Things to Look for When Selecting Your Corn

Dave ChristensenSeed We Need

A good crop of Painted Mountain Corn. These improved Native plants yielded 105 bushels/acre.

This success involved making many good selections for many years!

After intermating many populations of western corn, I set to work selecting.

Mandan IndianVillages

Big Timber

San Luis,Colorado

SouthernDents

NorthernFlints

Corn beltDents

My gardens have many populations and lines. Sometimes I control pollination with bagging and detasseling since good mothers and fathers are needed. This is a lot of work that fills my summer days.

While I maintained the diversity of colors, my primary selection was for plants that survived, yielded well, and were free of off-types.

STRESS SELECTION TECHNIQUES:

1. Plant densely and deeply, then thin!

2. Hold back water

3. Hold back fertilizer

4. Grow in Montana: cold springs, very hot summer days, summer drought, early frost, hail

Select for horizontal resistance to stress over years of intense mass selection

I kept in my mind a vision of my ideotype after I figured out which form was the best adapted here.

When I visit my fields in the fall, I think of this type as I evaluate all of the plants.

Those that aren't the best are used, but not for seed!

With drought stress some Painted Mountain plants still yield very well.

Short husks leave the grain exposed to the elements and the birds. Avoid short husks!

Good husks protect the grain until harvest.

This is a well husked ear. However, the long shank allows the ear to fall to the ground and flag leaves can waste precious water in a drought.

Here is great diversity for shank length. Selection can help to fix the right type: short and thin.

I keep opaque, floury kernels because they are soft and more digestible. Choose the kernel starch type you need...

...and then select them from many good ears. I spend my winters carefully selecting seeds. Only the best of the best get planted in spring.

Select against ears with kernels that split or are infected with fungi: these can be toxic!

Select many ears from a large population, select for good ears on healthy plants that stand long into the fall, and watch out for new traits...

...like natural resistance to grasshoppers!

After picking, dry the seed ears well.

Will you breed the Seed We Need?