Growing corn

[canadianfarmboy]

Was out checking my corn today and it doesnt seem to be growing as fast/tall as i would like to see it grow . I will be chopping the corn this fall for silage . My question is can i apply some fertlizer with the boradcaster now? its probably 1.5 feet to 2 feet tall as this point . And for the cost of fertlizer ( $500 a tonne in my area for 15-15-15 would i see that much of a return on the extra feed i will get . thanks

 

[Jake]

What has the temperature been running? Also before applying extra fertilizer I would consider how much you have already applicated. Corn often seems to take forever to get to thigh high and in short period it will shoot to head high.

 

[canadianfarmboy]

Thanks for the reply jake , when i planted the corn i applied 350 lbs/acre of 30-10-10 as that was what as recommened to me at the time . We havent had any huge temperature here for a long period of time as it has rained on and off all of june . Our rainfall for june was 18 inches , normally in the 5 -6 inch range . thanks again

 

[VanC]

Was out checking my corn today and it doesnt seem to be growing as fast/tall as i would like to see it grow . I will be chopping the corn this fall for silage . My question is can i apply some fertlizer with the boradcaster now? its probably 1.5 feet to 2 feet tall as this point . And for the cost of fertlizer ( $500 a tonne in my area for 15-15-15 would i see that much of a return on the extra feed i will get . thanks

I'm surrounded by thousands of acres of corn but not much of it silage corn. Maybe these guys can help. Most of them raise a lot of corn for silage:

http://www.dairyforums.com/forums/

 

[Texas PaPaw]

Sound like you need lots of sunshine. If you put out more fertilizer, I would only put nitrogen. It's possible that the excessive rainfall could have leached out some nitrogen. The P & K are pretty immobile. My best recommendation would be to pray for more sunshine. Plants can't grow without it.

 

[longtimelurker]

105 units of N, 35 units of P and 35 units of K is that the standard application rate for your area for Corn production?

 

[jkwilson]

Do your plants have a yellowish stripe down the center of the leaf, getting wider toward the tip?

I'd highly recommend you soil test. Fertilizer is too expensive to guess, and so is a poor crop.

 

[SRBeef]

Sound like you need lots of sunshine. If you put out more fertilizer, I would only put nitrogen. It's possible that the excessive rainfall could have leached out some nitrogen. The P & K are pretty immobile. My best recommendation would be to pray for more sunshine. Plants can't grow without it.

I agree with TPP, the P & K in the 15-15-15 applied at this time of year would not be likely to benefit this years corn crop. Yellow slow growing corn can be a sign of N deficiency, waterlogged roots or too cool temperastures or a combination of the above.

At this time of year in Ontario and seeing as you are going to use it for silage I would just hold tight and not apply any more fertilizer. Even if it is N deficiency, broadcasting dry Urea on the surface at 2 ft height may or may not help the corn and getting urea in the whorl may actually damage your corn.

As mentioned above, after harvesting silage, do soil tests in the fall and re evaluate your fertilizer program for next year. A split application is the most efficient way to apply N. Have your soil test also include micros such as sulphur, boron, etc Also check the pH which has a dramatic effect on corn growth. If lime is needed apply the finest grind you can get this fall.

Good Luck. Jim

 

[canadianfarmboy]

thanks for all the replies so far. The last two days i think the corn almost doubled :lol: Temp. hit 101 today and should keep like this all week. I always worry when things dont seem to be going as good as i think they should or compared to someone elses. thanks

 

[greengrasscattle]

My college roomate who now works for Monsanto, said the effects from urea in the whorl are cosmetic only. A shortage of nitrogen however is more than cosmetic.