hand-pollinating corn for seed saving

Presented by Sarah Noller & Christy Marsden

2012 Seed Savers Exchange Webinar Series

Corn Hand-Pollination

Our mission is to save North America’s diverse, but endangered, garden heritage for future generations by building a network of people committed to collecting, conserving, and sharing heirloom seeds and plants, while educating people about the value of genetic and cultural diversity.

Corn is a monoecious plant, having separate male and female flowers on the same plant.

The male flower is the tassel which produces anthers that shed pollen. The female flower is the ear. The silks are the stigmas and are receptive to pollen along their entire length.

Corn is a monoecious plant, having separate male and female flowers on the same plant.

The male flower is the tassel which produces anthers that shed pollen. The female flower is the ear. The silks are the stigmas and are receptive to pollen along their entire length.

Each silk is attached to an ovary that will become a kernel if successfully fertilized. There are several essential steps in controlled pollinations of corn.

Ear shoot bags - Lawson

Tassel bags - Lawson

Colored Flagging Ribbon (red, orange, blue, and purple)

Stapler & Staples

Permanent markers

Hand-held metal strainers

Scissors and/or pruners

Hand sanitizer

Aprons (for carrying pollinating supplies)

All-weather journal for keeping track of pollinations in the field

Materials

Step 1Ear Shoot Bagging and Cutting Back Silks

Step 2Bagging Tassels

Step 3Collecting Pollen

Step 4Pollinating

Thank you! Questions?

2012 Seed Savers Exchange Webinar Series

For more information please visit these resources:

Seed Savers Exchange website: www.seedsavers.orgForum: forum.seedsavers.org

Online Yearbook: yearbook.seedsavers.org

To learn more about seed savingRead Suzanne Ashworth’s Seed-to-Seed

Visit www.seedalliance.org for the free publication, A Seed Saving Guide for Gardners & Farmers