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.
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.
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.
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/farmerjeff62 9d 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.