Help with Corn Planting in SC

I tried planting a cornfield this year and we got some corn and it was tasty! The field was previoulsy part of a horse pasture so we had to cut up the grass and till. We planted 5- 30ft rows of sweet yellow and 5 - 30ft rows of sweet white skipping about 3 rows and 2 weeks in planting times. then we planted deer corn 2 weeks later (about 10 rows) Most of it came up ok and we did get some good eating corn. BUT by the time the deer corn started coming in the weeds were SCARY.

MY QUESTIONs
1)how do you keep the weeds down between the rows and near the base of the corn? Do you really have to go out everyday to pull weeds?
2) what do you do with the corn (and weeds) after the season has ended? I dont want to till in all the weeds for fear of making them worse next year.
3) Can I use the same plot next year (I don't want to till up anymore horse pasture)
4) Would it help to grow beans and squash along with the corn?

Any help with starting a corn field will be appreciated!

Amy

This is the way I do it: I plow and disk the field. Plant. When the corn is about two inches high, I cultivate. I use a small tractor, but a tiller will work well for your plot. Even a push plow (Kentucky high wheel cultivator works well, but it may be too much work for your plot size. I cultivate again at about 8-12 inches, and then a final time with a nitrogen heavy sidedressing when the corn is 18 inches to two feet high. After harvest I plow the whole patch down( before any weeds that escaped cultivation seed) and plant something else ( usually cowpeas). If there is any secret it is to keep the weeds from seeding. Edited to say: Corn is a heavy feeder so I usually rotate. I plant green beans, lima beans, watermelons , squash etc in last years corn plot. Plant the corn where I had these last year. Corn is an early crop here, so I can follow it with a midsummer crop like cowpeas, and later for a fall winter crop of brassicas ( cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, rutabagas, turnips etc.)

This message was edited Oct 23, 2010 9:36 AM

thanks Farmerdill! I have a rear tyne tiller, will that work for cultivating? So let me make sure I understand the process..sorry....by cultivating in between the rows this keeps the weeds from sprouting? And by sidedressing do you mean till that in when I till again?

Man I feel like a real dummy!!!

Amy

Exactly, a rear tine tiller will cultivate nicely. Run it shallow ( about inches deep) keeps the soil loose and uproots weeds that may be sprouting. Throw a little dirt to rows with cultivation which covers and smothers the weeds that sprout within the row, plus the added soil to the row gives the corn more support. Helps keep from blowing down during a thunderstorm. Broadcast the fertilizer before tilling so that it is worked into the ground. Side dressing comes from the concept that with a cultivator equipped with a fertilizer unit, the fertilizer is placed in the soil about 8 inches from the row and parallel to the row.