Corn reaches it maximum plant height soon after tasseling occurs. Unless your interest is primarily silage production, increasing plant height should not be a major concern. Generally later maturity hybrids are taller than earlier maturity hybrids. Big ears placed head high on a plant translate to a high center of gravity, predisposing a plant to potential lodging. The negative effects of stalk rot on stalk lodging n the fall may be worsened by high ear placement.
Hybrids vary in the angle that the leaves point toward the heavens.
Brace roots are part of a corn plant's permanent root system that develop at stalk nodes above the soil surface. If the surface soil is moist and not excessively hot, brace roots will penetrate the soil and proliferate. Brace roots provide a certain amount of structural support to the plant during strong winds. If the upper soil layers remain moist during grain fill, brace roots will also scavenge soil nutrients for use by the developing ear. Generally speaking, a thicker stalk is preferable to a thinner one in terms of overall stalk strength and resistance to stalk lodging.