Corn only 3 feet tall

[Joseph A. Zupko]

It already have the pollen developing and tassels. What can cause corn grow so short? I see this in other gardens here at the community garden.

[JoeSpareBedroom]

How are you fertilizing YOURS?

[John Bachman]

Corn is a grass needing high nitrogen and lots of water.

My Silver Queen is 8 feet tall, maybe more.

John

[FragileWarrior]

John Bachman wrote in news: [e-mail]:

The tallest stalk of corn at the county fair this year was 118". And, by the looks of it, there are lots of them out there that tall. I've never seen corn this tall before, in fact. (I'm in west central Indiana.)

[Not]

Some types of corn are short. I pick my brand with this in mind, as my soil is too fluffy, and tall corn is easily knocked down by wind and the sprinkler in my garden.

Also, I plant in blocks, and the edge of one block doesn't get a full day of sun, and the corn there is typically shorter and thinner than the part that gets full sun.

Corn does need a lot of fertilizer, also.

Joseph A. Zupko wrote:

[John Bachman]

On Tue, 8 Aug 2006 21:23:32 +0000 (UTC), FragileWarrior seen corn this tall before, in fact. (I'm in west central Indiana.)

OK, you made me take my tape measure down to the corn patch. My tallest Silver Queen is also 118" which surprised me. I am in Southern New Hampshire.

I have good soil thanks to the tons of manure and compost I have poured into it over the years. I also irrigate my corn and most other crops.

I did a lousy job of weed control this year and have a plan to improve that next year. Hint: the organic folks will not like it.

John

[Zootal]

Hmm...I need to measure mine, I have some stalks pushing 10 feet. I didn't do anything special, just mulched it and dumped some fertilizer and water it regularly. Other then that I ignore it.

Interesting enough, a later planting of the same corn sent up tassles when it was about 4 feet tall. I'm not sure why.

[Kay Lancaster]

Late planting, cold temps at the V5 development stage, not enough water, not enough fertilizer and water, wrong genotype for the latitude, short genotype....

[Matthew Reed]

Right about 118 inches or so, just a tad under 10 feet. Interesting enough, the sunflower is about the same height:

[sunflower_info]

Sometimes you can use latitude to your advantage when trying to ge very tall corn.

20 foot 1 inch tall maize [image:

-- sunflower_info

[Steve]

That picture reminds me of something from my childhood. I had 2 uncles who owned a big farm in Ohio. Mostly they grew corn. Out of countless thousands of plants on hundreds of acres, sometimes one plant would grow much taller than all the others. Some sort of genetic mutation or at least a genetic difference. Anyway, I remember one day when one of the uncles brought back a really tall corn plant to show everyone. I don't think it was quite as tall as the one in the picture but it was very tall.

Steve

[sunflower_info]

the variety I grow is Jala Valley landrace Maize. It's the talles variety of maize in the world. It's not uncommon to get corn as tal as I had. In fact, I know people that had them about 25 feet or so. still have one more giant left in the garden that is still growing. don't know if it's going to get a tassel before frost comes. Had m wife take a pic today. Sorry, but it's a bit dark.

[image

-- sunflower_info

[Steve]

the wind often blows over corn that is only 5 or 6 feet tall. I can't imagine what the wind would do to that. Does that variety form ears like regular corn? If not, where are the seeds produced? I lightened your picture and mailed it back to you. If your return address is valid, you should get it.

Steve