Artificial Corn Stalk

I just use the real thing out of the garden and let it dry in the shop. The pic is a little bright sorry.

 

I have put corn stalks ( green ) in clear never say die. When finished they are brown & look like dead fall stalks, The leaves remain flexible. I have some done in 2003 that still are in great shape.

 

The only thing I do is to peel the cob back so it will dry well and not mildew, everything else is just dryed in the shop. I have a bag full of habitat folaige that sits in my shop and is nice and dry for use as needed.

 

just go get some right before harvest, unless the farmer is going for high moisture corn or shopping for silage he wont touch it until it is under 20% moisture, the plant is dead and dried already, the only thing is the leaves would be brittle aftr a while

 

I have done some Canadians in stubble snow scenes. I keep stock on stalks, and they are dried out and then sprayed with an insecticide. They will not change unless moisture is present.

 

I dry them out then immerse them in 30% elmers glue 60% water until they have soaked it up for a day or two. Then hang to drip dry. This realy toughens them up and keeps the bugs out.

 

That's great info Mike. You guys also need to think a bit while you're doing dioramas like these. Artistry is so important when you have a LARGE mount and a small diorama. Don't clutter it up. Cornstalks are 6 to 7 feet high. Shortening them isn't realistic. Cutting them off and laying them on the ground isn't either. Look at a cut cornfield next time you get a chance. Take a picture of it for reference. The ground is COVERED with leaves, shucks, bits of cob and stalks. You can't see any dirt there. If your diorama is showing dirt, then the corn had to be cut for silage and then you're going to have NOTHING on the ground except stalk stubs. In competitions, a dioram can't add to a mount but it CAN cause deductions. That's based on the diorama detracting from your mount. Keep that in mind from your customer's perspective.