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IA/MN/WI | Spraying foliar sugar on corn is not generally speaking going to do much for Brix. Understand this concerning Brix, it is a measurement of sugar in the plant sap, if you have low Brix then it is telling you one of two things, the plant is struggling to photosynthesize, or the sugar demand is in the plant sink is so great the plant can't keep up. Spraying a lb or two of sugar on the plant isn't going to do "boo" to change the cellular function in the plant. If you want more sugar then you need to provide the plant with the micronutrients and phytoalexins to promote an increase in photosynthesis. Also, focusing importance on Brix levels as the most important factor related to plant health and function is a little like standing in a forest and only seeing a single tree. Just because you are seeing lower Brix levels doesn't mean the plant is "unhealthy", as I said before, it can simply mean the plant is efficiently moving sugar from source to sink effectively and the plant has a limited capacity to produce the sugar. The opposite is also true, you can have a metabolically unhealthy plant that shows high Brix because the plant isn't effectively moving the sugar from leaves to the ear.
As another poster suggested, Boost from QLF is a good product, but even QLF doesn't advocate for it on corn. Also apparently the guy has never read the label on QLF or he or she would know that it has sulfuric acid in it, it may be safe on R2-R3 corn, but its hardly what I would consider safe for VT corn.
There are far better options to accomplish the goals you have for the crop than wasting money on foliar sugar. | |
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Putting a sugar source on with a fungicide
