soil level. They generally leave the beds alone.

It can be cheap plastic fencing, even netting, just enough of a barrier to dissuade the cats from using the bed.

 

[StarOnFire59]

I have ferals. I put a short fence around my bed, on the inside, starting at soil level. They generally leave the beds alone.

View attachment 4301062
It can be cheap plastic fencing, even netting, just enough of a barrier to dissuade the cats from using the bed.

This very agile cat runs the top of our 6' wood fence, jumps down, does business, jumps back up & runs the fence line again. I guess the big raised bed looks like the perfect litter box.