Corn suggestions?

I'm thinking about growing corn since I have some room in one of my raised beds, and according to my local extension, mid-June is considered a marginal planting time. I am on the gulfcoast, and will have 5'x3' of space. Not much space compared to some of you but this is doable, right? Any ideas?

I'd like to grow lettuce and such in this area later this year, though.

Last year I tried some sugar dot hybrid sweetcorn because I had a small empty space in my garden and I figured I'd see what happens with corn. I only had about 2'x3' but grew six stalks. They were planted the first week of June and got about 4-1/2' to 5' tall and produced 3 ears per stalk. They were probably a little crowded but I was satisfied with the results, and will remain satisfied until someone gets on here and tells me they should be 8' tall and 8 ears per stalk haha.

EDIT: Okay I'm looking at the seed packet and it says about a week to germinate and 80 days to harvest, which sounds about right since I planted in early June and picked them around the last week of August/first week of September.

Also the corn will probably be finished before it's cool enough in your area for lettuce but you could plant the lettuce in the same area before harvesting the corn if you had to, and then just cut the stalks down to avoid disturbing the lettuce roots.

And finally, here's a chart that might help. http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/earthkind/ekgarden14.html (spring)
http://aggie-horticulture.tamu.edu/archives/parsons/fallgarden/falldirect.html (fall) Unless it just gets too hot for corn (is that even possible?) I'm not sure why you couldn't grow it now.

This message was edited Jun 9, 2010 7:44 PM

That's what I'm talking about! Thanks for your reply, dorkasaurus. Yeah, I'll look into sugar dot hybrid. I know very little about corn but I would like to try growing something in this space. Some of this will be occupied by clemson okra. I feel good about planting right now, just don't know what varieties to consider. I perused the plant files but there are a gazillion corn corn cultivars (?) to weed through.

Regardless, if you were able to get 3 ears per stalk in your crop, then I would be happy with similar results. 80 days to harvest sounds great, too. I'll have to search for a variety that has a similar maturity date. I always thought corn was a 110+ day vegetable for some reason. Thanks again.

For what it's worth I picked up my seeds at walmart for a whopping 99 cents. I didn't do any research because it was a last minute decision to try corn so other varieties may take longer. Again, I don't know if I did a bad job with it but I was happy enough with the results. good luck

John, Silver Queen is supposed to do very well in this area. I have about 25 stalks growing in a 5x5 bed (which also has squash and beans), I built and planted according to Urban Harvest guidelines, so I think your 5x3 space should be sufficient. In the hybrids, you can get anything from 70 days on up. I have a variety called Trinity that is supposed to be 70 days. You're welcome to some seed (Trinity) if you would like to try it.

I'm still deliberating so thanks for the offer, sapphire.

I went ahead and picked up some seeds at Lowes last Friday, along with a bunch of cheap 4' long bamboo sticks. I laid these bamboo sticks in a grid to help me plant, and I sowed 9 sq/ft (3'x3') with Clemson Spineless okra (on the right-hand part of the bed, see photo) and 15 sq/ft (5'x3') with Early Golden Bantam sweet corn.

I sowed on Saturday, June 12th and had lots of corn and okra sprouts by Tuesday June 15th.

Early Golden Bantam sweet corn

7 - 10 days germination
17 - 80 days to harvest
$1.39/ 1oz seeds

Pic taken today...boy, is it hot. 93 degrees but feels like 103 degrees w/ the humidity.

Close-up of the corn. Some of it is over 3" now...grows kinda fast, huh?

Last year mine grew about an inch a day so yes, it's kinda fast. Grass in general is fast... some bamboo can grow a foot or more a day.

Hickory Cane if you can find it. ---- NOT the "King" ~;>)

Peaches & Cream is a good one too

Sarge

My corn seems to be doing well, but I saw this stuff in some of the stalks. It kinda looks like sawdust or frass and for a moment I thought, Oh No! the SVB has got my corn too, lol!!! Anyway, I took a pic with my cell phone camera so it is not a great photo. Can anyone ID this stuff? Is it a fungus or something?

I can take a better pic later with our digital camera...once it cools down. :)