Is Corn Self Pollinating?

Planting

• In the home garden, plant corn 1 inch deep, 2 feet apart, in blocks of 16 plants, four to a side. If that is too much corn for your family, plant two rows 2 feet apart, setting the seed 1 foot apart. You can also plant corn in groups called hills, with three to five plants in each group. Space the hills 3 feet apart.

Natural Pollination

• Pollination of corn occurs by wind, not by insects, which is why different kinds of corn need to be isolated from each other. Each plant has male flowers on its tassel and female flowers on its silk. Each strand of the silk corresponds to one kernel of corn on an ear, so each strand needs to come in contact with the small grains of pollen from another plant's tassel. Poor pollination results in partially filled ears.

Hand Pollination

• You can hand-pollinate corn to ensure good yield. One method is to cut off a tassel and shake it over the silks of the corn ears to deposit pollen dust onto them. Another method is to strip the tassel of its pollen and deposit it directly onto the silks.

Isolation

• Plant only one kind of corn, as cross-pollination between varieties often results in poor yield and unwanted characteristics. Popcorn pollen, for example, will turn sweet corn starchy, and if sweet corn pollinates popcorn, the result will be shriveled kernels. If white corn is pollinated by yellow corn, it will turn yellow, because yellow is dominant. If you want to plant several varieties of corn, a distance of 300 feet will allow only minor contamination, while 700 feet will isolate the varieties completely.