What are the symptoms of nematode damage to corn?
Symptoms of nematode damage to corn include stunting, yellowing of foliage and mid-day wilting; some nematode species also cause swollen and stubby roots. Symptoms will be apparent if nematode feeding is causing damage to the corn plants. But the symptoms of nematode damage are not unique and could be caused by many other factors, says Tylka. To determine if nematodes are damaging a corn crop, a soil and root sample should be collected from areas of a field where symptoms are observed. Stubby root symptom caused by needle nematode feeding on corn near Muscatine, Iowa (Photo Tom Hillyer). Fields with sandy soils can be infested with the two most damaging species of plant-parasitic nematodes that feed on corn – the needle nematode and the sting nematode. These two nematodes can exist only in soils with at least 70% sand content. The number of needle and sting nematodes needed to damage corn is as few as one nematode per half-cup of soil. Nematodes are tiny in size, but mighty in their ab
