"P.S. Post a few words about your corn growing experience. I'm hoping to grow some corn for the very first time, and could use a "how to primer,""
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Gymgirl - Sweet corn is real easy to grow, and we enjoy it a lot every year.
If you're growing any quantity of corn at all, a tiller is a necessity. There's just too much ground to keep weeded to do this without a tiller.
I keep my soil in good shape by adding compost, planting buckwheat in the fall and tilling it under, and tilling in some 10-10-10 fertilizer before planting in the spring.
Corn needs to be planted in a block rather than a single row for pollination. The tassels on top produce pollen, and it falls as a powder on the cornsilks below. Each strand of silk leads to a kernel on the ear, and they all need to be pollinated to get good even rows of kernels. So plant several rows of corn side by side in a block, and when the silk shows I walk the rows shaking cornstalks - making a cloud of pollen fall.
I stake out my rows 32" apart, or 42" apart for extremely large varieties like Kandy Corn. I run a string between the end stakes and plant corn seed twice as thick as it needs to be. That is, most corn should be 14" between plants, and real big varieties 18" between plants - so I plant seeds every 7" or 9". I run a soaker hose down each row, and I've got it fixed so I can water by just turning valves.
Corn will come up real quick, and you just keep it weeded by tilling between the rows and hoeing or pulling weeds between plants. When the corn is 10" or so tall, pull every other plant to make the spacing right. Corn doesn't like to be transplanted, but I've had some success at that point transplanting to fill any gaps in the rows. Also at this time I cover the ground with fresh grass-clippings mulch about 4" thick. That helps a lot with weed control and it saves water.
That's it - keep it watered and weeded. As soon as the ears start showing silk, BE SURE and keep Sevin dust on those cornsilks. It'll need to be renewed every 4 or 5 days, and Sevin dust comes in a shaker container for just that purpose. Corn earworms will ruin every ear if you don't do this. There are more "organic" methods like putting mineral oil on the silks and so forth - but I don't know how well they'd work.
Pay attention to the maturity date of the corn variety you grow, and watch it real close as that date approaches. When the ears feel full and thick, and when you can peel the tip of the husk back and get "milk" when you crush a kernel with your fingernail - it's ready.
Be careful about growing different varieties of corn close to each other. If you do, make sure the maturity dates are far apart so the varieties won't cross-pollinate. Unlike many other veggies, it messes up the quality of the corn if that happens.
