A few weeks ago a neighbor gardner mentioned that his father always removed the suckers at the base of his corn plants to place energy back into the main stalk. Logically this made sence at the time so I removed the two suckers at the base of my two foot tall corn plants in four rows using surgical scissors. I cut the suckers at the very base of the stems next to the main stalk and within a week they have grow back, thicker and stronger than before. I repeated the removal process and now I have four suckers growing from the base of the corn stalks. These suckers are large and appear to me that they are growing faster than the main stalk.
My question is weather this is a useless crusaide, and if not why are they growing back at such a rapid rate. Possibly the method of removal is incorrect!
morgan
Trimming Corn Suckers
Some of the old folks suckered corn, Just pulled those tillers off and fed them to the cows or hogs. It was a job for the kids and I have never done it since I was old enough to leave home. I don't to this day and have never noticed any detriment to yield.
What type of corn are you growing, morgan ?
I planted Kandy Korn and broke off the suckers, not regrew.
I was realty proud of it, this is a shot of it.
But this is a shot of it two days later, after a storm moved through. Nothing to do with the cutting of the suckers.
We got a couple full cobs, but the immature, so most of it is in the freezer. I also pickled some of the baby ears. ^^_^^
mraider3, I'm afraid I know almost nothing about growing corn, but I know that with some plants the suckers must be removed by pulling/ripping/tearing/yanking off as close to the point the sucker starts at rather than cutting if you don't want them to grow back even stronger than before. I think I read it has something to do with removing the cells that are growing out the sucker. Don't know if this applies to corn plants, but maybe it's worth a try.
Rentman....Hope your only four feet tall, cause the size of that corn is making me sick. Mine is a Northern Extra Sweet Hybrid (sh2) (60 days),and only around three feet tall now. Typically it grows to five feet at maturity which is some time in August if all goes well. We planted Extra Sweet last year according to Farmerdills' recipe of planting the seed fourteen inches apart and had a super crop averaging two to three large ears per stalk and lots of baby ears. Wife pickled a jar of the baby ears which we have yet to try. Our short growing season requires a seed which is designed especially for northern climates and can withstand some frost which can come as early as mid-August. Planting corn seed is also tricky here since we have frosts into mid-June. I purchase the corn seed for my garden as well as the neighbors so we don't cross polinate and he planted his two weeks earlier. I planted my seed just after the apple blossoms fell according to 'Farmerdills' Almanac (that's what I like to call it). Mine is the same size as the neighbor's, so weather seems to have a lot to do with germination as well as growth rate.
All your comments on tearing vs cutting make sense to me and I will redue some of the stalks to see what the effect is. I doubt that I will redo all 200 of them just to see if there is any difference in plant growth and poductivity as Farmerdill mentioned. Don't got no cows Farmerdill, but I save all the cobs to grind up as worm food. "Waste not...want not."
Your storm damage Rentman...was this due to a straight wind? Our chanook winds require mounding the corn like potatoes to keep them from blowing over. I have had as many as six of seven straight winds each year around 50 to 70 mph. The corn will right itself to some degree however I usually have to give it some assistance. Your looks like if may have been ripped from the ground through a swath, almost like the wind was funneled through that area. How do you freeze your corn, on or off the cob? We have tried both ways and on the cob is really much preferred for us. Takes up a lot more room in the freezers, however the flavor seems to be a lot better.
Thanks for the feedback. I will preface this thread at a later date with any information that seems useful.
m
You speak of your shot growing season, I moved here 4 years ago from south Florida where the best growing season was in the winter, summers were too hot, so I'm learning again, I also enjoy and follow the 'Farmerdills' Almanac .
I cut what corn there was off the immature ears and cooked it in some rabbit broth I made, I have two breading NZW rabbits, they get the cobs and after a day I take the cobs out of their pin and grind it for my worms, so it goes a long ways. The stalks were run through a chipper and is in the garden where I will use it for mulch when it dries a little.
I recycle everything I can.
Farmerdill is a legend with my neighborhood corn growers. We are getting three times the corn with a third of the seed. Since I convinced the corn growers to grow the same hybrid we purchase a half pound and it goes a long ways now. TYVM for the tip on 'shucking' the suckers. I replaced the soaker hoses I had been using with some new hose from MrDrip and shucked some of the suckers which were in the way of the new hoses. Some suckers I left in place as suggested to see what comparison there would be in the corn ear production. It surprised me how easily the suckers snapped off at the base of the corn stem. Much easier than trying to cut them for sure.
Got a nice herd of rabbits there Rentman, or is if flock. I have kept several pet rabbits for my brother-in-law when he goes to Colorado to visit his kid. The wild one don't fare well with PK (cat) but she seemed to tolerate the tame ones. I have thought about raising them but my wife has this pet complex and I don't know if she could actually eat one. I like rabbit meat and was surprised about the corn cobs. We do lots of lettuce in a raised bed. Far more than we eat and that includes having the neighbors cut some so we end up wasting a lot of good lettuce. I will look into the possibility of raising them if the wife doesn't get to attached. We have a large shed which could be used for wintering them. Gets pretty cold here in the winter so I would have to provide some heat source...
Got a Georgia wedding next month then I'm headed to Flordia for some fishing. My sister lives in the Jacksonville area and has had some bad luck with her cucumbers this year do to heat. I find it interesting how varried the conditions are for growing crops in the states and yet some things hold true no mater where you live. Thanks for the advise on the corn.