When freezing temperatures injure corn plants in a field some plants may survive and recover, while other plants will die. One of the first steps in diagnosing frost injury is to check the health of the internal growing point. Plants can be split vertically and the growing point region inspected visually for damage. If the growing point tissue is obviously damaged, plants will not recover. Corn plants die immediately when growing point tissue is frozen. Corn plants not killed immediately may still succumb to various physical or biological factors that prevent recovery, including:
- Plant starvation - Leaf loss due to frost injury reduces photosynthetic area available to produce carbohydrates for new plant growth and recovery.
- Plant disease - Injured plants have reduced levels of resistance to secondary pathogens invading damaged tissues.
However, even if the growing point appears healthy immediately after the frost, plants still may die. Cool weather after the frost can delay visible deterioration of damaged tissue on plants. Those plants not directly killed by the frost can succumb to the other factors described above.