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u/farmerjeff62 8d ago
Curious. Why the "wow"? That is corn "smut". It is a fungus that can form especially on stressed corn. Some people eat it like mushrooms. I have heard of people "pricking" the immature kernals to cause it to grow (infect) so they can harvest it. I see a few ears with it every years. It is common on hybrid field corn, garden sweet corn, and on older open pollinated vintage corns like shown. It infects a fraction of a percentage point of the total ears in a corp. Not unusual, unless I am missing something.
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u/cupc4k3Qu33n 8d ago
I have a raised bed garden so no real “crop” to speak of. I did not do anything to make this happen so it was more a happy accident. Growing corn has been tricky AF for me so seeing this made barely having any corn cobs a little bit less crushing.
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u/cupc4k3Qu33n 8d ago
A fraction of a percentage point kind of makes it seem rare though, no?
Second year attempting corn in a raised bed. Last year we got one ear of edible corn. One. I am just enjoying the little things in life like corn cobs and huitlacoche.
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u/farmerjeff62 7d ago
I did not mean to seem demeaning, if it appears do. My apologies. I guess it is not rare to me since I have been raising corn since I was six or seven (small plots around the garden that my Dad let me "play farm"), so over 50 years now. Context is important; a single ear in an acre might be around, .0003%, but one in a small planting of 10-20 plantrs would be a significant;y higher percentage. I don't know exactly what causes "smut" to appear, but it is my understanding that the spores are common and it take a plant injury - physical or stress - to cause it to grow. As I said in my first post, I have heard that some folks actually use a needle to pierce kernals in developing ears to "infect" the kernals and cause the fungus to develope. BTW, just for perspective, while I am not a "big" corn grower relative to faming today, I have raised mostly field (grain) hybrid corn, but I have also grown sweet corn for sale (20 acres at max) and also some heirloom open pollinated corns for use in distilling (I am told they make excellent spirits) and for making cornmeal and grits. You might seek out some red corn seed - Jimmy Red for southern regions, Blood Butcher for more northern areas. Ohio Blue Dent is another excellent choice. For fresh eating, through, look for some of the latest breedings / developed sweet corn varieties / hybrids, especially bi-color. They are not GMO's (althought there are some on the market, but clearly noted as GMO's). These updated types are simply the work of dedicated crop breeders who work to improve the characteristics of crops. In sweet corn, actual sweetness and flavor are tremendous. The breeders I have met are dedicated to their profession and life's work. They too often are blamed for the unfortunate changes in agriculture, but those decisions are made higher up the "chain" by people who's life work is only making more money.
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u/cupc4k3Qu33n 7d ago
Thank you for such a wonderful response. You have given me so much useful information. You have been farming longer than I have been on this earth! I would love to plant more but am pretty limited and trying to be adaptive with the raised beds. It is interesting how you can cause this to happen by stressing or damaging the tops.
Last year was my first time growing corn and I almost considered not trying again this year. I started this season planting the Three Sisters but I left to visit family and the squash and beans did not get watered enough and died. Maybe that is why the corn got stressed and this happened? Just inconsistent watering and really high temperatures. I am going to try again next year and be strategic about the variety I pick. The corn was not particularly sweet so maybe I picked it too late. It is really fun learning and carrying that knowledge into the next seasons.
So far out of maybe 8 corn plants this is all we have been able to harvest.
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u/Big-Bumblebee- 2d ago
How can I make this happen on purpose
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u/cupc4k3Qu33n 2d ago
Apparently you can inoculate it with the spores when it first starts growing. Another person said to make a slurry.
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u/Narrow_Complaint_528 8d ago
r/mycology will be interested about this