@JMTKMS: Resemblance to spiders, maybe? That does it for me. Or maybe it's just the creepy finger-like quality? I guess it's good I grew up on a corn farm so I'm used to them :)
@SweetDomesticity...: I have been in alot of "grown" corn fields, but I have never noticed the fingers. I have grown corn a couple times, and still never seen/noticed them. My corn right now, does not have fingers.... so whats the deal with that??? Guess I will have to go look in the field of corn behind my house and see if it has fingers... hope it does not, as that would be just a few to many. :)
@JMTKMS: Huh, I guess I always assumed all corn had it. Interesting. I know they grow to support/stabilize the corn plant, since the roots are pretty shallow, as well as to pull in additional nutrients for the plant. I wonder if maybe our high humidity here has anything to do with it - might encourage the growth so the plant can pull more moisture out of the air? I have no idea, so that's pure conjecture on my part.
@JMTKMS: I posted my dad's response down below so it would be more easy for everyone to find - he had some fascinating information - I might do a blog post on this, actually.
@SweetDomesticity...: I just read it... thank you it is very interestin... will be taking a closer look at my corn and the field corn. I really have not looked at either in a while. John had to show me a picture of ours so I could see how well it was growing, to bad we just have a couple of plants...
I too have never seen this.....and I was going to ask if all corn did that, but I guess not. Def different.....as long as the end product comes out fine is all that matters right.....Thank you for sharing.
Okay, I asked my dad, the life-long seed farmer and agronomist, about why there are sometimes brace roots and sometimes not, and he says that all corn has them to a degree. Depending on the growing conditions and variety, they might not be more than tiny nubs that never break out or grow down, but they are there if you would peel back the leaf layers to closely examine the bottom nodes of the stalk.
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