Do tillers deprive the main plant of nutrients?
A number of research studies have been conducted to determine “tiller_main plant relationships.” Defoliation experiments in the 1930’s revealed that defoliated plants that had tillers yielded nearly twice as much grain as defoliated plants that had no tillers. These results suggested that a connection existed between the tiller leaves and the main plant that allowed sugars produced in the tiller leaves to be moved to the ears on the main plants. More recent research reports have found that there is little movement of plant sugars between the main plant and tillers before tasseling. However, after silking and during grainfill, a substantial amount of plant sugars may move from earless tillers to ears on the main plant. When there are ears on both the tiller and the main plant, little movement of plant sugars occurs. In this case the main plant and tiller act independently, each receiving sugars from their own leaves. The nubbin ears, which tillers may produce, therefore have no impact o
