Corn Growing

Since it's a shorty, can you erect a tall tent over the corn?

What a great idea, Sanderson.  I can see why you have your PVC with a tent-like forms in your beds.

I panicked.  The sun is out today, more tassels and silks are out, so I went out this late morning to give them a shaking.  I definitely saw pollen being blown around.  I guess Mother Nature saved some pollen for a sunny day.
R.

Yay, Mother Nature is behaving!

Yes, the gable roof design is great for directing run-off and also for wind. My first design was a flat roof and the water pooled and you can imagine the rest of the story.

One of my wife's cousins living in the midwest is corn lover, and always grows a big patch of sweet corn. But, since they live on the edge of the woods, they have a lot of raccoons that ravish his corn as soon as the ears are about ready to harvest.  So, he developed a fool-proof electric fence that the coons could not even think about crossing. So, for several years he has had a bumper crop of corn.  But, last year one time he went out to check on the corn, and turned off the electric fence so he could get into the patch. The next morning he looked out the window and noticed the corn was severely damaged, and went out to check on it. Forgot to turn the electric back on the day before, and the coons noticed that they were welcome to the buffet he had prepared for them. As the old saying goes, The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. No matter how carefully a project is planned, something may still go wrong with it.

OhioGardener wrote:One of my wife's cousins living in the midwest is corn lover, and always grows a big patch of sweet corn. But, since they live on the edge of the woods, they have a lot of raccoons that ravish his corn as soon as the ears are about ready to harvest.  So, he developed a fool-proof electric fence that the coons could not even think about crossing. So, for several years he has had a bumper crop of corn.  But, last year one time he went out to check on the corn, and turned off the electric fence so he could get into the patch. The next morning he looked out the window and noticed the corn was severely damaged, and went out to check on it. Forgot to turn the electric back on the day before, and the coons noticed that they were welcome to the buffet he had prepared for them. As the old saying goes, The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry. No matter how carefully a project is planned, something may still go wrong with it.

I had an electric fence that I bought when  I first moved to this area to keep out the deer.  But they are no longer bothering the garden so I could find the parts to the electric fence and fence in the three corn beds next year.

My 2019 sweet corn came out fine!  I ate some fresh, gave some away, and froze some.  They weren't especially large, but their size made a great side dish.

This was the first time in a looooong time since I planted sweet corn because I was having such bad luck.  It would grow to 3 feet not the 6-7 foot the seed package said it would and I wouldn't get any corn.  But last year I finally followed my nursery's advice and I grew a field corn and was very successful. So, I went back to growing sweet corn this year.

Since I only use organic fertilizers, my nursery's advice was to fertilize every two weeks with Neem seed fertilizer until the silks appear.  They sold Down-to-Earth brand.


This is just one plate.

Rose! What variety? How big is the bed for the corn.

sanderson wrote:Rose!    What variety?  How big is the bed for the corn.  

It was Early Sunglow hybrid corn.  It wasn't super sweet, which was good for me since I don't like super sweet corn.  I planted in a 4x8 bed but it also had remaining radishes on the north side and beets, squash, and pansies on the south side.  The package said 60-something days to harvest, so I thought I was going to have fresh corn on the Fourth of July but it took a couple of weeks longer.

All is harvested and for the first time in July, that area is clear.  It's probably going to be too hot to plant something there.  I'm surprised the pansies are still alive.

Rose, What a lovely, healthy garden!

OK, Simso has inspired me to try some corn.  I have some “ground” in a spot inside 3 big old legacy window boxes.  I could try a couple squares there. I also have a large container… What variety should I plant?  I really like super sweet corn.  Thoughts/suggestions?

Other CIs have written that one needs at least 40 corn plants to ensure adequate pollination; that's the equivalent of 10 square feet at 4 seeds per square.  Also, certain varieties of corn, including super sweet, must be planted a certain distance from other varieties:  su and se.  I've read anywhere from 100 feet to 1/3 - 1/2 mile, if adjacent to a farm that grows corn.

Mine are about 5weeks old at the momment, I am assuming I will have to hand pollinate as i do not have a lot of beneficial insects or huge wind movement to allow them to self pollinate

Good input!  I grew Country Gentleman in a prior version of SFG and it did great.  I planted 2 or 3 squares of 4 plants.  It’s open pollinated.

Ordered Sugar Buns!  F1 hybrid.  

Corn question: Are there varieties that don't fall over so easily? I've only grown Silver Queen but it fell over every year.

Sanderson,

Here's an idea I think I saw posted here several years ago.

Secure 4' - 6' stakes around your corn bed and secure plant tape or other fairly strong material around the area.  

Also, I've found that corn often regains its stature after a few days.

Donna, I have tried a 5' tall PVC frame wrapped with nylon trellis netting and that didn't help. In fact,some of the corn got tangled up.  
Glass gem flattened.

I was thinking of 2-3 strips of garden tape wrapped around the area surrounded by the stakes.  Whether that would work, either, I don't know.