Brandon came home and asked me a very strange question the other day. Can you hear corn growing? My first answer was a resounding NO! (and some one's been pulling your leg.) Then I started thinking about it. Actually, you might be able to hear part of the growing process. When the cob reaches maturity and the husks are stretched tight, you might hear the sound of them "popping" as they broke loose from the corn. Maybe that's what his friends were talking about. On a hot summer's day, it might actually sound like a crackling if a lot of them were popping loose around the same time. This really has me curious. After all, in Belgium, there is a field of corn on every corner. You'd think that the grocery stores are full of it in the Fall, but that is not the case. The locals won't touch the stuff. They don't grow sweet corn here, just your basic feed corn. It almost has a stigma attached to it..."What? I don't eat corn on the cob! Are you calling me a cow?"
Anyhoo, back to the original question. I did a little research online, and the consensus is that you can hear it crackling on a hot night. By crackling, are they talking about the stalks butting up against each other in the wind, or a sound coming from inside the corn? And only at night? I'm starting to think that this is one of those urban legends that are designed to talk a sweet, naive girl into going out into the corn field at night with her randy young suitor. Upon further research, this is the theory: Corn is a very fast growing plant. It grows an average of an inch or two per day. This is something I can totally get on board with. Our local corn is shooting up faster than the nerdy kid's hand (from the Polar Express) during a pop quiz. (Just making sure you were still paying attention.) As it grows and shifts into new positions, it makes a popping or ticking noise. This is easier heard when the corn is in large amounts, and at night when it is quiet. It's an interesting theory. Maybe one of these nights, when the skies are clear and it's not too windy, I'll grab a lawn chair and head down the street to the closest corn field. I'll have a seat and just listen for a little bit. Who knows what I might hear? Probably the locals dialing the authorities up. What are those crazy Americans up to now? And why is she sitting in my corn field?
I have heard it grow, though only once. It was a popping sound. I think the key was it was a hot, clam day and had been pretty wet previously and probably just at the right time in its growth period. Most people don't believe me, but my grandfather, a friend of his, and myself all heard it. we thought at first it was the high power lines, but this was a popping sound not the buzzing sound you hear from electric lines.
ReplyDeleteI was born in Iowa, a PRIME corn growing state and spent time in Nebraska, an adjacent major corn growing state.
ReplyDeleteThe tale of hearing corn growing is often told with few locals stating that to be a "wive's tale," meaning it is a made-up story, a lie not intended to harm but more to entertain.
Be aware that the corn growing regions of the USA tend to be full of culturally backwards folks.
Not stupid people!!! NO!!! The literacy rates for the population in the "corn areas" tends to be high; MUCH much higher than areas where the HORDES, the multi-MILLIONS of illegal alien invaders across the USA southern border who tend to culturally abhor education and have been known (as I experienced personally) to physically attack those in USA schools, especially males, for not being "manly."
"Machismo" cultural norms for many of the invading males is that education is for females (who are culturally expected to OBEY the male) and males who do not earn their income via labor-intensive physical jobs are women-like, not fully MEN.
Sadly, MANY USA elites, higher-ups, politicians etc. WANT the invaders since their numbers drive down wages, increasing the wealth of the few while USA citizen working-poor suffer economically.
Just a reality within the USA.
Anyway... Some basic scientifically-based research could likely provide an answer.
Something to perhaps occupy a cold, wet rainy day when interior warmth, a tasty hot beverage and Web access would provide an enjoyable repast.
Have a wonderful week, folks!!!
You can hear corn grow at night when growing (photosynthesis)conditions are perfect. The corn leaf is tightly wrapped around the stem. The stem reallly can grow up to an inch a day. The cells inside the stem are growing and causing it to elongate, but it is "stuck" inside the tightly wrapped leaf. The the pressure builds up and the stem slides through the leaf with a little pop/squeak that you can hear. It happens when you have lots of water in the soil, and lots of long, hot, humid days. There needs to be no wind at night so that you can hear it. Corn can also do CAM photosynthesis, which means that it is still fixing carbon (making sugar) at night.
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