Corn laying down

[Pat]

Yesterday at this time my sweet corn crop was head high. Then we had a storm - badly needed the rain, but the wind was fierce and caused a lot of the stalks to lay down almost flat against the ground (luckily, only one stalk actually busted off).

This corn had not begun to grow tassles but is (or was) close to that stage. I planted late, we were still having frost in early May (rare for this region). The spring was exceptionally dry (also quite rare here) but I kept the crop watered and it was doing very well. I had just finished cultivating and adding compost between the rows.

Will the stalks come back up on their own? Or should I give them some sort of help? Would they still produce ears if they stay mostly horizontal? This has never happened to my corn before so I haven't got a clue....

[The Cook]

That happened to us last year. My husband went out and set it up and firmed the ground. Was fine after that.

[FDR]

Pat, sorry to hear your corn problkem. But thanks with helping me with mine a few weeks ago. You suggested mounding soil to keep mine from flopping over and it's worked. Maybe you could try that with yours?

[Pat]

"FDR" wrote

I'm a different Pat than the one you're talking about. I will try mounding soil at the base of the stalks.

[FDR]

Oops, sorry!

[Sue]

That happened to me a couple of years ago. I staked them up. Worked fine until the ants attacked (which had nothing to do with the stakes that I know of). I put stakes along the rows, strung heavy cord (to look sorta like a clothes line), got the stalks in vertical position and then tied them to the cord. Sue

>

[Steve]

It will work. I have held the corn stalk with one hand and use a hoe in the other to pull up soil to hold it up. Sometimes the ones that are really floppy need a shovel of soil on 2 sides. If you don't stand them up, they will try to curve upward. The middle of the plant that will produce the ears may not rise up much which is a bad thing. You really don't want ears developing on the ground. That is bad for both pollination and pests. When you stand them up, they don't have to be perfect. Just get the plant up of the ground and nature will take over from there.

Steve

[TQ]

On years past, this has happend to my corn, as well.

The stalks will straighten up on their own in about a week. There's no need to do anything. The sun will do all the work.

[Pat Kiewicz]

That Pat would be me, and if the corn is completely lain over and ready to tassle (like mine was after our storm on Thursday)...

Well, I propped mine up with handfuls of compost around the base. (Old compost that had been worked by worms.)

If you don't have compost, prop them up with soil. (Be gentle.)

I've occasionally had to set posts and run strings back and forth when a really tall variety got blown down.

The whole corn pollination system works better when the plants are standing up with the tassles poised above the silks.