Leaning

July 11, 2024

I was heartsick when I came out to water my three sisters beds yesterday.  I have mentioned how few of the corn seeds I initially planted had sprouted (@40%).  I replanted additional seed and allowed it to (mostly) resprout before moving on to planting the pole beans (Phaseolus vulgaris) as the second sister, and then a week later adding the winter squash (Cucurbita moschata) to provide ground cover as the third sister.  These combination beds had been progressing nicely, even surviving the excessive heat in my absence.  The corn was producing ears, the beans were climbing, and the squash was spilling out across the four beds.  That came crashing to a halt when I came out to find most of the corn stalks lying on the ground.  My first thought was it was the work of my arch enemy, the nine-banded armadillo (Dasypus novemcinctus) that had helped itself to the melons I had tried to grow in the same bed for the last two years.  I have fenced the beds this year (for Loki) and I could not find any sign of invasion other than the downed corn stalks.  That left the other conclusion that the corn had suffered from lodging.

When I looked online, I found leaning (or lodging) of the corn plant occurs when the plant essentially bends or ‘lays down’ without the stalk breaking.  Although this symptom looks devastating, it often causes only minimal damage.  The majority of plants will re-orient themselves upright, and if this recovery occurs prior to corn pollination, little impact on pollination success will be observed.  Corn plants have been shown to upright themselves fairly quickly (in 3 to 4 days) after an initial wind event when they are in the rapid growth phase. However, if a plant cannot reorient itself properly, some leaves can become shaded and a reduction in photosynthesis can occur.  If the damage occurs near the beginning of pollination, the leaves of any neighboring, lodged plants may shade some of the exposed silks and cause poor pollination.  “Root lodging” can occur with strong winds and high soil moisture levels that results in corn roots being pulled out of the soil.  Root-lodged corn plants that are still in the vegetative phase of growth and within the process of stalk elongation can recover by bending or “goose-necking” to become upright again. However, the later in the vegetative growth period lodging occurs, the less flexibility the stalks have to reorient themselves properly, and the greater chance that pollination and yield will be impacted.

I had never heard of lodging, even though I have seen it in some of the corn fields in Kansas after a high wind event.  Not knowing it “might” spring back up on its own, I tried to right the stalks and prop dirt around them for added support.  When I came back out to water this morning, several of the stalks were down again and others were again leaning.  This time I placed rebar stakes next to the plants and tied them off with plant tape.  I hope that between their natural urge to right themselves and the assistance provided by the stakes they will continue to grow and produce.  They all have ears, although none are near to being ripe.  We will see.

THOUGHTS:  As I thought about the leaning event, I am glad this did not happen while the neighbor girls were watering.  I am sure they would have thought it was because of something they had (or had not) done.  Since I did not know of the syndrome, I probably would have thought to blame them as well.  We appear to be living in a time of chaos and when destructive events happen the urge is there to “blame someone”.  There is no one to blame for my leaning corn.  It is a normal part of nature and the shifting climate.  While blaming may make us feel better, it does not resolve the problem.  And it can have negative impacts on our feelings and treatment of “the other”.  Act for all.  Change is coming and it starts with you.