Noticed something about Sweet Corn

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Ozark Ozark, MO(Zone 6a) Jun 23, 2010

I've just finished weeding and mulching six rows of Kandy Corn, and while I was at it I took off the "suckers" - the two side stalks that grow on each plant. Some years I remove those, some years I don't, but I did it this year because I was in there weeding anyway. In past years, I've noticed that most of the ears that grow on those suckers are undersize and I've thought maybe they take away from the strength of the plant - I don't know.

I've got some soaker hoses screwed together watering those corn rows, and they must be of different brands. One hose delivers water a lot more freely than the other - so I've been watering until it seems the drier three rows get enough and that means the other three rows have been getting about twice as much water. All the corn is doing fine - it's waist-high and the "wetter" rows are a few inches taller than the others.

But here's what I noticed for the first time - plants in the "drier" rows with normal water ALL had two big sucker stalks about 2/3 the length of the main stalk. Plants in the "wetter" rows had no suckers. This is without exception and on over a hundred plants.

I can't figure that out. I'd think it'd be the other way around - that when corn plants get extra water they'd use it to grow sucker stalks, and with less water maybe they wouldn't. But no, the plants getting extra water didn't grow any suckers - not one of them. Hmmm.

Can anyone here explain that to me?

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