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.

"desertgardener" wrote in message
...

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?

You'd get ears but there wouldn't be many kernels on them.

So we *MIGHT* end up getting huge cobs with seven kernels on them? Bummer;
not the reply I had hoped for. I guess it'll just be an interesting crap
shoot now!
--S.

Suzanne D. wrote:

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?

The ears grow without pollen but each full kernel on each ear is the result
of a pollination event, they don't develop without pollination. You will
see some ears with missing kernels these are the ones that missed out.

David

"David Hare-Scott" wrote in message
...
Suzanne D. wrote:

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?

The ears grow without pollen but each full kernel on each ear is the
result of a pollination event, they don't develop without pollination.
You will see some ears with missing kernels these are the ones that missed
out.

I read somewhere that the turning brown of the silks is an indication that
pollination was successful. My silks start out pale yellow-green and grow a
maroon color after time, and then dry and crumble away. Is this the "brown"
that I hear about, or do some types of corn have maroon silks no matter
what?
--S.