When does corn form tassels

[SuperChemicalGirl]

Never grown corn myself until this year (I try to do something new each year). I have some "Early and Often Hybrid" corn growing - package says 64 days and a height of 6 feet. My corn had a rough start thanks to really bad purchased soil that had almost no nitrogen in it. Now that I've corrected the problem the corn is doing better. The farthest along plant is maybe 2.5 feet tall. I noticed this weekend though that it has tassels already starting to come up. I grew up in an area that grew a lot of crops, mostly corn, and I (stupidly) never paid much attention to when the tassels first started coming up! Can someone with some corn experience let me know if this is the correct time for the tassels to start showing?? There is no signs of ears forming.

Thanks!

 

[journey11]

Those silks will be along shortly. The tassles will shoot up and branch out and get ready to drop their pollen, just as the new silks emerge to catch it. The pollination takes place early on, when the silks just start showing. By the time you notice them beginning to droop over and starting to dry, it's all been over and done with for several days.

For your little patch, once you notice the pollen looking all powdery on the tassels, you might want to go by and give the stalks a little shake a few times to make sure they get good pollination. Especially if it hasn't been windy.

 

[cityfarmer]

We had ours tassel one year when they were all 2-3 feet tall and had a great harvest. I don't think it is the height so much as the number of days since planting. I think corn is one of the most interesting plants to grow as there are different stages rather than just flower and vegetable and hope you enjoy watching the process.

 

[SuperChemicalGirl]

Thanks, I figure the corn knows what it's doing but I wasn't sure with the stunted growth if that had affected anything.

 

[SuperChemicalGirl]

Those silks will be along shortly. The tassles will shoot up and branch out and get ready to drop their pollen, just as the new silks emerge to catch it. The pollination takes place early on, when the silks just start showing. By the time you notice them beginning to droop over and starting to dry, it's all been over and done with for several days.

For your little patch, once you notice the pollen looking all powdery on the tassels, you might want to go by and give the stalks a little shake a few times to make sure they get good pollination. Especially if it hasn't been windy.

Ok I have the powdery pollen on the tassels... and ..... NO EARS OF CORN OR SILK OR ANYTHING. Really.

Sorry the corn pic is dark, got sidetracked taking pictures this afternoon and forgot so just went out in the dark to do it.

 

[thistlebloom]

I had a weird thought while looking at your corn pic.... it appears to have been caught escaping the corn patch

....well I told you it was weird...

 

[SuperChemicalGirl]

I had a weird thought while looking at your corn pic.... it appears to have been caught escaping the corn patch

....well I told you it was weird...

There is a story there... there are 2 of those raised bed boxes right next to each other. New this year. After we dug them in there was about a 6 inch patch on all sides that was just dirt. My boyfriend who built the boxes was slightly horrified that I was planting an entire one of corn, although he loves corn. He suggested I also plant some around the box so I could get an extra 10 plants in (only 4 came up though). So I did, why not? Well it was a good thing that I did, the plants on the OUTSIDE of the box were doing better than the inside, so that helped me diagnose nitrogen deficiency in the soil I bought to fill the boxes.

 

[thistlebloom]

Are all of your corn stalks doing the same thing? Or just the one outside the box?

 

[SuperChemicalGirl]

Are all of your corn stalks doing the same thing? Or just the one outside the box?

So far that one's the farthest ahead growth wise. There are a few that the tassels are starting to come up on, and yet no signs of corn anywhere on the stalk. I've never done corn before so I'm hoping that I'm just overreacting and that it's still too soon for the cob/silk to appear. Denial, it's not just a river in Egypt.

The corn stalk that thinks outside the box is about 5 feet tall.

I'll try and look closer at them this afternoon when I get home, but I'm pretty sure I'd notice if cobs/silks were forming as I'm obsessed with my garden and look at the growth at least once daily.