Based on data I have reviewed from other universities, if\u00a0corn\u00a0is recovering,\u00a0we should not<\/em><\/strong> see a yield loss associated with the freeze injury experienced by the young plants, even if all above-ground foliage was killed off. If there is a particular field or area that experienced lower temperatures and plant death occurred, I would encourage you to scout the entire field and evaluate the surviving stands to determine if a total replant of the field is needed or if spot replanting could be done.\u00a0There are exceptions: “buggy-whipped” seedlings with green whorls may struggle or fail to unfold, causing severe stunting. In those situations, a replant may be warranted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n I have had questions about whether we should apply irrigation to young, injured\u00a0corn. My recommendation is to\u00a0apply irrigation only on an as need basis\u00a0(For example, apply water if the soil profile and rooting zone are extremely dry, and plants are stressing, or extreme sand blasting of\u00a0corn\u00a0is occurring). At this growth stage,\u00a0corn\u00a0water use demand is\u00a0very low (0.03 to 0.09 inches of water per day<\/u><\/strong>).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n Below is a picture I took of a\u00a0corn\u00a0plant from Edisto REC showing injury, but a recovering whorl.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As always, if you need help evaluating stands or scouting for injury\/damage, please contact your local Extension agent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" As many of you know, temperatures across the state did drop below freezing last night (3\/16) and will again tonight (3\/17). I have not heard any reports of temperatures dropping to 28 F or below yet, but Northern SC could very well have seen those temps. If you think your area experienced sub-freezing temperatures and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3939,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[80685],"tags":[79170,88843,88920],"coauthors":[88896],"class_list":["post-640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-michael-plumblee","tag-corn","tag-freeze","tag-replant"],"fimg_url":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/sccrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/sccrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/sccrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/sccrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3939"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/sccrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/sccrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/640\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/sccrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/sccrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/sccrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=640"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/sccrops\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}},{"id":638,"date":"2026-03-12T13:34:33","date_gmt":"2026-03-12T13:34:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/sccrops\/?p=638"},"modified":"2026-03-12T13:35:17","modified_gmt":"2026-03-12T13:35:17","slug":"corn-planting-begins-considerations-for-plant-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/sccrops\/corn-planting-begins-considerations-for-plant-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Corn Planting Begins! Considerations for Plant 2026 and Cold Temps in the Forecast"},"content":{"rendered":"\n Plant 2026 is officially underway. Some farmers have already begun planting corn, while others are waiting until later dates to hedge against cold or frost. This is very much a risk\/reward scenario, where we typically see higher yields from early planting, though this corn is more vulnerable to a late freeze or frost. No year is ever a good year for replanting; with current markets, inflated input costs, narrow profit margins, and very limited seed supply, avoiding a replant situation in 2026 should be everyone’s top priority when deciding when to plant.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Looking ahead, the 10-day forecast shows some low temperatures near freezing next week. As of today, 3\/12, we have forecasted low temperatures (32-30F) on Monday (3\/16) and Tuesday (3\/17) nights. \u00a0With these temperatures, any\u00a0seed planted within the 24 to 36 hours<\/u><\/strong> up to the cool temps\u00a0could have the possibility of experiencing chilling injury when imbibition of water takes place. The soil temperature at planting depth will highly influence the fate of any seed germinating. Again, if soil temperatures do get cold enough (< 40 F) to cause injury, symptoms will likely result in swollen kernels that do not germinate or no radicle root or coleoptile growth after germination of the seed occurs.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n If injury occurs after germination<\/u><\/strong> symptoms may include stunting, root death, and poor stands across the field.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For\u00a0corn\u00a0that was planted and has already emerged<\/u><\/strong>, injury can range from minor leaf injury to complete plant death, depending on how cold it gets. Fortunately for\u00a0corn, the growing point remains below the soil surface until approximately V5 (~12 inches tall). With that being said,\u00a0corn\u00a0can withstand some\u00a0frost\u00a0early in its development and be okay. Unless we have a killing\u00a0frost and temperatures get to approximately\u00a028 F or lower for a few hours,\u00a0corn\u00a0that has already emerged and is up should be okay.<\/p>\n\n\n\n From past experience, things really start to get bad if we get to 28F and\/or below for several hours. I hope that we will avoid that next week.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A few years ago, I did a trial during some cold weather we had during planting. Below is a summary of what we saw. The take-home message is that it all depends on how cold the seed gets in the soil, which in turn depends on the ambient temperature and the duration of the cold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/blogs.clemson.edu\/sccrops\/files\/2026\/03\/image-768x1024.png\")
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