I just joined this forum in the hope that someone can answer a simple question that does not seem to be common. Several hours of google searches yielded nothing.
I've been gardening for about 20 years, but this is the first year that I have tried to grow corn. I bought the seed from Johnny's about five years ago and did not expect to have much in the way of germination or yield with old seed. I even planted a month too late because my soil needed a ton of work. Fast-forward to now. I have ridiculously healthy 6' tall plants with 2 to 4 ears per stalk (if you count the tillers). Almost 100% germination rate. The kernels are almost full on the most mature ears, but there is one problem.
The variety was supposed to be Xtra-Tender 270A, which is a sh2 bicolor. I plucked a few ears for observation and discovered that all the kernels are white. There is no sign of yellow at all. The silks are 50% brown but not quite dry. The kernels are almost full, but not quite milky. I expect to harvest within a week. My question is this: wouldn't you expect a bicolor to start showing signs of different-colored kernels at this stage? I think I may have been sent the wrong seed.
-
jal_ut
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 7447
- Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2009 10:20 pm
- Location: Northern Utah Zone 5
" I think I may have been sent the wrong seed."
Perhaps so, yet you say it has given you some nice ears to eat. All I can say is, Enjoy! ......... and buy some fresh seed for next year.
Perhaps so, yet you say it has given you some nice ears to eat. All I can say is, Enjoy! ......... and buy some fresh seed for next year.
Last edited by jal_ut on Tue Sep 11, 2018 10:14 am, edited 1 time in total.
-
HoneyBerry
- Greener Thumb
- Posts: 1222
- Joined: Sat Jul 18, 2015 1:10 pm
- Location: Zone 8A Western Washington State
Breeding hybrid corn may be a fairly simple matter since the pollen producing tassels are located at the top of the plants, ears with silk are some distance down the stalks. Someone with more knowledge should correct me if my thinking is not right.
Pollen producing plants could be left alone. The seed produced on those plants would only be useful for corn hybridization. They might occupy fewer rows in the field.
Seed production would take place on plants that have had the tassels removed. In a field of corn grown for seed, rows of those plants would have their tassels cut off. Ears of seed would develop on those plants in a normal way. That seed will be harvested and sold.
There are some chances for error and pollination not intended to happen. Have you noticed that tassels are sometimes found on other parts of the plants and not always only at the top? The different parent varieties of hybrid corn may also not move through reproduction at the same time. Isolation from other corn must be very important because of air borne pollen drift.
Steve
Pollen producing plants could be left alone. The seed produced on those plants would only be useful for corn hybridization. They might occupy fewer rows in the field.
Seed production would take place on plants that have had the tassels removed. In a field of corn grown for seed, rows of those plants would have their tassels cut off. Ears of seed would develop on those plants in a normal way. That seed will be harvested and sold.
There are some chances for error and pollination not intended to happen. Have you noticed that tassels are sometimes found on other parts of the plants and not always only at the top? The different parent varieties of hybrid corn may also not move through reproduction at the same time. Isolation from other corn must be very important because of air borne pollen drift.
Steve
-
applestar
- Mod
- Posts: 31012
- Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 7:21 pm
- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
I think you would see yellow color showing on yellow kernels by this stage.
Corn is seed and results of accidental cross pollination shows up right away if visually identifiable. If I’m not mistaken yellow is dominant, so even accidentally crossed with stray pollen from somewhere else nearby, it’s not very likely that your yellow kernels would turn white... unless those yellow kernels had been yellow-white genetically and they were crossed with white-white pollen, then there is chance of obtaining white kernels.
(come to think of it maybe there is a really good chance of this — I was thinking 25% yellow-yellow, 50% yellow-white, and 25% white-white is likely first cross combo, but to get the even half yellow/half white ear of corn, they might aim for the 50% yellow-white/50% white-white distribution obtained in the next generation — hmm I wonder if my genetic math is correct? Not very good at this as I have said before.)
If there are no largish cornfields nearby that might have interfered with your own corn development, Johnny’s is pretty good about exchanging or refunding but I’m not sure if I would place a claim against a 5 year old packet of seeds that I didn’t grow until now....
I hope they turn out tasting good so at least your season’s worth of gardening is rewarded.
Corn is seed and results of accidental cross pollination shows up right away if visually identifiable. If I’m not mistaken yellow is dominant, so even accidentally crossed with stray pollen from somewhere else nearby, it’s not very likely that your yellow kernels would turn white... unless those yellow kernels had been yellow-white genetically and they were crossed with white-white pollen, then there is chance of obtaining white kernels.
(come to think of it maybe there is a really good chance of this — I was thinking 25% yellow-yellow, 50% yellow-white, and 25% white-white is likely first cross combo, but to get the even half yellow/half white ear of corn, they might aim for the 50% yellow-white/50% white-white distribution obtained in the next generation — hmm I wonder if my genetic math is correct? Not very good at this as I have said before.)
If there are no largish cornfields nearby that might have interfered with your own corn development, Johnny’s is pretty good about exchanging or refunding but I’m not sure if I would place a claim against a 5 year old packet of seeds that I didn’t grow until now....
I hope they turn out tasting good so at least your season’s worth of gardening is rewarded.
I am surprised you got such good germination from 6 year old seeds. Seeds of my variety of corn lose viability quickly and by the third year, there is hardly any germination at all. I do think that you got a different batch of seeds. Seeds can be saved longer by freezing, but that still does not get me 100% germination after 6 years.