Hi all,
The corn i have planted seemed to be doing just fine, the first two ears were delicious right off the cob. Then, the summer heat came,and i came home from work with sad looking plants a few times, but they perked back up with a good watering. Needless to say, the next few ears had kernel skips and poor flavor, which i assume was to due to poor watering during the onset of an unusually hot Spring, even for SC. So, i got back on track and have been watering them daily as they seem to require, but they are showing signs of having some issues. The pictures probably show better than i can describe, but in short: plants that i have harvested one or two ears from continue to put out silks, but the ears look deformed and feel soft. One of the stalks has 4 crazy looking silks growing out of one spot. The tassels seem to have dropped the majority of their pollen, but there is some left. Does corn continue to produce pollen throughout the season? I'm worried that there isn't enough to pollinate the silks.
I have multiple sweet varieties planted in a 4x8 raised bed. There are 2 plants per square foot, planted adjacently. I have fertilized them a few times with 5-1-1 fish fertilizer, and a few times with 18-18-21 plant food fertilizer, but i admit i haven't followed a rigid fertilizing schedule, and perhaps this could be a deficiency of some sort.
Any guidance would be greatly appreciated!