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DeKalb, IL | The one thing that makes me wonder most about insect feeding as the source of the problem is that both the first and second ears are showing the same blank strip. Another thing is that the blank is in a strip, and a pretty wide one at that. Whenever I've seen enough silk clipping to be an issue, all silk has been eaten, not just a part.
How was the synchrony between silking and shed? It seems almost like there might have been a lot of silk hanging down, covering silks from one side of the ear when pollen shed occurred. Again, though, that both ears show the same pattern argues against that as the sole explanation.
Can you tell whether kernels in these blank strips were pollinated and then aborted, or were never pollinated? That might give a bit of a clue. Critical stages in ear development are around the 5 to 7 leaf stage (row number determination) and just before silking (row length determination) and the first 2 weeks after pollination (tip-back adjustments). Anything unusual for any of these periods? | |
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What would your guess be as to the cause of areas with no/small kernals?
