|
Post by Mumsey on Jun 14, 2022 15:32:45 GMT -5
The 10-12 foot tall corn will become a thing of the past. Work is going on for 6 ft tall corn that will better withstand wind. No brainer. I’m sure it will still be GMO.
|
|
|
Post by centralilrookie on Jun 14, 2022 19:32:50 GMT -5
Mumsey, maybe they’re thinking less energy in the stalk and more in the actual ear……?
|
|
|
Post by Mumsey on Jun 15, 2022 5:18:05 GMT -5
|
|
|
Post by martywny on Jun 15, 2022 9:07:00 GMT -5
Another 'manufactured' Monsanto product! I remember reading seed catalogs, like RH Shumway Et al., probably 60 years ago boasting pictures of giant stalks with many ears of corn on each one. That's back when many folks grew their own produce. I would love to grow something like that but would have to protect it from the wind for sure.
|
|
|
Post by gardendmpls on Jun 15, 2022 9:46:16 GMT -5
pictures of giant stalks with many ears of corn on each one I've never seen stalks with much more than two ears.
|
|
|
Post by gardendmpls on Jun 15, 2022 9:53:48 GMT -5
Found this: How Many Ears Of Corn Grow On One Stalk? Dan Drost* answers: Ear number and size can vary greatly from cultivar to cultivar. Most sweet corn varieties will have one to two ears per plant because they are mature rapidly and are generally short statured plants. • Early maturing sweet corn will have one ear while those that mature later have two harvestable ears. Commercial corn growers only harvest the first ear because the size and quality of the second ear is inferior. Ear quality (size, flavor, tip fill) depends on temperature during pollination, plant nutrition and water availability during ear growth. • Field corn, which is used for corn oil, silage and corn flakes to name a few, generally has from one to two ears. Field corn contains high amounts of starch and low sugars so fresh eating quality is poor. Field corn can cross with sweet corn, making some of the sweet corn kernels starchy and flavorless. Ear size is larger than sweet corn since field corn grows taller and for a longer time. • There are specific selections of field corn that produce six to ten ears per plant. These varieties were selected specifically for the production of baby corn which is used in stirfry and salad bars. Baby corn is harvested from regular corn plants when the ears are very immature. The ears are harvested one to three days after the silks emerge. At this early stage, yields are very low. Growers of baby corn use varieties that produce many ears or plant at very high numbers of plants. Since production costs are so high, very little baby corn is grown in the United States. * Dan Drost is Utah State University Extension Vegetable Specialist ... and this: nypost.com/2019/08/29/man-accidentally-grows-corn-stalk-with-record-shattering-28-ears/
|
|
|
Post by martywny on Jun 15, 2022 16:09:28 GMT -5
I've never seen stalks with much more than two ears. Then again, I could be mistaken, as my age at that time was in the single digits and I also believed in King Kong and Godzilla. I do have a vague recollection of a picture with a man holding a large cornstalk and a reference to a good number of ears. It is very possible for one of us gardeners to find a "freak of nature" with multiple ears and isolate that into a particular strain.
|
|
|
Post by SpringRain🕊️ on Jun 16, 2022 8:53:31 GMT -5
I found this of interest from the article: "The new variety also has the potential to capture and keep more carbon in the soil. That could lead to federal environmental credits down the road." I wonder how much the federal credits affected the motivation to create this new corn. martywny :"Another 'manufactured' Monsanto product!" I wonder if there's also a targeted country that will or may need assistance b/c of strife and destruction of vegetation and crops. Ukraine comes to mind. ipad.fas.usda.gov/cropexplorer/cropview/comm_chartview.aspx?fattributeid=1&cropid=0440000&sel_year=2021&startrow=1&ftypeid=47®ionid=umb&cntryid=UKR&nationalGraph=False(I had trouble getting back to this cite to verify the URL, so it might not be available. It showed Ukrainian crop stats, rising at a good rate in 2021.) Stats only show up through 2021. I wonder how much corn will have been destroyed after Russian troops are HOPEFULLY removed from Ukraine. Grain production has been addressed periodically in connection with the destruction and interference Putin has created. (And it would not surprise me if Monsanto has its own tracking in progress and is preparing to rush in when/if Putin finally dies and the next regime hopefully is more stable.)
|
|
|
Post by emmsmommy on Jun 18, 2022 13:16:36 GMT -5
A corn variety that was capable of growing 5-6 ears of corn would be nice if it came about as part of an amateur breeding program and not a GMO cultivation. My main question would be whether a stalk of corn bearing 2-3 times the corn would need more nutrition than a regular stalk? If so that would probably result in more chemical fertilizers being spread on fields resulting in a greater production expense.
|
|
|
Post by gardendmpls on Jun 18, 2022 21:33:47 GMT -5
GMO's can be created using regular corn genes. The advantage of gene insertion over hybridization is that it is not so hit and miss and therefor faster. I don't mind that kind of GMO. Putting in genes that are not natural corn genes is more problematic. Some versions of this variety may be offered "Roundup Ready", which is problematic not so much for the genes involved, but for the incentive it gives for more herbicide use.
There are corn varieties on the market that produce multiple ears and these varieties are used for baby corn. The "sort corn" variety, which is a different one, is used to prevent wind damage. Wind damage greatly reduces useable harvest, as taller varieties stalks are knocked down.
|
|
|
Post by davidjp on Jun 19, 2022 19:19:28 GMT -5
Interestingly I was reading something a while ago that introducing the short straw wheat varieties in the 60’s was one of the big innovations in the green revolution. Big increase in yields
|
|
|
Post by emmsmommy on Jun 20, 2022 16:13:46 GMT -5
I'm guessing the baby corn varieties don't produce a very good ear when full-grown or the stalks simply won't hold up to the weight of the maturing ears. Maybe there's too much of a lag between ripeness of the ears to make it commercially viable. Now I'm curious. gianna have you tried growing those baby corn stalks to maturity?
|
|
|
Post by Mumsey on Jun 21, 2022 3:25:11 GMT -5
emmsmommy, I did it once. They were pretty much full size ears on plants about 5 feet tall. Stalks didn't fall over.
|
|
|
Post by emmsmommy on Jun 21, 2022 5:23:33 GMT -5
Mumsey, did the ears ripen at once or staggered?
|
|
|
Post by gardendmpls on Jun 21, 2022 9:06:54 GMT -5
|
|