A Recipe for Crappy Stands of Corn
very year, I get a lot of phone calls from folks wanting
to know why their neighbor's fields of corn ended up with such poor uneven
lousy-looking stands. Since some seem so ecstatic about this happening to their
neighbors, I figured they may want to know how to create a crappy stand of corn
themselves.
The following recipe will prepare one helping of a crappy stand of corn.
Add more acreage as desired.
Ingredients:
- One (1) field, level and poorly drained.
- No-till is preferred, but conventional tillage will suffice if soil
is 'on the wet side' when worked.
- A hybrid of your choice, but poor seed quality and low vigor will
ensure success of recipe.
- Plant early, when soils have yet to reach 50oF.
- Plant 'on the wet side' to ensure good sidewall compaction.
- Do NOT add any starter fertilizer to the recipe.
- Add a dash of seed rot or seedling blight organisms.
- Add a pinch of wireworms or seedcorn maggots.
- Flavor with acetanilide herbicides as desired.
- Top off with a thick soil crust.
- Add minimum of 0.5 to 1.0 inch of rain per week after planting.
- Maintain average daily soil temperatures at 50oF or less
for three weeks or more after planting.
Will serve 6 people: (farmer, dealer, industry rep, seed dealer, county
agent, university specialist)
For other information about corn, take a
look at the Corn Growers Guidebook on the World Wide Web at
http://www.kingcorn.org
It is the policy of the Purdue
Agronomy Department that all persons shall have equal opportunity and
access to its programs and facilities without regard to race, color, sex,
religion, national origin, age, or disability. Purdue University is an Affirmative Action
employer. This material may be available in alternative formats.
© 1996, 2002, Purdue University
End of document