Determining Growth Stages in Corn

In this video, Pioneer Field Agronomist Ron Joiner walks viewers through staging corn growth as growers look to make post-planting herbicide decisions. For smaller plants, each leaf stage is defined according to the uppermost leaf whose leaf collar is visible. The first part of the collar that is visible is the back, which appears as a discolored line between the leaf blade and leaf sheath. Beginning at about V6 increasing stalk and nodal root growth combine to tear the small lowest leaves from the plant. Degeneration and eventual loss of the lowest leaves results. To determine the leaf stage after lower leaf loss, split the lower stalk lengthwise and inspect for the internode elongation. The first node above the first elongated stalk internode generally is the fifth leaf node. This internode is usually a little less than 1/2 inch in length. This fifth leaf node may be used as a replacement reference point for counting to the top leaf collar. For more information on staging corn growth, visit: https://www.pioneer.com/us/agronomy/staging_corn_growth.html #Agronomy #PioneerSeeds #Corn