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Vegetable Gardening

Corn too short?

15 years ago

Hi everyone. I was just wondering does anyone else think this corn is waaay too short to be tassleing? I forget the exact variety but it is in the super sweets. I remember the picture on the seed pack showed all white kernals. Thanks for all the advice i have been given and happy gardening to all!!!

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Here is a link that might be useful: none

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Comments (6)

grandad_2003
15 years ago
It does look a little bit short. On the other hand some varieties of corn are short. Once the tassle begins to open the corn will get noticably taller.

You may have an issue with pollenation. Corn pollenates best from having a block of several corn plants vs indivdual ones... because there is more pollen dust to blow across and onto the silks. (However, I can't see the area nearby.)
shot
15 years ago
Agree with Grandad.

Shot
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I've been facing the same questions. Soil temperature at the depth of the seed (1 1/2" to 2" for corn) is the important factor. Soil temperature depends far more on solar radiation than air temperature. On 5/26/09, when I planted corn, the weather was cool and cloudy. Soil temperature was 58Â°F. There have been 2 or 3 sunny days since then and soil temperature on those days has been 94Â°F, near optimum for corn germination. Daily high and low air temperature has steadily ranged from mid 50s to mid 60s during that time. Jim Here is a link that might be useful: Germination Temperatures
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That is probably a lack of nitrogen and maybe P and K. The plant stems are distinctly smaller than normal. From the look, you have been watering regularly. Did you use organic fertilizer? or chemical? and have you had exceptionally heavy rainfall this year that might have leached out the nitrogen? Also, corn can grow like that if it has a shortage of several micronutrients. It needs small amounts of zinc, boron, and copper. A good micronutrient supply would be worth the effort to add to your soil. My soil is slightly zinc deficient and requires added boron about every other year. Be very careful with boron, it takes about a level tablespoon to 100 linear feet of row. More than that is toxic to most plants. You would need about 3 level tablespoons for your entire corn area. You can purchase boron as 20 muleteam borax in the laundry section of most grocery stores. DarJones
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guitar7100
Original Author
15 years ago
grandad i plan on doing the hand pollination thing because i don't have very much corn growing. Thank you for the reply

Karl
daryljurassic
15 years ago
You can hand pollinate the corn. Rub the tassles on the new silk. Search the forum for more details...
calliope
15 years ago
Mine are growing and maturing very short this year too. They are both supposed to be tall varieties. It's said this is a cultural phenomenon. The good news is, short as they are, they pollinated fine, the ears are completely filled and the corn is maturing normally.
rose_nutty
15 years ago
They will grow quite a bit after they tassle. I've had mine do that some years - I'm not exactly sure why. But it always ends up approximately the right height at maturity, and the corn itself is mighty fine eatin'!

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