It's All About The Roots

 

You would never think about building a house on a poor foundation, would you?  The same thing goes for your crops.  Crops will only go as far as roots will take them.  

 

In my years in the field, I have NEVER seen a poor looking plant have a good root system underneath it.  It just doesn't happen. Good roots lead to good crops.  We have spent years and years of research in so many other areas and yet are just now starting to realize that what we do with roots will pay us the greatest returns.  Scientists are now seeing just how dynamic root cells are and how complex the world they live in.  Roots interact with all types of bacteria, and other living organisms....your plants' root system has to get along with thousands of different neighbors.  The top half of the plant.....what you and I see....is simply a reflection of what is going on "down in the trenches".  

 

 

Consider these few facts:

 

The ear density is determined in the first 10 days

of emergence

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                                                                              

                                                                                                                 

 

                                                                                                                         

 

                                                                                                                         The rows of kernels around the ear are determined

                                                                                                                          in 24 to 30 days from emergence

 

                                                                                                     

 

 

 

http://corn.agronomy.wisc.edu/Management/pdfs/CriticalStages.pdf

 

 

 

 

 

Here is a great high-speed film on corn root development