Heat is a major energy factor influencing the development of corn plants and the ultimate grain yield. Cellular respiration rates increase as temperatures go up. Photosynthesis rates also respond to increased heat as well. It seems reasonable to assume that practically every physiological function in the corn plant is affected by heat energy. This includes the transformation of the apical meristem from producing leaf buds to production of the tassel. This happens in corn plants at about the V6 stage. Many, many years ago, I dissected young corn plants of hybrids of nearly all maturities sold by a major seed company looking for this change in the apical meristem. The change visible under a microscope, was nearly perfectly correlated with our final classification of the relative maturities of the hybrids. This is consistent with the view that the first influence of temperature on corn maturity occurs early in the season. It is probable that temperatures further affect further development of the differentiated apical cells into mature tassels. We attempt to express the daily temperatures that could affect the timing of pollination with averaging high and low daily temperatures but accurately depicting the duration of a high or a low temperature is difficult. We know that it does affect, but like much of growing crops, we know of the principles but not all the specifics. Grain fill period seems mostly fixed to about 55 days but there are studies that show low night temperatures can extend the period to formation of the abscission layer, thus increasing grain yield (Elmore, R. 2010. Reduced 2010 Corn Yield Forecasts Reflect Warm Temperatures between Silking and Dent. Integrated Crop Management. Iowa State University, 9 Oct. 2010). It is likely that each hybrid differs in its reaction to temperature during this period. Given the difficulty of accurately measuring the specifics of temperature interactions of corn plant morphological development, cellular function such as photosynthesis, respiration rates and translocation rate of sugars It is best that we simply compare hybrids for their usual time to harvest moisture. It is all relative. Comments are closed.
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About Corn JournalThe purpose of this blog is to share perspectives of the biology of corn, its seed and diseases in a mix of technical and not so technical terms with all who are interested in this major crop. With more technical references to any of the topics easily available on the web with a search of key words, the blog will rarely cite references but will attempt to be accurate. Comments are welcome but will be screened before publishing. Comments and questions directed to the author by emails are encouraged.
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