How much room do I really need for corn?

jymarino 6/4/2011, 10:33 pm

My dd really likes corn, and theoretically I could plant some outside of the garden enclosure, right up against the fencing. The fence is about 16 feet long. The area I would be planting would be the north side of the fence. Is enough room to bother with the work of planting the corn? I can't afford to do a complete MM mix but can do a similar setup. Do animals usually bother new corn plants? Will I have to hand pollinate since I'll only have room for one long row? Thanks in advance for the help!

BackyardBirdGardner 6/4/2011, 11:20 pm

Someone will surely correct me, but I have a neighbor that has grown corn for years, and well, too. She tells me that you need 40 plants to successfully pollenate themselves without human intervention.

However, the year I tried corn, I did it her way and only got 3" ears. Oh, and because it takes so much, no offense to Mel, but I wouldn't be putting them in an SFG, either. I would likely grow them in plain old dirt somewhere along my back fence, too.

**walshevak** 6/4/2011, 11:33 pm

a 4x4 square would pollinate better than a long row is what I've heard.

Kay

westie42 6/4/2011, 11:39 pm

If you are in any kind of corn country you can see miles of it. No matter where you plant it some pollen will come form elsewhere. I used to just poke a seed here and there for kix and got enough for variety. This year I planted a regular row of it alternating short and long season kernels at 3" spacing. Not aware that there are any animals going to eat it until it has ripe ears then coon and deer could be a problem but that's mostly in rural fields.

jymarino 6/4/2011, 11:55 pm

Westie

So you just planted one long row, with different types of corn, and no rows next to it? I figure the worst thing that could happen is that it doesn't work. Will have to look into it some more. Maybe we'll just rip up the ground and pop some seeds in.

We can call it another adventure in horiculture. What a Face

:?: from dd

westie42 6/5/2011, 12:05 am

well yes I did but corn is everywhere around here and if it don't work it will be $3 a dozen on every street corner all summer long here in corn country. I think in my case the risk of sparse pollination and no results is remote.

boffer 6/5/2011, 1:37 am

How much room? At one or two ears per square per season, it takes a lot of squares to feed a family. My opinion is that corn planted in a SFG is not a good investment. It's a lot cheaper to buy it at the Farmer's Market.

I have a 8x25 corn patch for two adults. Non-SFG. But I use the same 5 way compost blend that I use in my MM because corn is a heavy feeder. Every seed packet I've seen recommends planting in blocks rather than squares for germination purposes.

If you have an experiment in mind, go for it! Seeds are cheap!

Goosegirl 6/5/2011, 8:20 am

Boffer - I am trying a corn experiment - I will let you know how it goes. My strawberries did not survive as well as I had hoped (4 out of 25 lived - not their fault!) so I planted my Northern X-tra Sweet corn seeds over them and filled out the 4x3 box with them. It is not as large a block as it should be for good pollination, so I am going to hand-pollinate the silks to try for good solid ears. It is a really short season variety (67 days, needed here in the arctic!) so I should have results (g or b) in a short time!

GG

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How much room do I really need for corn?

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