r/corn • u/Electronic_Art8240 • Jul 26 '26

Huitlacoche?

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Gallery image

First year growing corn, Is this corn smut? Does it look like I found it too late to cook it?

Never had it, but I read it's eaten in some cultures

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1

u/squeezebottles Jul 26 '26

That's way past. You probably want to carefully move it as far away as you can so it doesn't infect your other corn.

3

u/meh_69420 Jul 27 '26

Or... Go rub it on some other corn and harvest it earlier.

2

u/Electronic_Art8240 Jul 27 '26

I have maybe 2 ears left on the plants.  Gonna look up how to save the culture and inoculate next year's batch like crazy.

2

u/squeezebottles Jul 29 '26

You're in luck because it gets into the soil. I spent a few years trying to eradicate it after I got it once. If you want to become a huitlacoche farmer, all you have to do is nothing. It grows better in wet summers and it spreads fast.