My corn always has dead gnats in the folds of the leaves. It's no big deal. The problem with no ears of corn is no pollination because you have one plant. Corn is something that has to have several - I would think at least a dozen - planted in a square formation. Even planted in a single row, you won't get pollination. I don't know for sure how many you would need because I plant A LOT of corn - like 20 50-foot rows. Sometimes people get by with hand-pollination of the silks. However, I would assume that by now the ear and tassle are long-gone, so that probably is not an option. As far as planting it near tomatoes, I've never heard of that. My corn is always near my tomatoes. Good luck for next year - maybe you can buy a little package of seed and plant several plants!

I too have planted corn next to tomatoes.

If the silk is still out, either shake the plant or remove the tassle & use it to pollinate the silk heavily. Increase watering if you see ears developing.

Good Luck,
Gumby_CT

How long ago did you plant it and how tall is it now? does it have tassles at the top of the plant? If so, how long ago did the tassles form? If within the last week or so, grab & shake the plant to see if the tassles are shedding pollen. Look anywhere from 18-36" up from the ground for silks, they branch out off the main stalk above a leaf. You need to get pollen from the tassles to fall on the silks. If you have no tassles, then it's not old enough yet. Tassles usually come a week or 2 before silks. If you have tassles but no pollen shakes out, it's past its time.

You probably have a few plants bunched together--they probably planted 2 or 3 seeds and maybe they all sprouted. Nothing you can do about it now. It's not too common to find corn at nurseries. The only time I've seen them, they were in 6-packs, with 2 seeds in each cell.

Don't worry about the gnats. You can usually tell the difference between gnats & aphids--gnats, even dead ones, you'll see clear wings that may shine in the sunlight.

If you don't have tassles yet, there's still hope, though if you can successfully pollinate the silks, you will probably only have 1 ear (per plant, so you may get 1-3 ears total.) Each silk represents 1 kernel on an ear, so get as much pollen onto the silks to get a full ear of kernels. It only takes 1 grain of pollen needed per strand of silk to form 1 kernel. Sometimes I even grab a leaf that has lots of shed pollen on it and bend it to where the silks are and wipe the silks with the pollen on the leaf.

Hope this helps.

Mark

Wow! do I feel dumb! I never saw corn at the nursery either, that's why I guess I was so impulsive and bought it! Well, I have not yet seen any tassels or silk. I can't remember when I stuck it in the ground, but I'd have to say maybe the beginning of June or a bit later. The plant itself is about 5ft. tall. And looks very healthy. I read about not planting next to tomatoes in one of the forums on this web sight. I can't remember what it was called but they talk about companion planting ie: what should be planted next to each other and what shouldn't to optimize growth and yields and to prevent disease and pests etc. I really feel dumb about the pollination thing, I should have known that. Excitement got the better of me. I had visions of Indian corn and stalks from my own garden in my fall display! So you think it may still get tassels and silk? Well, if nothing else i will get three stalks for my fall decorations!lol!

Indian corn as I recall takes >100 days to produce ears, longer than most regular corns. If no tassels have appeared yet (tassels on the very top of plant) then it's too early. The thing about not planting corn with tomatoes is about the shading effect as well as competition of water and nutrients.

Actually, they share a common pest too, the corn earworm = tomato fruitworm.

Well, just checking my garden this morning and thought I'd look a bit closer and I found tassels just beginning to show down in the center of the plant. I guess in a couple of weeks I will get silks? Thanks Mark, Your directions for pollinating sound easy enough. I hope this works!

Let us know when you get tassles, then silks will follow them. Of course, silks in their early stages are sometimes hard to see, but with just a few plants they shouldn't be too hard to find. You'll first recognize them when they are about an inch long and fanned out. As they get longer, feel them, if they are sticky or tacky, they are receptive to pollen.

Mark

tassels out- waiting on silks!

new problem. today I saw tiny black bugs on my corn. I believe these are the dreaded aphids I keep reading about. Also new today are lady bugs. It seems these two have appeared at the same time and in reading the many posts, I am correct in my assumption that the lovely ladies are there to eat the aphids. Cool! What I am wondering and can not seem to decipher from all the posts is, do I let the lady bugs take care of the aphids or should I intervene to save my corn and possibly the other garden veggies I am trying to grow? Do any of you folks with experience know when I should be concerned about the ladies ability to control the aphid population? There seem to be a lot more aphids than ladybugs at this point, but I don't have a clue how much one can eat. Is there anything I can do to help? I read on the posts that some people are using soap spray. or just water and the garden hose. Will these methods help or hinder the lady bugs? Since I have tassels now and am waiting for silks is this a crucial time for an aphid infestation or does the timing not matter at all?

The ladybugs will lay eggs which will hatch into ladybug larvae (they're kind of prickly and scary looking), and those will eat the majority of your aphids. The soap would kill the ladybugs and their offspring. The water might wash the ladybugs away too. As icky as it seems, you could just squish the aphids - that's what I usually do, but I don't get too many.