SEASONAL DRY-WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION OF SINGLE-STALKED AND MULTI-TILLERED CORN HYBRIDS GROWN AT THREE POPULATION DENSITIES IN SOUTHERN ALBERTA
Dry weights of component parts of the main stalk and tillers of corn (Zea mays L.) were determined for a multi-tillered hybrid, Stewart Multi G, and single-stalked hybrids, United UH 106 and Warwick SL 209, in 1974 and 1975. The hybrids were grown under irrigation at 35, 70, and 115 thousand plants/ha at Lethbridge, Alberta. Intrarow spacings equalled interrow spacings. At the end of the season, the multi-tillered hybrid had higher total yields at 35,000 plants/ha man single-stalked hybrids because of its large tillers but the single-stalked hybrids had a higher grain content than the multi-tillered hybrid. Tillers developed early in the season, but the number of tillers per plant decreased after reaching a maximum in late July, presumably due to population-density stresses. Decreases in tiller and stalk dry weight at the end of the season may have been due to translocation of carbohydrates to the main stalk and kernels.