One corn has its kernels kind of disorganized, but the other are in perfectly straight rows.

by i-am_i-said

27 Comments

  1. My uneducated guess is your corn is spaced too far apart to properly fertilize.

  2. CypripediumGuttatum

    Inconsistent pollination. Corn is wind pollinated so if the wind isn’t blowing right on the days the silks and tassels are doing their thing you get wonky looking corn. This is much better than some I’ve seen.

  3. Meerkat212

    Oh, that’s weird…

    It is definitely some kind of stress response. Are there any insects, or infrequent/inconsistent watering, maybe? It could be a fertilization issue, too – it does appear that the cob was completely fertilized, but some kernels may have been fertilized much sooner in the season and then they started growing/crowding out the unfertilized kernels. I don’t know of any disease that cause that kind of “crookedness” in corn rows, either.

    But without more info, we really can only make guesses… In the end, I think it’s probably OK to eat, but may not be as tasty as the “regular” ears.

  4. Ok-Slice-6771

    Cross-pollination.

    EDIT: To explain.. the corn on the left is a flint corn. The one in the right has been cross-pollinated with a commercial dent corn. That explains the “perfect” kernel rows.

    Source: I grow flint corn in rural Wisconsin..

  5. It’s not poor pollination, it’s mixed genetics. When you have poor pollination you can see the undeveloped kernels but these both have full rows with no gaps. Either you have multiple varieties planted or the seeds you planted were saved from hybrid plants and aren’t true breeding.

  6. JoefromOhio

    Corn on the left’s parents didn’t pay up for the insurance that included orthodontist work

  7. BarbKatz1973

    Just my guess but maize with the irregular rows is sweet corn (eating corn for humans) the corn with the regular rows is dent corn, field corn meant for animal feed, oil production and milling for corn flour and grits. My grand mother made hominy from corn like that. Hominy is an acquired taste.

  8. BrockSamsonLikesButt

    Not everyone is straight. Some of us are just corn this way.

  9. Leather_manlyman

    Well I can say without a doubt the one on the right is overcooked and dried out

  10. notso_creative_name

    We all have that one sister. (Or brother I guess)

  11. Allidapevets

    I remember going into my Mom’s garden just to shake each tasseled stalk of corn for better pollination! 50 years ago.

  12. gottagrablunch

    No idea but given the choice I’d eat the one on the left!!!

  13. strawberry_canvas7

    Disorganized? That’s what it’s supposed to look like :)) I always tend to think the left is better.

  14. Okay the one on the right has nice straight rows but all the kernels are indented. I think the crooked one on the left would be fresh and the other one would be starchy, not sweet and not so good?

  15. Rugaru985

    The one on the right was a first born from the stalk and the one on the left is the baby of the stalk.

  16. artgarfunkadelic

    One on left looks most delicious of two

  17. RationalDB8

    The one on the left had incomplete pollination. The one on the right had excellent pollination, but dehydrated.

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