Aphids munch my crops

One sunny day, I beheld a couple of ladybugs and many ants upon one of my seven glorious surviving glass gem cornstalks. Ah, I sighed. How beautiful. Nature in her wisdom is controlling the aphid population and saving my bounteous harvest. And I went on my merry way.

Well.

I checked back today and Nature is not saving any damn thing. That cornstalk is now lousy with aphids. The ladybugs seem to have decided that it'll be a good source of food for a while because they're starting a ladybug family. Turns out ants are smart enough to do some quasi-farming of their own and aphids are like their livestock. They are not eating the aphids; they are in fact grazing and milking the aphids. Great.

So here come the stupid questions.

1. The cornstalk is not apparently suffering. Is the aphid infestation a big deal?

2. The aphids are ignoring the more delicate beans and the watermelon, which are all right there in the traditional-ish way. (I know, I know, I've figured out that the watermelon was a mistake. It has absolutely climbed the corn and can't be convinced to detangle at this point. I'll post about my watermelon scaffold plans in another forum.) Is it reasonable to have a designated aphid sacrifice or am I just contributing to the burgeoning aphid population? Will they take over?

3. I'm not going to spray pesticides on these plants. Any other way to de-aphid them? My current ideas include biodegradable soapy water in a spray nozzle and a mesh cage that I can strap to the plant and fill with ravenous ladybugs. But I don't know how the soap will affect the plant or if that will even work, and I also don't know if ladybugs who are not actively in love will fight over the aphids.

4. Ladybug bonus: how long will it take the new ladybugs to hatch and is that likely to bring this situation back into some kind of equilibrium? (As in tiltedheavily in my favor and against the aphids and ants?)

Thanks, wise gardeners!

Spraying with a good jet stream of water and use of an insecticidal soap (like SaferSoapTM) will probably knock them back sufficiently to help the corn plants.  But additionally, where you are located could make a lot of difference as to what stage your crop is at and what kinds of aphid-transmitted viruses might get into your corn.  Please add that extra information if possible and it may help with others weighing in in your region.

Thanks! Here’s more info.

-I’m in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts.

-It’s been unusually rainy, like devastatingly so, but my patch of land has been draining well. There has been a general bug explosion though.

-The corn is as high as an elephant’s eye etc. It has tassels.

-All of this is taking place in a 2x6 garden box in back of our apartment. This is our first year here so I know nothing about what’s been done to it in the past.

-I haven’t used any fertilizer or anything.

If this was my situation, I would work on getting rid of the ants first.

I have always used vinegar though this year I have been using my old dishwater which seems to be working well for me.

Next, I would tackle the aphids with a spray of water.  After that, I would try some soapy water.

Best wishes for getting rid of aphids munching crops.

Andy,...the following weblink from UMass-Amherst may be of use:  https://ag.umass.edu/vegetable/fact-sheets/aphid-corn-leaf#:~:text=Sweet%20corn%20plantings%20that%20are,reduce%20or%20eliminate%20aphid%20damage.

I suspect that the corn leaf aphid is the most prevalent species that you are dealing with.  Unless the plants were stunted, which could indicate infection with maize dwarf mosaic virus, you probably will be able to get by with the removal as suggested already here in the thread or perhaps similar approaches as mentioned in the weblink.  Sound like your should be okay for a small crop which is already tasseling.  Good luck!