Re: Corn Growing

FeedMeSeeMore Mon May 02, 2016 2:54 pm

sfg4uKim wrote:I do mine a bit different and have had great success growing "4 per square" in a 2'x2' bed.

Hi, I'm planting corn for the first time ever in a 2 X 2 box using this same layout. At a minimum how deep should the soil be?

**AtlantaMarie** Mon May 02, 2016 3:43 pm

I did it in the 6". Be aware that the bees LOVE the pollen. And they are VERY heavy feeders....

**trolleydriver** Mon May 02, 2016 4:44 pm

Corn, corn everywhere corn. In the summer every farmer's field around here is full of corn.

I tried growing it in my regular garden soil one year. It grew well and produced some nice ears. The problem was that when I stripped the ears a ton of earwigs scrambled out. That turned me off growing it. My neighbor grew some last year and had the same problem.

Concerning pollinating corn ... When I was a teenager (wow that was a long time ago) I worked one summer at a government experimental farm in Ontario, Canada. To pollinate the corn (as part of the experiments) we put a paper bag over the tassles and shook the bag to capture the pollen. Then we would take that same bag and place it over the silks on the developing corn cobs. I think this was how they controlled the pollination so that there was no cross-pollination from different varieties which if allowed would ruin the experiment (e.g., when trying to develop a new variety).

FeedMeSeeMore Mon May 02, 2016 8:19 pm

AtlMarie: So the bees might eat all of the pollen, I take it. Thanks for the tip.
And, trolley driver: The earwigs. Ughhh. Those are all over my yard. Didn't know I had any until I started SFGing. Pesty, invasive things.
Have to satisfy myself yay or nay on growing corn. Fingers crossed.

**sanderson** Mon May 02, 2016 8:24 pm

Earwigs - Sluggo Plus works against them. Maybe sprinkle around the base of the stalk.

FMSM, 6" with nutritious compost. If I remember, they are heavy feeders??

TD, My husband de-tasseled corn when he was young. I was trying to remember the word detassel and typed in tassel stripping Shocked

! Then I added corn and it took me to detasseling.

**Turan** Fri May 04, 2018 7:20 pm

Time for me to think about preparing the corn bed. I just found some Painted Hill seed. That is a cross between Luther Hill, an old heirloom sweet corn variety, and Painted Mountain, a very hardy flour corn. We like corny tasting corn and not very sweet. In the past I have grown Painted Mountain and picked some at green stage, very tasty, and let the rest mature to make hominy with. This cross should be hardy and just a little sweeter. I had heard of this cross years ago but never found it. I am excited.
I also have Golden Bantam, an old stand by not seen a lot anymore.

Anybody got any corn experiments happening?

**sanderson** Sat May 05, 2018 4:34 am

Do you call trying to grow Silver Queen corn in the 1' wide strip of BTE again an experiment? Razz

I'm seriously thinking about it now that I know how to make EMT trellises stand up in the soft ground, thanks to Yolos. I would erect 2 rows of trellis and put horizontal braces in place to try to prevent it from blowing over again.

**Turan** Sat May 05, 2018 10:59 am

Sure. By the way did you ever figure out why the did not root deeply? What is the soil like in the strip now?

I was really just trying to get a conversation going about what people are planning for corn growing this year.

countrynaturals Sat May 05, 2018 11:40 am

No corn for me. Last year was a total failure. Sad

**sanderson** Sat May 05, 2018 4:15 pm

The top part of the soil was/is good for 4 inches, but then it hits the hard pan. This winter, I removed the wood chips and Ken dug through some of the hard pan. I added horse manure on top and down in the cracks, turning some over. Replaced the chips. I'm hoping that main roots can find these amended cracks and grow down some for anchoring. I only had the "surface" roots last year.

**Turan** Sat May 05, 2018 5:08 pm

Maybe the cracking hte hard pan will also make it easier for the worms to work. Was the soil layers different under the sunflowers or are their roots just tougher?
Are you planning a staggered planting?

**sanderson** Sun May 06, 2018 3:51 am

The soil was and is in the same condition all the way down the 50'. Except that this year it is broken up. The sunflowers had really strong roots! No staggered planting. An 8' x 1' section with a PVC "cage is planned. That's 32 plants if all goes well. I would love to par boil and freeze some ears with the seal-a-meal. Or par boil and use some kind of cutter to remove the kernels for freezing.

yolos Sun May 06, 2018 5:48 am

No experimenting for me this year. Last year worked good for me. By the end of the summer everyone was tired of eating corn so I will do the same this year except - I did not start any corn real early using season extension methods and I did not start any in small pots for early germination. I waited until after I thought we had our last freeze and sowed directly in the ground. One thing I am doing this year the same as last year is to plant small blocks of corn (16 stalks in a 3' x 4' space) spaced 7-10 days apart. So I will be getting about 16 ears of Silver Queen corn every 7-10 days. Just about right for our corn loving family to eat mostly fresh corn on the cob.

**sanderson** Sun May 06, 2018 1:51 pm

Yolos, You posted some photos of your support system for corn. Could you direct me to them? Thanks

yolos Sun May 06, 2018 5:43 pm

sanderson wrote:Yolos, You posted some photos of your support system for corn. Could you direct me to them? Thanks

About 3/4 down page #1 on a thread called "First time growing corn"
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t21664-first-time-growing-corn?highlight=first+time+growing

Also here about 3/4 down page 4.
https://squarefoot.forumotion.com/t15216p75-growing-corn?highlight=corn

Hope that helps.

**sanderson** Mon May 07, 2018 3:20 pm

Thank you. I will post photos when I am done today (or tomorrow).

yolos Mon May 07, 2018 5:31 pm

Sanderson, I forgot one step. I do not start the florida weave until the stalks are tough enough to withstand rubbing against a rope/cord. I start out by using U posts (similar to T posts) that are about 3 feet tall. I put one at each end of the row outside the sides of the bed. Then I run my cord down one side of the post, around the post, and then down the other side of the post. This forms a long open row that I use to plant my seeds. As the corn grows I make sure it goes up between the two sides of the row between the two lines of cord. I can lift this cord up as the stalks grow or just leave it where it is when first planted. As the stalks grow and become a little tougher then I do the florida weave down the longer row.

Corn Growing - Page 2 Corn_012

**sanderson** Tue May 08, 2018 3:36 am

Thank you. I didn't think you started the Florida weave until they were large enough to start using it. I completed assembling the PVC corn frame and attaching trellis netting with zip ties. I've been moping all evening wondering if I have finally done something wacky. I just asked husband if I was a little crazy about the corn cage and he said no, not if you are planting 32 corn. It's worth the effort. I'll take a photo tomorrow.

**sanderson** Fri Jul 13, 2018 4:08 pm

The Silver Queen is 7' or more and the tassels are looking nice. But where the stalk thickens, I expected a baby ear with some silk to peek out. Like this from 2017: Corn Growing - Page 2 Corn_s13

Instead, lateral shoots are growing. Can I even win? Shocked

yolos Sat Jul 14, 2018 9:44 pm

I am not sure, but I think if a couple of leaves come out at one point, then it will become an ear..????????????

**donnainzone5** Wed Aug 08, 2018 5:38 pm

I'm seeing only one silk so far, but a couple of other corn plants are tasseling but have no silks yet. Is this normal?

**llama momma** Thu Aug 09, 2018 8:53 am

Donna ok you see one silk but how many corn plants do you have?

**donnainzone5** Thu Aug 09, 2018 10:29 am

Due to poor germination (again!), only about 16.

yolos Thu Aug 09, 2018 1:53 pm

donnainzone5 wrote:I'm seeing only one silk so far, but a couple of other corn plants are tasseling but have no silks yet. Is this normal?

Tassels come out (usually) before you see the silks. But if the pollen drops before the silks appear you have a problem. This happened to me my first year growing corn. After much research, I learned it was a function of not enough nitrogen delivered at the right time (corn is a heavy feeder) or it could be not adequate watering. In my case it was a lack of nitrogen so I have added a lot of nitrogen ever since I learned this and have not had any problems since that time.

**sanderson** Thu Aug 09, 2018 2:07 pm

Ya'll think I should just give up trying to grow corn while I still have a shred of dignity left? They stalks did reach 9' tall but pollination was a lot of miss and not much hit. Embarassed

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