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Old 18-07-2009, 12:21 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible
Suzanne D.[_2_] Suzanne D.[_2_] is offline
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First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Jan 2009
Posts: 222
Default I think my corn might be better off than I thought it was

About a month ago I posted a message about the corn in my front yard. At
that time, the corn plants--many of which were just a few feet tall--were
tasseling, and I worried that all the pollen would be gone before we got any
ears.

Fast forward a month. Many of my corn plants actually DO have ears! I have
been stripping the tassels each time I see an ear, and crumbling it over the
silk, hoping to pollinate them. There are currently quite a few ears that
are large and full.

My question is: Would ears get large and full if they were NOT pollinated?
Or can I actually expect some good eatin' out of these in a few weeks?

As an interesting side note, a couple of my stalks are a mere foot tall, and
they have ears on them that are quite firm. I suspect that, even if these
ears are pollinated, they won't get more than a few inches long. But I
giggle at the idea that I might get a 6-inch ear on a 12-inch plant!

Here is a picture of a "good" ear, and a picture of the ridiculous tiny
stalks with ears on them:
http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...471393_n.j pg

http://photos-f.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos...913741_n.j pg
--S.