Jerry’s Corn Had Pollination Problems

Remember how hot and humid it was during the Rice County Fair the third week in July? We had actual temperatures around 100 degrees and heat indexes above 110 degrees. I knew that my corn was pollinating at that time but was not really concerned because we had plenty of soil moisture and high humidity. This reproductive phase is a very critical time for corn. Pollen is shed from the tassel and captured by the silk on the developing ear. Pollen moves down through the silk and fertilizes the egg that develops into a kernel of corn. I guess I should have been concerned about pollination, especially because I also got hit with some hail during pollination that caused even more stress!

Notice in the picture the ears of corn did not pollinate to the end of the ear. We refer to this as tip back. There are a number of reasons that cause tip back, but hot days and nighttime lows above 70 degrees is one of the primary ones. In a typical year you will have a small amount of tip back, but this year it is a inch to inch and a half or more. If you count the kernels it is still a nice sized ear but I did lose some yield potential. My sweet corn was planted in early June so it pollinated after the really hot weather. The ears were filled out to the very end of the ear!