Height of box for corn

AprilakaCCIL 6/30/2011, 8:40 pm

How high does my raised box -that is above ground- need to be for corn?

According to Mel...if the soil is just rightfully so, then the roots won't have to go searching for nutrients.

Mainly the nutrients are in the first 6 inches.

But...But...My hubby is laughing at me and saying "I gotta see this"

The box is 10 inches high for the corn. Does it need to be higher???

mijejo 6/30/2011, 9:37 pm

[quote="AprilakaCCIL"]How high does my raised box -that is above ground- need to be for corn?
quote]

I am growing The Three Sisters (corn, beans, and squash) in a 6" high box. I have 4 corn stalks per square. The stalks are now about 3 1/2 feet tall. All of the plants seem happy and healthy. The squash and beans have blossums, and the corn (it is small variety) is developing tassels.

AprilakaCCIL 6/30/2011, 9:49 pm

[quote="mijejo"]

AprilakaCCIL wrote:How high does my raised box -that is above ground- need to be for corn?
quote]

I am growing The Three Sisters (corn, beans, and squash) in a 6" high box. I have 4 corn stalks per square. The stalks are now about 3 1/2 feet tall. All of the plants seem happy and healthy. The squash and beans have blossums, and the corn (it is small variety) is developing tassels.

Awesome mijejo!!! WTG!!!. I too want to Create A Three Sisters Garden. Very Happy

Thank you for your response....I feel content knowing I'm sure to get great results. cheers

middlemamma 6/30/2011, 10:00 pm

My corn box is 8 inches...and all is going well. Smile

I have had all kinds of naysayers throughout my SFG career (this is year 2) and so far none of them have gotton the last laugh!

AprilakaCCIL 6/30/2011, 10:55 pm

TY middlemamma --> looks like hubby is in for a surprise. Very Happy

Barkie 7/1/2011, 4:51 am

My box is 9" deep with about 8" mix in so I hope that's enough for corn too because I put some in for this year.

AprilakaCCIL 8/31/2011, 11:30 pm

My 6' and 9' box is doing very well for the corn. Even had powerful winds come through and was able to fix the ones that fell over back up...so overall....all is going FANTASTIC!!! Very Happy

Chopper 8/31/2011, 11:47 pm

I was skeptical last year also. And to top it off, my box for corn settled to about 4 inches. As it turned out it was plenty. No worried. Mel wasn't kidding. Six inches of soil is enough.

AprilakaCCIL 9/14/2011, 11:58 pm

I don't like how the corn left a lot of roots in my SFG. I had to work at getting my nice mix back into shape. Shocked

Unmutual 9/15/2011, 6:49 am

I grew corn in a normal 6" deep box. The only thing you might have to worry about is them falling over as they get bigger. But then again, I'm fairly sure depth won't help that issue since MM is so friable.

BackyardBirdGardner 9/15/2011, 10:11 am

I swear I don't know why we second guess Mel constantly. He did the danged work. Just follow along and save yourselves the headaches.

middlemamma 9/15/2011, 11:49 am

AprilakaCCIL wrote:I don't like how the corn left a lot of roots in
my SFG. I had to work at getting my nice mix back into shape.

The roots will decompose in the soil and leave more nutrients for the next round of crops...I always see that as a good thing.

AprilakaCCIL 9/15/2011, 6:30 pm

middlemamma wrote:
AprilakaCCIL wrote:I don't like how the corn left a lot of roots in
my SFG. I had to work at getting my nice mix back into shape.

The roots will decompose in the soil and leave more nutrients for the next round of crops...I always see that as a good thing.

It's good you pointed that out... :idea: So I'll be looking at them roots in a more positive way. :idea:

toledobend 6/6/2012, 5:38 pm

The book mentions using horizontal trellis (2 of them?) to keep the corn from tipping over. The corn grows through the trellises (the string kind)

michael.homan.73 6/6/2012, 5:59 pm

mijejo what type of squash are you using in your 3SG?

CharlesB 6/6/2012, 8:05 pm

I too would like to hear what varieties of corn, beans and squash you are having success with. One would think we could dial in some SFG sized varieties for some super 3 sisters SFG's.

If anyone knows a good small sized heirloom flour corn I would like to know about it. I am growing Hopi Blue flour corn but I am not doing that in a SFG. It grows like a bush.

mijejo 6/7/2012, 6:35 am

Corn: Silver Queen and Early Sunglow (something like that)

Squash: Butternut, acorn, banana, and Jack-O-Lantern

Beans: Scarlet Runner, and some other type of runner bean

I also have sunflowers and nasturtiums around the perimeter.

CharlesB 6/7/2012, 9:54 am

mijejo wrote:Corn: Silver Queen and Early Sunglow (something like that)

Squash: Butternut, acorn, banana, and Jack-O-Lantern

Beans: Scarlet Runner, and some other type of runner bean

I also have sunflowers and nasturtiums around the perimeter.

We need to get you a camera. I would like to see some pic's of this.

michael.homan.73 6/7/2012, 11:56 am

I agree i'd like to see that. I'm doing pumpkin ( 1 plant in 3 corners), Sweet corn (early & Often by Burpee) spaced every 6 inches 2 seeds per hole, and Roma II pole beans, spaced every 6 inches next to a corn planting. First 3SG so looking forward to seeing how it does and if I need to make changes next year. corn seeds planted last Sunday and pumpkin plant but beans will go in when corn about 4" high.

TooterBelle 6/8/2012, 10:06 pm

AprilakaCCIL wrote:How high does my raised box -that is above ground- need to be for corn?

We made ours 2' X 7' X 6", we'll be adding at least one more layer for height next go around...I have roots everywhere...even coming out the edges of the bottom. But I do have ears of corn everywhere, we're really excited about it. To keep it from blowing over in the wind we used 4 Tposts and 3 pieces of cattle panel wired to the posts, leaving the east side open for when we need to clean it out...it has worked great even during the winds that we had the other night.

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