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Hey everyone, first time growing corn and one of the cobs is looking positively haunted, I'm pretty sure these are enlarged kernels, have anyone seen something like this? Know why it happens? And if it ripens, is it safe to eat?
Corn smut? Not a joke, if it turns blue you're in for a treat?
Yup, apparently huitlacoche is delicious.
Seems like I'm a lucky boy!
Congrats! You have corn smut
Huit la coche is really good. I've had it. It's a little sweet like corn, but tastes like a mushroom. Great fried up with eggs or prepared in other ways. Pretty much any way you'd use mushrooms.
Harvest when firm and gray. If it gets wrinkly and black inside it has gone too long, but can be used to inoculate other corn to make more once it starts showing spore growth on the exterior.
Thank you! I have a few cobs left on the stalks that are not going to be fertilized, do you think it might be a good idea to let it spore the rest?
You'd need to inoculate before pollination/during the pollination period. You'd save the spores and put them on the silks (maybe in a dropper mixed with water) when they start showing. Probably next year at this point. Some sources say freezing is bad for saving the spores. Some say it's fine. Keeping them pretty dry is probably going to be the most important part.
I'd probably let them dry in a cool garage/cellar/cupboard in an open jar and then cap that until the right time next year.
If your corn has already started forming kernels and filling the husks, it's too late for new fungus to take hold.
How dare you show us that SMUT (and not share some)
Fungus?
Yeah, corn smut is a fungus and is basically a super tasty mushroom, you can make tacos with it
If it is what I think it is, what a treat!
ITT: People being gross but stupid people like me don’t get the joke
It's not a joke. There's a fungus that can grow on corn which is considered a delicacy.
The fungus growing here is apparently called corn smut. Smut is also a word for nsfw content; you night say that erotica or a horny romance comic are "smut"
apparently the corn smut is also delicious, which is neat