Yes, there's issue with the plant. Yes, there's issue with pollination. Yes, planting corn in small amount is difficult.

It's like looking in a mirror

I've had good success hand-pollinating corn. But a husk-less ear is definitely a new one.

Something like this

Circorncised

I tried that, but the timing of the tassle and silk is so off for mine that most pollen will just fall off before the silk even came out. It's also awfully windy the past two months.

the timing of the tassle and silk is so off for mine that most pollen will just fall off before the silk even came out

I've had this happen before too; I assume it's too prevent self-pollination, but is super frustrating. As far as keeping the pollen from blowing away, I read somewhere that the best time to hand-pollinate is around 10-11am, which has worked well for me (but I don't live in an especially windy climate).

huh, i've never seen that before. neat