Growing the perfect ear of corn.

Corn. Corn is a member of the grass family and is monoecious having both male and female reproductive organs on each plant. However, unlike many monoecious plants the sex organs of the corn plant are widely separated from each other. The male flowers are located in the top of the corn stalk in the plants tassel while the female flowers are the silk of the corns ears. Each strand of silk is attached to a single kernel of corn. For pollination to occur the pollen grains produced by the tassels must contact the silk of an immature ear of corn. If each strand of silk is not pollinated the kernel it is attached to will not develop and the ear of corn will be deformed. To assist the pollination of an ear of corn select a few tassels that are golden brown. Cut off the tassel and shake it vigorously in a paper bag. Pick it up the pollen that has collected in the bag with a medium sized paintbrush. Select a tassel that is drooping and ready to be pollinated. Hold the brush an inch or so above the drooping tassel and tap it to allow the pollen to fall onto the tassel. For best results, repeat this process daily for one week.