ehoff - 8/25/2023 17:24

Boron and moly. If you think about the 2 stages of corn plant growth it starts to make sense. The first stage is vegetative the second being reproductive. Think of why a corn plant doesnt desicate its lower leaves during water deficit periods prior to pollination. Corn slows its growth during water deficit periods prior to pollination but it maintains the plants nutrient status if the nutrients are available in the right amounts. Thus a properly fertilized corn plant will have the proper nutrient content to make pollination happen even though the plant is shorter and under some stress;
I realize that there are different levels of stress but i can assure you that with our soil and the level of stress we had this year (started dry and had 4” of rain from planting to post pollination with alot of very high temps) that proper nutrition can overcome alot, not all but alot of the pollination problems. Hybrid has some to do with it also but all 24 of the hybrids in my plot pollinated and held the kernels for thevmost part. We had one .5” rain post pollination in july which accounted for our july rainfall if i remember correctly.
Once pollination occurs corn plants under water stress then begin to remobilize nutrients from the bottom leaves to the ear to maintain kernels and grow them. The plant switches gears. the plant acts differently post pollination. We were under severe moisture stress prior to tassel and none of the hybrids started “firing” until post tassel. Firing is the moving of nutrients from lower leaves to the ear when either moisture stress or nutrient stress causes a deficiency in nutrition to the ear. Prior to tassel under moisture stress corn plants slow their upward growth, stack nodes, and become shorter. After pollination they move nutrients from the lower leaves to the ear. If nutrients are deficit in the plant and they cant move enough of one or another they tip back.