What's your favorite variety of super-dooper sweet corn? :)

For the past two years - my first two years of gardening - I have only grown open pollenated seeds, creating my own seed bank was the goal. Now that I have that done, I would like to grow hybrid sweet corn this coming spring.

So my question to you all is, "What is your favorite variety of sweet corn?" I'm looking for the very sweetest that has a good yield.

Thanks for helping me with my seed shopping this spring!! :) I'm getting SO excited to get started!!
Glenda

I love sweet corn! Country Gentleman is my fave, but I also grew Kandy Korn last year and liked that alot. This year I'm going to get the succession three pack from Territorial: http://www.territorialseed.com/product/577/all_corn_seed

I'll still do Country Gentleman as well. I'm expanding the veg garden so I'm going to try more of a variety of sweet corn to see which I like and how to get a longer harvest period. I've read alot about how to get more corn out of the garden, but the only way I ever learns is to dig in and do it! So now this year will be the year of whichever corn insect/pest exists in TX! I'm still getting the hang of being a TX gardener!

Terri, is there a book on how to get more corn out of your garden? I plan on planting patches of corn each week so that it isn't ready for harvest all at the same time, extending the harvest time; we'll see how that goes.

Also, I've seen signs driving down the road that advertises "triple sweet" corn. Is that a classification of corn or just advertising wordage?

I don't know of a book, but I'll bet there is one. I just ordered the new Elliot Coleman book (well, new to me anyway). I bet one of his books has a section on long sweet corn harvests. I just ended up calling Territorial and having them explain how they do it. You want to issolate the individual varieties of corn by pollination periods. You do this by spacing out the time you plant each variety--not by distance which is what I thought, duh! Or you can plant varieties that naturally pollinate weeks apart. I don't have the Territorial catalog here with me at work and their website doesn't go into details. The catalog explains it well and they are very good about answering questions over the phone. What I do with Country Gentleman is plant one patch one week, wait a weeks and plant another patch and so on a so forth. You don't need to wory about pollination with one variety. With various varieties you have to know the days to pollination and days to harvest and space the pollination times out by two weeks to two and a half weeks (some folks have told me that one week is all you need, but I always err on the safe side). I live in the middle of nowhere so I don't really need to wory so much about my neighbors' sweet corn. I don't know what you do if you neighbor is growing a different variety than you. I bet dbailey or farmer dill knows!

Triple Sweet is a registered trade mark of the Syngenta Seed Co. I think it refers to the technology by which they have bred an extra sweet gene into the corn. I think Bodacious is one variety of tripple sweet corn?

There are two ways to get an extended harvest. The first is make a new planting every 10-14 days. The second is to make a single planting of compatible corn with different maturity dates. For example, I plant Silver Knight (67 day) Silver Princess (75 day) Silver King 85 day) and Silver Queen (92 day) which gives me up to a 6 week harvest interval.

Cross pollination is a major problem only for supersweet (SH2) varieties. These become tough and rubbery if crossed with any other type of corn. A minor problem is cross pollination of colors of other types. If you have a yellow and a white that tassel at the same time you will get many bicolor ears. Does not affect the texture or taste. You can plant Su, Se, or synergistic varieties with out a great deal of worry.

As Terri noted, Triple Sweet is merely a registered trademark by Syngenta for thier synergistic varieties. Avalon, Providence and Serendipty are the syngenta varieties available to home gardeners. Syngenta is the only company that I am aware of that markets a GMO vegetable but it is not available to home gardeners. Thier registered trademark for this is Attribute, a gene has been introduced which creates the same effect as Bt. ( a worm proof corn)

Even the highly touted Mirai series is actually a synergistic.

Farmerdill, do you grow popcorn and the ornamental corns as well? If so, do you have a problem with cross pollination with those? I was told I needed to be careful about the popcorn. It would be nice to get a second opinion.

Popcorn is the worst. Cross pollinated with field corn, sweet corn, or ornamental corn it will not "pop". Most ornamental corn is field corn altho there are some ornamental popcorns. In general field corns have such a long season that cross pollination with sweet corn only applies to late plantings of sweet corn. I no longer grow field corn or popcorn and rarely grow ornamentals. If I did I like to get the sweet corn harvest early so that it is complete before field corn comes into play. Remember sweet corn has a 65 - 90 DTM while field corn usually goes 100- 140 DTM. Popcorn also has a long season, so most cross pollination occurs with field corn. Back in the 40's and 50's I sold pop corn to drive in movie theaters. Just had to use an isolated field upwind from the field corn.

Good information -- any tricks to keeping the worms out?

While gardening in Montana, my corn was wonderful -- no worms!

Now in Texas -- another story! Worms! They get more to eat than I do.

Several years ago, a Gurney's customer claimed their "gotta have it" corn actually had little to no worms. I tried it (in TX) and found this to be true. The corn was good and sweet, but dang, they really want to get a profit from this product. So I am hesitant. I keep thinking their ought to be a way to keep the dreaded corn worm away.

Thanks for your hints and ideas.

Other than pesticides, I do not know of anyway to deter corn earworms where they are present. There are some that are acceptable to organic growers ( mineral oil or light agricultural oil applied to the silks just as they are drying) Pyrethrin ( same timing) Bt ( not too effective because it has to be eaten). Of Course Syngenta has Bt sweet corn on the market, but only for commercial growers.

Farmerdill, where do you order your Silver Knight, Silver Princess, Silver King, and Silver Queen seeds from? I'd like to try your method of planting if they are varieties that I can plant in Michigan.

I have been getting them from Twilley, but they have dropped Silver Knight and Silver Princess this year. White corn is the demand here but you can use the technique with yellows and bicolors by planting an early, a second early, a midseason, and a late variety.

Glenda, I grew up in my early years on the big three of op varieties...Country Gentleman, Stowell"s Evergreen, and Golden Bantam. A lot of water has gone under the bridge since then.

I planted 8 plantings of sweet corn last year. The first was April 13 and the last one was early July. What I like has changed over the years. The first of the se corn that I planted was Kandy Korn. It is ok but it grew so tall it blowed down badly. Nowadays I start with Ambrosia bi-color, then get some yellow..Incredible. Then some Montauk synergistic bi-color. I mix Ambrosia and Incredible back in giving a great change-up.

My favorite variety of sweet corn is a bicolor called Delectable which is sold by Johnny's Selected Seeds. I've grown it for at least 6 years. It's an se+ which means it's easy to grow compared to some of the other supersweets. It's very sweet and has excellent flavor both fresh and frozen.

I recently saw a tv show about exotic food from around the world. The fungus that you find occasionally on ears of corn is considered a delicacy in Mexico. This summer I'm going to ready with a recipe and a pan.

Well, it is good to know that the other sweetcorns won't mess with my Country Gentlman taste and tenderness via cross pollination. I've been keeping everyone seperate up 'till now just in case. As I said, I always err on the side of caution. I've been looking at saving the seed to see if I could grow it next season so I think I'll keep it seperate. Suppose I should ask "Can one save seed for sweet corn?". I opened that can of worms on another thread and I've been getting mixed aswers. I'm not really big into seed saving at this point, but it seemed that saving Country Gentleman might be a place to start as I've always grown it and will probably continue.

I don't know what I will do with my popcorn. DH really liked the popcorn I grew last season. I was thinking I might save it for a fall crop. Maybe that would work.

Having grown up in the corn country of Central Illinois, I've always loved to hear about growing sweet corn. Can't explain why, I guess sweet corn was just so new to me when my family first moved back there that it caught my interest as beeing very Illinois-ish. Anyway, you are right Farmerdill, everyone used to have Silver-this and Silver-that. I've been noticing lately that many are just offering Silver Queen and that is all. I think Vicory is offering Silver King and Silvermine. I saw that Reimers had Silver Knight http://www.reimerseeds.com/silver-king-corn.aspx. But they don't review well on Garden Watchdog. It seems as if the Silver-whatever era may be moving on. I don't see folks giving up Siver Queen anytime soon though, do you?

Glenda, what did you decide upon?

It is slowly slipping. Silver King is actually sweeter and is about a week earlier earlier. I grow Silver Queen because it extends the season with out gearing up for multiple plantings. There are quite a few whites in the midseason slot. Tried Celestial last year and it is very good. Also have tried Avalon, but prefer Silver King. that also holds true for Augusta,Whiteout, and Silver Choice. Argent has been used in this area as an alternative to Silver Queen, but comes up short in my opinion. Best bi-color for me has been Sugar Dots, Have grown Delectable, Luscious ( both less than satisfactory) Ambrosia, Peaches and Cream, Butter and Sugar, Serendipity ( pretty good), Chubby Checkers, Lancelot ( not satisfactory) .... I rarely grow a yellow corn any more but when I was a kid my father would only eat Golden Bantam, while my mother insisted on Black Mexican. Shoepeg(Country Gentleman) and Stowell's Evergreen were popular whites in that era, but neither parent cared for them. Some of their idiosyncrasies probably rubbed off on me.

Has anyone ever grow Bodacious? Folks around here seem to really like that one, but maybe it has more to do with the buckin' bull and the BBQ than the actual sweet corn.....

Okay, I'm curious -- why white?? I've never grown white and guess I should just to find out "why". I have grown bi-color and liked it, but I too was raised on yellow -- corn should be yellow, so hard to adjust to white. Fill me in on its benefits. Thanks!

terri,

I have grown Bodacious more than once. It is a very reliable yellow with large ears and good taste. The reason I don't grow it anymore is that Incredible has that extra taste kick in a yellow.


As a kid I remember that i prefered yellow sweet corn and my grandmoter liked the white. in my opinion the yellow has more 'stick in your ribs' flavor. Bi-colors are great too.

Probably just a regional preference. There are folks who consider yellow, hog corn. From a personal point of view whites in general have a more tender pericarp than yellows. A lot of taste is governed by experience. So if you have a personal preference ,run with it. If I were growing purely for my personal use, I would probably stick to bicolors. Until I came to Georgia about 20 years ago, I did not grow Whites. Silver Queen converted me. First white I ever really liked, altho my mothers Black Mexican was ok. Like all OP's short harvest window and short shelf life. I still like to put the pot on to boil before I head to the corn patch, but with modern varieties it really is not necessary.

F-dill, what's up with the "Insect Guard" that Harris Seeds is now using as part of their corn names, an "enhancement"? I wonder if that one of the Bt gene corns by any chance?

As for being more on topic, I've a Kandy Korn believer (love it!) but also got to try Jack Pot a year or so ago and thought it was very good (although I think it is now no longer available).

Shoe

Insect guard is simply thier name for a seed treatment. They use Cruiser. No, they vend mostly Harris-Moran/Vilmorin hybrids. No GMO. Syngenta seems to have the corner on that market. Despite all the flak on the internet Seminis does not vend any either. Sweet Breed is thier trademark for a synergistic.
Have never tried Jack Pot, but it is listed as a very large midseason Se bi-color. http://www.welterseed.com/ProductDetails.aspx?id=245 http://www.cooperseeds.com/pages/vegetables/Corn.html It's a Syngenta product and they still list it.

Thanks, Farmerdill. Glad to hear it is not GMO and/or Bt spliced.

Ernie (DGer Eweed) sent me the Jackpot seed several years ago; apparently the grower he got them from stated he wouldn't be able to get anymore. Thanks for the links.

Coopers has quite a few nice varieties. I've never tried Truckers Favorite but have heard about it over the years. And note how it is less expensive than all all other varieties! On top of that it is OP, too.

Shoe (iced/snowed in)

gretagreenthumb, I started growing Country Gentleman because a former neighbor did and he gave me some extra seed. The kids were at the veg-phobe stage but they couldn't get enough of that corn. Then I discovered that it freezes really well. It was easy to find so I stuck with it.

Horseshoe, you must really be iced/snowed in! I've been getting UPS delivery exception from your area all morning here at work!

This message was edited Jan 11, 2011 12:01 PM

Tuckers Favorite use to serve a dual function as "90 day" field corn. It comes in both yellow and white and popular in farmers markets as "roasting" ears up til about WW II. Its better eating quality than modern field corn. Still iced in here also. I have developed a taste for sweet corn and I am not going back. However, the Se fits my taste buds best. Sh2 is too sweet and I don't like the texture.

I agree, the Se's are the Cadillac of corn.

I guess if I try Trucker's Favorite I better pick it right at the proper time, milk stage, before it gets tough, eh?

Terri...yep, schools, businesses, etc for quite a few counties, miles around, are closed today, closed tomorrow, too. This place shuts down with minimal snow but when ice moves in it really closes down. Interstates are running but there are so many secondary roads iced it very few folks can get to the interstates. But I'm happy! Lots of firewood, warmth, I take walks on occasion, feed the birds, gather eggs from the chickens...I love it! Heck, and since this is a thread about corn, maybe I'll make a nice stewp (stew/soup) with some frozen Kandy Korn and veggies for supper next!

Shoe

I've been scouting out the seed catelogs to check out your favorites and have found a few. Now to decide which ones to order. Sure wish I could find all varieties in one spot.

Terri, wondering if the worms are a problem with Country Gentleman? How about Kandy Korn? Thinking since we are both gardening in TX, we are probably battling the same problems. I loved growing corn in Montana -- NO BUGS! I didn't realize corn could grow without worms. I had to send my TX dad pictures.

I'm growing a 3foot dwarf this year named Golden Midget from Vt seed. I'm hoping that the winds we have will not bother it as much as taller corn.

Well, I did use Bt last year. There were some bugs, but the bluebirds did keep up and I got a pretty good crop last season. I've decided this season I need a more well planned out pest control scheme. I didn't have much bug problem with bugs with CG up north. Its just a new learning curve. I know I can work through it.

Terri_emory when did you spray the Bt on the ears? Also, did you spray more than once?

I too love Kandy Korn, but where I live it's very windy and the Kandy Korn would reliably fall over. I suppose people in windy areas could hill Kandy Korn up like potatoes. I still like the bicolor Delectable from http://www.johnnyseeds.com/. The name is self descriptive.

I feel I should explain: spraying has not been my thing. I didn't really need to spray/dust in my old northern garden and tried to get by down here until the bennies balanced out the baddies. But it became clear to me by the end of last season that that was not going to work for me. Having never really paid much attention to how/when/what to spray because I never really needed or wanted to I didn't really know what to do. So now I'm learning something new! The lady at the hardware store suggested using Bt on every nasty looking wormie I saw (they eat it). Since I had actually heard of Bt I decided it couldn't hurt and she assured me that it wouldn't hurt the bluebirds. It did seem to help--I used it weekly, but that may have wishful thinking. So last year was my first experience working with Bt AND I don't think I was really getting the best of advice. THIS year I am getting better educated and better advice here on Dave's. I will use dipel dust weekly because it will work on the tomato hornworms too. Also, I think I want to get some trichogramma wasps. I already use bennie nematodes on the soil. So I think I might be better equiped next year (like the Cubs?!?). I'm still working on my plan, so all suggestions are welcome =)!

Terri, and others, Bt is not a bad product to use. The Bt you'd be using on corn affects caterpillars only and has no secondary or tertiary effect on other creatures, i.e. birds and beneficials, etc. And no affect whatsoever on humans and other warmblooded mammals.

Terri, Dipel is Bt in powdered form, Thuricide is Bt in liquid form. I think the lady at the hardware store gave you good advice. Many other folks/salespeople might've recommended a more harsher "killer" than Bt.

Jo, let us know how the Golden Midget does for you. Although I can grow Kandy Korn here and not suffer the lodging/high winds others have experienced I'm always interested in smaller plants that produce good crops.

Shoe

Shoe, thanks for the clarification and I'm glad to know that I got good advice! If I may delve further, what is the shelf life for Dipel? I saw some this past weekend marked down at the farmer's co-op. My only hesitation in buying it was that I didn't know enough about it to know if it was a good buy or not. I studied the information on the bottle, but couldn't find anything regarding an expiration date or shelf life.

Yes, I'd like to know about Golden Midget, too.

Terri, I had to go look that one up. I, too, have wondered how long products I have around remained viable.

The manufacturer states Dipel (the powdered form of Bt) has a shelf life of 3 to 4 years. This is if it is properly stored, i.e., kept cool, out of direct light. ("Cool"? They state stored below 25-30ºC. On my thermometer it shows 25ºC is just under 80ºF...I would think storing it cooler than that would be better.)
Here's one link I found: http://www.valent.ca/products/dipelwp/loader.cfm?csModule=security/getfile&pageid=8583

Thuricide (the liquid form of Bt) has a shorter shelf life, lasting about two years if kept above freezing and below 80ºF

Note, since there are now many kinds/strains of Bt this info above only pertains to Bt "kurstaki", which is what we are talking about in this thread about caterpillars eating our corn.

Bummer about there being no expiration date on the sales Bt. I wonder if there is a code on the bottle, and a phone number you can call. Or ask the manager how long he's had it on the shelf.

Hope this isn't overload!
Shoe

Well, thank you very much =)! I will check with the manager as we are going up there this weekend. Might be a good buy!

Shoe, That's a good question...How long has it been on the shelf? Ever wonder about some products and seeds? I remember seeing a huge amount of Orchard Spray on the shelf at a store...or JB lures. What to do at the end of the season with the left-over merchandise?

Carey Reams supposed;y showed the same watermelon 3 years in a row at a fair.

A good ripe watermelon wouldn't last three days at our house LOL!

That's funny terri.

Reams said that extra healthy fruit with high brix should dehydrate rather than rot. I do have 3 watermelons still in the utility room and I suppose that they might keep for 3 years IF perfect.

I have one of those watermelons still on the floor..8-29-20011.

This message was edited Aug 29, 2011 8:10 PM

Thanks for all the input folks! I learn SO much from you all and really appreciate it!

Since my original post, I have decided to grow enough corn to can ALL our corn for 1 year. That being said, now I need to buy corn seed in bulk....not in the little packets. I went to my local grain elevator and asked them what folks like to grow in my area. They recommended "Bodacious" for canning. And "274A", a bi-color, is for eating right out of the garden. They said that "Bodacious" holds its flavor, tenderness, etc. better than other varieties do when canned, and that "274A" is the sweet corn farmers who have vegetable stands in our area grow to sell to the public. The paperwork I have on them says they're from Rispens Seeds.

Any thoughts on these two varieties? :)
Glenda

Some of it depends on do you prefer a bicolor(274A) or a yellow (Bodacious) corn. The problem I see is they both mature around 75 days. This means that one, you'll be up to your neck in sweet corn all at once if you don't do some plantings at about a 2 week interval and, two, I wouldn't be surprised if both ended up as heavily yellow bicolors from crossing.

If I was going to plant 2 varieties I'd go with an early and a mid season variety.

The combination I've grown the last couple of years has been Trinity an early bicolor and Incredible an main season yellow.

This message was edited Feb 26, 2011 10:05 AM

This message was edited Feb 26, 2011 10:06 AM