View Single Post
  #2   Report Post  
Old 30-10-2011, 01:55 PM posted to rec.gardens.edible
Pat Kiewicz[_2_] Pat Kiewicz[_2_] is offline
external usenet poster
 
First recorded activity by GardenBanter: Oct 2008
Posts: 509
Default Why is this corn still green?

Bert said:


Someone in the neighborhood puts out corn for some critters and the
squirrels carefully buried it all over the place.

This year, lots of that corn sprouted and some of the neighbors allowed
some of it to grow, producing some impressive stalks, 6+ feet tall with
ears of corn and everything.

At this time of year, all the farmed corn has long dried out and been
harvested.

But, the stalks in the neighbors back yards are still mostly green.

Is it just a matter of what variety of corn the squirrels planted, or is
something else going on?

Could be the variety, but it could be that the corn never set seed.
The stalks start to dry up and turn brown after the seed is matured.
For most effecient pollination, corn should be planted in blocks.
Squirrels tend to distribute the seed rather randomly. Not ideal for
good corn pollination.

--
Pat in Plymouth MI

"Yes, swooping is bad."

email valid but not regularly monitored