Detasseling

[sim.-ang.king]

Do it to make hybrid seed corn.

 

[ibetyamissedme]

Alright I gotta ask for us southern/eastern boys - besides a way to get lucky why do you de-tassel corn? Don't get me wrong that's reason enough and if your hiring count me in but I haven't ever heard of it and am curios why you do it. Is it for seed corn only?

yes it is required for the production of hybrid seed corn.

For example there will be four rows of the female parent plant A we will call it. Then on each side of those four rows of plant A, there will be the male parent plant B. To produce a hybrid the tassels must be removed from the female plant A. After pollination plant B will be destroyed. Back in the day we harvested the four rows of female parent plant A with a four row uni and left the male parent plant B stand, and later we pick it by hand and feed it to the cattle. Now like I said they destroy that parent plant B. A hybrid is a cross with one male parent from one plant, and then one female parent from the other plant. A open air pollinated cross bred will have two fathers from two different plants and one mother.

 

[cow pollinater]

To bad there's not an easier way to do it(there is, but it's not as precise) with corn. With a lot of tree fruit all you have to do to produce hybrid seed is plop a few beehives out. You know that the resulting seeds are a direct hybrid because the trees won't set fruit without cross pollination.

 

[ibetyamissedme]

To bad there's not an easier way to do it(there is, but it's not as precise) with corn. With a lot of tree fruit all you have to do to produce hybrid seed is plop a few beehives out. You know that the resulting seeds are a direct hybrid because the trees won't set fruit without cross pollination.

They did produce a non tasseling female parent for a period of time. That just did not result the way we needed it to. But to produce any hybrid it will require human gene modification of the plant in some form. They do not happen naturally.

 

[SmokinM]

Thanks for the explanation guys. I knew it had to have something to do with the pollination just couldn't figure out the goal.

 

[ibetyamissedme]

Thanks for the explanation guys. I knew it had to have something to do with the pollination just couldn't figure out the goal.

No problem, without human manipulation to the plants the hybridization of seed corn would never exist. This is the only way to produce hybrid seed corn.

 

[ibetyamissedme]

Here is a little better explanation with pictures.

http://www.hollowaysdetasseling.com/how.htm