What to Know During Corn Ear Formation
With the harvest period nearing and with the very attractive grain prices, it’s pay-off time for the hard work and the correct decisions made in the early going. Actually, farmers are use to declaring “tumama” by the time the ears are showing from the green, healthy-looking plants. Of course, harvesting is still several weeks away but there’s something the way these crops would show their potential yield. In fact, veteran farmers or agronomist can do an estimate right away.
Since we’re done with the first 60 days, more or less, of your corn plant, we’ll now discuss the stages immediately after flowering and some of the important factors that may interfere with it. Assuming that everything went right ;n the early stages, I would say that the postflowering phase is a lot easier to manage. As the kernels become mature with time, the reduction in yield from potential stresses becomes lower.
WHAT HAPPENS DURING THE POST-FLOWERING PERIOD?
The stages following pollination is when kernel development is rapidly occurring. Dry matter accumulation or seed-filling is the top priority for the plant. Nutrients such as nitrogen and phosphorus are being relocated from the vegetative to the reproductive parts. Moisture content of kernels is around 85% at the blister stage and will continue to decline until maturity where it is expected to be at the 3035% level depending on the hybrid and environment.
