Container box for corn?

I have two 4x4 boxes all planned out and filled. But I'm dreaming of planting corn too! (I'm really getting addicted to gardening!).

I don't want another whole 4x4 box, and I can't afford to buy more supplies for MM.

But--could I do something maybe 2x4, and fill it with potting soil or compost and use that for corn? How deep would it need to be to avoid blowing over?

I'm assuming I could use tall metal stakes in the ground for support?

I planted corn in a 3X3 last year with 5"-6" of MM. Not sure how it would work out with potting soil or compost. Obviously you would be getting away from the SFG method if you did that. I would suggest staying away from the potting soil and using compost. Reason is that you can later add the peat and vermiculite to the compost and make MM.

AZDYJ2K wrote: I would suggest staying away from the potting soil and using compost. Reason is that you can later add the peat and vermiculite to the compost and make MM.

Aha! Very good point indeed!

Corn will grow fine in 6 inches. When it's grown in small areas, it can blow over even if it is in the ground. Just plan on supporting it.

Corn is a very heavy feeder. I grow mine in just the five way compost that I put in my Mel's Mix. Growing corn is not a good gardening investment. But I like it fresh, really fresh!

boffer wrote:Corn is a very heavy feeder. I grow mine in just the five way compost that I put in my Mel's Mix. Growing corn is not a good gardening investment. But I like it fresh, really fresh!

Boffer, I just wanted to confirm that you are just using the 5 way compost. No vermiculite and no peat, correct? I agree that corn is a heavy feeder and not a good investment of MM. Do you have boxes dedicated to corn? What do you do with the compost after the corn has been harvested?

My corn patch is 8x25. That's just too big of a box to fill with MM. It is bordered by rocks laying on the ground. The first year I dumped compost on the ground and turned it in with a backhoe. Since then, at the beginning of the season, I dump a couple inches of my 5 way compost on top, and let it go at that. At the end of the season, I pull the stalks, put them in the compost pile, and cover my corn patch with black plastic to protect it some from our winter rains.

When I was growing up, we would say: 'How fresh should corn be? First, put on the pot of water to boil, then go pick it.'

Since I started growing my own corn, I will stand in the garden and eat a couple ears raw for lunch.

But FarmerValerie has me beat. In another thread she said she just bends the stalk over, pulls back the husk, and munches away!

I have never had corn fresh like that...never had but from the grocery store. I love it so much just that way I am super excited to taste it fresh off the stalk. I hope I get a crop this year...

middlemamma wrote:I have never had corn fresh like that...never had but from the grocery store. I love it so much just that way I am super excited to taste it fresh off the stalk. I hope I get a crop this year...

I just about fainted from excitement the first time as an adult walking through my corn patch when it was ready to pick (I never noticed this kind of thing when I was a kid). I could SMELL the sugar in it! I grabbed an ear and stripped it right there. It was the first time I ever ate raw corn - I had to check it out and see if it tasted as sweet as it smelled. IT DID!!!!! Never eaten store corn again.

GG

I just cannot wait to get it off the stalk, or completely shuck it. When it comes to shucking corn though I'm still the fastest I've met yet. I get it clean too, very little silk left. Family members used to turn that job over to me, give me a paper bag, and a pile of corn to shuck and I am happier than a hog in mud. I just love corn that much. And for me, it is an investment, I walk through the corn singing happy happy joy joy, and I still take my shoes off to walk through it. It brings back childhood memories, and takes me back to simplier times, I just get such a peaceful, easy, feeling, aint' nothin' on this earth like it.

Don't forget you don't have to shuck it to grill it, just pick it, grill it, then peel back the husk and eat, MMMMMM, who needs butter and salt-those take to long to apply, thats time I could be spending eating it. I don't even mind the stuff stuck in my teeth.