# Corn with PURPLE silk???



## mommymushbrain (Jan 10, 2005)

What the heck is this? 

The silks on my corns are a deep reddish purple! My tassels also have a slightly purple tinge to them now... it's not all of them, just a handful of plants on one end of the garden.

Otherwise it looks quite healthy, the stalks are nearly 6 feet tall... I planted a simple sweet corn hybrid, never seen anything like this.

If you guys need to see it, I'll take a picture of it. Weirdest thing I ever saw...

Anyone know what is up???  <--me


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## mommymushbrain (Jan 10, 2005)

Nevermind. I called my dad (he works for a farm co-op in Indiana) and he told me what it was.


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## Kazahleenah (Nov 3, 2004)

Well....???? What was it??? 
Inquiring minds want to know

Kaza


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## mommymushbrain (Jan 10, 2005)

Oh sorry.  Dad said I'm low on phospate... Real low... :haha:


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## mammabooh (Sep 1, 2004)

mommymushbrain said:


> Oh sorry.  Dad said I'm low on phospate... Real low... :haha:


Uh-oh...guess my garden is too. I always thought that's how it was supposed to look!


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## frenchgardener (Jul 1, 2005)

I am so glad that you have purple corn. I planted my corn on April 2 and my silks turned purple. I have asked everyone I knew who gardened and no one had an answer. Last year I had purple okra that no one had EVER heard of before but me, so no one believed me when I told them there is such a thing as purple okra. Thank you, you have solved the mystery of the French's purple corn silks. So, how do you go about adding phosphate?


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## mommymushbrain (Jan 10, 2005)

You can buy straight phospate in a bag from the farm store... it looks like minute gravel. Anyways, I lost about half my corn from the deficiency. It's all because my husband wouldn't listen when I said you can't plant corn in the same place twice, but he did anyways.

You also can add phosphate with Miracle Grow, but watch out for the nitrogen in it... Too much of that can kill your corn too.


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