The control was sufficient so that I never had a stalk break from stem borers
using this system. Ear worms control was sufficient to guarantee 2 for 1
replacement to farmers market customers. I did have one customer report once
that she had found borer damage but because it was only at the tip where
kernals are small anyway, she refused the 2 for 1 replacement. Naturally, she
cut that part off and ate the ear along with the rest. I didn't need any
laboratory to come up with this control. And fava beans and corn make an
outstanding succotosh. (I freeze half-full containers of cooked favas in
season and later add corn that is a day or two past perfect for eating off
the cob. It gets mixed up in the pot during reheating.)
Evidence that the lady beetles were the major factor in our control came in a
year when a very hard late frost drastically reduced lady beetle populations.
We had an increase in ear worms that year. Lots of times one can use a
"pest", e.g. the aphids which didn't seem to affect fava yields much anyway.
For Mother Earth, Dan Hemenway, Yankee Permaculture Publications (since
1982), Elfin Permaculture workshops, lectures, Permaculture Design Courses,
consulting and permaculture designs (since 1981), and The Forest Ecosystem
Food Network. P.O. Box 2052, Ocala FL 34478.
"We don't have time to rush."