How to Hand-Pollinate Corn: A Detailed Guide to the Correct Pollination Method

As one of the main food crops in China, corn is consumed in very large quantities every year in China. It also has a very large planting area. When growing corn, if the corn is left to self-pollinate, the seed-setting rate is generally not very ideal. Therefore, hand pollination is an indispensable technique in corn cultivation. So how should corn be hand-pollinated? Below, the editor brings you the method for hand-pollinating corn. Let's take a look!

1. Pollination period

When carrying out hand pollination, we must first determine the main period for hand-pollinating corn. It is usually done when the female ear of the corn enters the silking stage. Before hand pollination, we need to prepare a pollen collector, a pollination tube, and so on. Both of these can be made from everyday items; for example, newspaper can be made into a pollen collector, and a clean bottle can serve as a pollinator. To improve the pollination rate, during pollination we should promptly cut off the overly long silks on the ear, keeping only about 3 cm. If the husk leaves of the female ear are too long, they should also be cut off promptly to avoid affecting pollination.

2. Pollen collection

After the preparations are done, we begin the pollen collection work. First, we should place the tassel into the pollen collector, then shake it gently so that the pollen falls into the collector; at this point the pollen has been successfully collected. Control the pollen collection time according to the weather. If it is a sunny day, it should be done at around 8-9 a.m. Do not do it too early, because if it is too early, the field humidity is relatively high and the pollen tends to clump. If it is a cloudy and rainy day, then pollen should be collected after the tassel has dried. After the pollen is collected, use a sieve to remove the anthers, glumes, and other debris from the pollen, then transfer it into the pollinator to prepare for pollination.

3. Pollination method

Then the pollination work begins. Pollination should also be carried out after the morning dew has dried. Decide the pollination time according to the actual situation, hold the pollinator over the ear whose silks have been cut off and shake it gently, keeping the distance at about 3 cm. Be careful that the pollen collector does not touch the silks, to avoid the pollen clumping from contact with moisture and affecting pollination. We should pollinate the female ear about three times, once each at the early, full, and late silking stages, to ensure the success rate of pollination. About 3 days after pollination, if pollination was successful, the silks of the female ear will generally wither; if it was not successful, they will continue to grow, so we should pay attention to doing supplementary pollination.

4. Points to note

About one week after detasseling, the female ear of the corn will begin to silk, and this also lasts about one week. However, pollination should be carried out within 3 days after the corn silks, as the seed-setting rate is highest at this time. When pollinating, be careful not to do it too early, to avoid dew. Also, it is not suitable to pollinate in 35-degree weather, as the pollination rate will drop as a result. Pollination should mainly be done by collecting pollen and applying it on the spot; do not collect too much pollen at one time, otherwise it is easy for the pollen to lose viability and reduce the pollination rate.

The above is a brief introduction to the method of hand-pollinating corn. That is all for today's introduction. This article is for reference only. We hope it can help everyone!