how do you grow corn

every year i try to grow corn but i always get to a certain point of the cobs just forming and then i loose the plant to god knows what. or if the cobs form they are very small and not filled out good. help please.

Janet, it sounds like your ears aren't getting good pollination. Since I don't garden on a massive scale, a trick I've learned is to not plant my corn in one or two long rows, but in 4'x 4' blocks (I have 4x4 squares throughout my garden, loosely following the Square-foot gardening methodology.) I plant the corn just under 12" apart, so I get about 20-25 plants in each block.

When it tassles, be sure to shake the stalks to pollinate the ears that are forming.

Your weather may also be a factor, but I can't speak to the ins and outs of growing corn that far south - maybe someone else can :)

thanks go-vols. i do plant in several short rows but i never thought of shaking the stalks to poplinate.

hmmm so that's what i have been doing wrong. i planted corn last year, some in a container and the other in a raised bed. i got a couple of really small ears and that was it. i had to eat them when dh wasn't looking :)

Corn is a pretty heavy feeder, too. Might wanna be sure to have a good amount of "food" in the ground for it. And when the tassels declare, a judicial amount of water is a plus. I'm like Vols, I look forward to lightly shaking the stalks...will sometimes just walk down the rows with a stick banging against them. (Just be sure the pollen is ready to fly...if you see that you're knocking of the pollen "sacks" you're hitting/shaking it too hard and the pollen is not ready to venture out.)

By the way, what kind of corn ya'll growing? (I'm a bona-fide Kandy Korn freak myself! Yummmm...tastes so good it'll turn your hair red!)

Each strand of tassel leads to one piece of corn, and every strand has to be pollinated for the ear to completely fill out.

I'm keep going back and forth between the SEs and the "regular ole sweet corn". This year I'm trying another SE - Incredible' from Pinetree. If I've got enough room, I'll probably slip in a few of my leftover Parks 'Sugar Buns' from last year, just to use up the seeds. (I don't care about cross-pollination, obviously :)

Corn is a crop that you need to give some room to; if you can spare an area that's at least 4'x4', you can have a very nice (if small) crop.

Yummm!...that name even sounds good! "Sugar Buns"!
Have never grown that one. Only time I'd worry about crossing is if one variety has the "sh2" gene...if those cross with other types the texture and taste will be significantly inferior. Course now, what I've done is stagger the two crops so they don't both tassel out at the same time.
By the way PaintedLady...you're referring to the silks, not the tassels. Isn't it cool to imagine each silk goes to one individual kernel? Ma Nature is taking care of us all, eh? (And THAT is "customer service"!) ô¿ô

If you can find it, try 'Radiance', SH2 corn. People keep asking for it at market! It is yellow & white, which, up here anyhow, everbody thinks they need. When is sweet corn ready in your areas. Here it starts about July 15 & lasts into Sept. Frost stops it. Average first frost is Sept. 20th.
ßernie

Bernie, is that a mid-season corn? Late maturity?
I really like some of those bi-colors (Honey 'n Pearl comes to mind.) Can you tell I'm thinking of a nice huge corn patch? (I have to grow it north of town tho...all the squirrels around our place eat it all up if I grow it here!)

85 days. Do you have racoons to make a mess? We are blessed with a very extended family around these parts. They can wreak acres in one night, & always the night before you plan on picking!
ßernie

most farmers plant here in late feb and early march and harvest around may and june

Wow. Depending on weather, I put in my corn in late April to mid-May and harvest in late July or August. Assuming I beat the blasted raccoons to it :)

We have a few coons around here but not enuff to do a lot of damage. (And yes, when they do it is always at nite RIGHT when the corn is at its sweetest!) My big problem is those pesky squirrels! They can eat all day long and hide in the corn patch while they are eating. Each winter I declare I'm gonna put some of them in the pot (and I often do) but by spring there are more of them. Not much you can do to deter squirrels except sit in the patch w/a gun, someting I have no patience for (especially in the summer months when you ain't sposed to eat them).

Shoe: why not? Like clams you only eat in months with an 'R' in them?

I don't have a lot of room for corn, but try to grow a little every year (Yum). I mound soil in about 12" circles about 12" apart and plant 3 seeds in each. Being so close together they pollinate themselves and being mounded they warm up and germinate faster.

We have a lot of squirrels here but they have never bothered the corn (or any other veggies). They really like the fruit trees and there are several walnut trees around so they must be too full for veggies.