Unlike many plants that are pollinated by insects, corn is pollinated by the wind. ... Becuase each silk will form one kernel of corn

, all of the silks have to be pollinated in order to have ears of corn packed with kernels. If there is insufficient pollination you will get spotty corn.

Do you have to self pollinate corn?

Unfortunately for the home gardener, manual pollination of corn is almost a necessity. Even if your plot of corn is fairly large, learning how to hand pollinate corn can increase your yield and help prevent those sterile stalks that are often found along the edges of your planting.

How do I know if my corn is pollinated?

With practice, pollination progress can be easily determined by estimating the percentage of silks that fall away from the cob. Sampling ears at random throughout a field will provide an indication of the progress of pollination for the whole field.