Interesting observation about genetics while presprouting corn

I've had a horrible time getting corn to germinate this year - i planted several hundred seeds, and have about 10 plants. Admittedly, i keep needing to leave, so the garden hasnt been consistently watered, but i also wonder if something is eating the seeds!

I decided to presprout my third attempt at planting corn, since half of my corn plants came from the original 20 seeds i did a germination test on!  Then life happened, i was away, and not around to plant them.

I'm growing Painted Mountain from seed that I grew in 2020, and decided to learn about corn genetics by planting only white kernels this year based on some comments from Carol Deppe i read.  I wanted a white flour corn bsck in 2020, but couldnt find seeds.

Look ! Some of the kernels, the roots have come out red, and i suspect that correlates to a plant that will grow purple stalks/husks, like some of my original seeds.

I'll plant the white rooted seeds only, and see what happens! Might just have saved me a generation of selection. Alternatively, if one wanted to select for red corn plants, this presprouting step might also be worthwhile.

Well, i decided I cared more about validating my hypothesis than achieving my breeding goal (which was  mostly "when i grind this without nixtamalization and make pancakes, i don't like how the colour looks muddy") so i planted 2 hills with the red rooted sprouts, the rest of the hills with the white rooted sprouts.

If the corn ACTUALLY decides to grow this time, i'll report back if i'm right about the colour.

If not... i dunno at this point. I'm really having issues with germination of pretty much everything I plant this year.  Especially in this section, where even the beans and squash are struggling to germinate.  Maybe there's a weird underground bug eating things.

So you have ruled out the possibility of seeds not being viable. Could it be the soil fertility? What have you planted in that spot last year and were the residues removed? Anything to put back for this season? Are there weeds growing and are there anything abnormal about them?

I had really bad luck with direct-seeded corn for several years in a row. I had all kinds of suspects: slugs, cutworms, rats, fungal wilt, you name it. Then one spring, as I was inspecting the plot, I noticed a green corn shoot on the ground and picked it up. It had been snipped off at the base, right next to the kernel, and the shape of the snippage made the perpetrator obvious. It was a clean cut and made a V with about a 35-degree angle and rounded tip. Sparrows had been swooping in and plucking the babies right as they emerged.

I made another sowing (I think it was the third one that season) and put a net over the patch. Got a really impressive strike rate from the same batch of seed and this time they all made it. So now every corn planting gets a net.

May Lotito wrote:So you have ruled out the possibility of seeds not being viable. Could it be the soil fertility? What have you planted in that spot last year and were the residues removed? Anything to put back for this season? Are there weeds growing and are there anything abnormal about them?

Weeds are growing vigorously - it's a new garden bed this year made from weedy grass. I germinate tested the corn seeds this spring at 18/20.  The corn that is growing is growing vigorously without signs of deficiencies (i did fertilize). Transplants are also growing really well. It's a rototilled bed, so weeds are very healthy.  

I truly suspect the issue is a combo of me not being around to keep seeds watered in establishment phase, but also possibly some sort of bug. A couple weeks after the last round of seeding, i excavated one of the corn mounds and found zero corn seeds in it, despite having planted around 20. I planted several types of beans scattered on stick trellises the same day, and had 100% germination on one variety, and 0% germination on the others. Similar with my direct seeded squash and cucumbers- will have 100% germination in one hill, 0% of the same variety one hill over.

I haven't seen any sign of bird damage or burrowing so far, but wouldn't be surprised by it, i have a lot of birds. Garden is fenced to exclude animals.