Environmentally Induced Variations of Sweet Corn Characteristics as They Relate to the Time Required for Development

Abstract

Abstract Exposure to warm and cool temperatures in the period from planting to the 4tli leaf stage had no effect on the total number of leaves produced by ‘Golden Cross Bantam’ sweet corn. The same treatments in the period from the 4th to the 9th leaf stage resulted in a 3-leaf difference with the warm treated plants having the greater number. Exposure to warm temperatures suppressed the elongation of the lower internodes regardless of whether the exposure was in the planting to the 4th leaf or to the 9th leaf period. Exposure to warm and cool temperatures in the periods from the 5th leaf stage to tassel initiation, tassel initiation to ear initiation, and ear initiation to row initiation resulted in a complex situation in which the time of pollen shed or silk appearance was influenced not only by the time of tassel, ear, or row initiation but also by the number of leaves still to be developed to the point of visibility. Exposure of 5 varieties of sweet corn to 10, 13, and 16 hr photoperiods up to the time of tassel initiation supported the observations in the literature that varieties adapted to tropical or subtropical regions are more likely to respond to photoperiod than those adapted to temperate regions.