Tasseling corn (2024)

FAQs

Does corn stop growing once it tassels? ›

VT Stage. Vegetative growth stages in corn cease with the production of a tassel, VT. This stage occurs when a tassel is fully extended (figure 5 and figure 6) prior to the production of silks (figure 7). Tassels will be visible for approximately two to three days before the formation of silks.

If the planting is too thick, ears may not develop, even if the corn has tasseled. There are different maturity groups in corn, i.e. different varieties require different length of time from plant emergence to tasseling, and ultimately pollination and ear growth.

Trials applying nitrogen as late as tasseling show that this can still be very effective, but after tasseling application has yielded mixed results.

The causes of shorter than normal corn can be traced back to planting date and temperature during stalk elongation. Remember that stalk elongation begins at about the V5 stage of development (five visible leaf collars). Prior to that stage, most of the plant's energy is directed to root development and leaf initiation.

If you don't remove the tassel, the pollen from the tassel will eventually fall onto the silks below, a process called self-pollination. Removing the tassel ensures the plant is pollinated by corn in adjacent rows rather than by itself, creating a hybrid.

The tassel is usually fully emerged and open before any pollen is shed. The length of pollen shed for each plant varies, but is usually 5 to 8 days with the peak production coming about the third day. It is estimated that each tassel will produce between 2 million and 25 million pollen grains.

After corn silks are fertilized by the tassels at the top of the stalk, they'll shrivel up as the ears mature. This happens about three weeks after the silks form. The corn kernels become ripe just about the same time as the silks become brown and shriveled.

It is detasseling, and it's a process used by seed corn companies to produce high-quality products for their customers. In the very simplest of terms, detasseling involves removing the tassel at the very top of the corn plant, mechanically and by hand, to prevent unwanted pollination.

Corn is a hungry plant, so it's important to enrich beds with lots of organic matter such as garden compost then follow this up at planting time with a scattering of a balanced general purpose organic fertilizer. Don't plant too close together or you run the risk of disappointingly small cobs.

The week a corn crop tassels, it will use 120% of the ET₀ or a Kc of 1.2. That results in about 0.23 inch a day (1.6 inches per week) of water use. A cool, cloudy week would result in corn water use of 1.4 inches and a hot, dry week would result in a corn water use of 2 inches.

What is the best nitrogen fertilizer for corn? ›

Once the plants are established, the need then changes to a high-nitrogen fertilizer. Examples of fertilizers high in nitrogen include blood meal, urea, chicken manure pellets, or feather meal. The Natural Organic Blood Meal from Burpee has an NPK of 12-0-0 and is ideal for heavy feeders such as corn.

Corn plants enter reproductive growth after completing tassel emergence. Reproductive growth stages are determined by kernel development and not plant collars.

Ear/silk formation follows tasseling after about 2-5 days. If you don't have tassels yet, ears won't be there yet. If you have tassels, and pollen has been falling without any ears/silks formed to catch the pollen, there will not be any corn.

Vegetative leaf staging for corn plants ends when the corn develops a tassel (VT); once the plant has silks visible outside of the husks it has reached the first reproductive stage (R1).

Sweet corn will be ready for harvest at the R3 stage, approximately 18-21 days after the initial emergence of silks depending on environmental conditions. At harvest, silks on the ear should be brown and dry (Figure 4).