Just passing along interesting information from an Ag publication out of MInnesota...
http://www.the-land.com/story.php?storyid=2436
personally, I think the flavor of the corn is improved with good soil and heirloom varieties :-) And lots of rain too...
What kind of corn have you or will you plant?
The Secrets of Super Succulent Sweet Corn
well, no wonder I get confused when I read about corn varieties in the seed catalogs - even the guys from the seed companies get confused about what all the abbreviations mean.
I agree with the part about waiting until the soil is warm to plant. Our temperatures here in north Georgia were unseasonable warm in April and I couldn't help myself - I went ahead and planted my corn. I don't think I had as high a germination rate as I have had the last couple years with my corn, the ground was still too cool. Live and learn.
This is the third year I have planted Golden Queen. We just love it - and so does everyone else we share it with. Most folks around here plant Silver Queen, but we like the yellow corn better. I firmly believe that I feed the soil, and the soil feeds the plants. I always move my whole compost pile into the garden in spring and till it under with my secret ingredient. My garden soil is a beautiful dark brown color after three years of amending it.
What kind of corn are you growing out in Texas?
secret ingredient....and that would be? Humm?
awww... you don't really want to know. Every spring I shovel out the goat houses (similar to big dog houses) and spread the goat poop all over the garden. Oddly enough, goat poop is little pellets very much like rabbit poop except bigger. They decompose very slowly, sort of a time released fertilizer pellet!!
Last year I had four rows of corn. Two rows were fertilized with g.p. and two rows were not. The two fertilized rows of corn grew an average of 2 feet taller and had bigger ears of corn!
Aren't you glad you asked? haha
So, what kind of corn do you grow in Texas?
Don't look at me I dunno I don't grow any...*screams out the window...TAMMMM what kinda corn ya grow* I don't have the space and I figured EB corn wasn't worth the trouble since I think you can grow 4 - 6 stalks. Heck that's a snack in this house. Oh wait I have a list of the type of corn that will grow here..hold on. Ok here are the types the extension service would grow here in SE TX
Merit
calumet
florida stayseet
guardian
sweet g-90 (white)
silver queen
country gentleman
Saint
"HERE I AM"..... screaming back.....
Tired and just got on. Last year I grew: Triple Play, Golden Bantam, and Stowell's, also Indian Corn (will remember variety after I press "send")
This year I have planted: Tirple Play
Will plant: Golden Bantam, Stowells (mostly), True Gold, Wachichu Flint, Anasazi Corn - hah - that's the one i planted last year that I forgot above!, and maybe some strawberry popcorn (promised the boys).
Back atcha later on!
hmstlyl, I have a secret ingredient too. And gona try GP this year!
That was an interesting article, Tamara. I now have "warm soil" firmly entrenched in my mind for growing corn next year, for more reasons than one... ;)
Yup, I also got too eager to plant thanks to our early spring. I plopped the seeds in the ground the day before our last predicted frost date instead of waiting until 2-3 weeks afterwards, and can really see the difference in germination! Probably had 95% last year, but only about 75% this year. Also used up the 2004 leftovers (an early and a late variety) which were only stored at room temp, so that likely figures in as well.
Here's my list from this year and last:
2004 and 2005: Golden Jubilee - 87 days
New for 2005: Early Golden Bantam - 75 days
2004 and 2005: Early Sunglow - 63 days
Just commercial shtuff. When I do corn better... hehehe... I'll venture into heirlooms.
Donna
P.S. We only have 45-50 hills in our backyard veggie garden.
This message was edited May 26, 2005 9:26 PM
Donna, I just re-read your post, where you added that you ONLY have 45-50 hills! Can't you find room for more LOL! You have gone corn-nuts! If you will venture into heirlooms, my dear, then you WILL do corn better. I have started so many culitvars indorrs this year (not corn LOL), and side by side, the heirlooms just DO better!
Of course, my favoirte Triple Play is not an heirlooms, but is was specially developed by www.seedsofchange.com And it loves cool soil, one of those exception. Remember that 6 inches of snow we got May 2nd? I planted the corn on April 22nd. Had a row cover on it. That evening, took it off (snow had melted), and there they were, all declared, I DECLARE! LOL
This message was edited May 26, 2005 11:47 PM
... gee, will edit those typos above tomorrow...
Here is a peek where I accidentally ripped the row cover. They are even taller now :-)
Now our soil is warm enough to plant the long season corn, so plenty of work to do here.
I recall last year, the sweetest corn I ever ate.... the first one, freshly shucked, right off the cob, eaten while standing in the middle of the patch, watching the sun set...
what else is everyone growing?
Hey TF
I took several pictures taday, found out all, most every thing I have planted is growing like a weed lol.
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Took some pic's last nite! One was my tractor. After dark.
Work work and work. Battery dead, Oil change, stuff!
Picked squash this morn, got 55 pounds, laughing again, miss a day....!
Missed yesterday, help take a grandson get final casts taken off.
He had club foot when he was born 2/9/04.
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Sucess! 3 different casts from using steel pins and tha result is a beautiful kid [got pictures]
I found your site:
http://405.scifstore.com/module/store/viewall.php
Looking Good! Choices are many and prices are tha best.
________________
Regarding corn:
I use to think warn soil till I read somehting from the SC Ag dept.
He, they talked about planting corn early.
If ya can till the ground, plant!
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The growth point on corn doesn't reach tha top till its about 4 1/2 " to 5" in height. Anything less freezes, it comes back.
I'm in zone 8 almost 9 and I think it was at least 3 if not 4 years ago I had a freeze that burnt my corn. It came back!
Location location location, what ever that means. I have planted several types of corn here with out regard for climate or zone.
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Tha corn powers that be love me _lol..
Speaking of;
Ate two cukes off tha vine taday.
Finally got all the string weaving on those done, blooms every where. [got pic's] lol....Tomorrow
Found a near red tomato.
Tied up a number of plants, one side anyway!
They're really loading up.
I need to compost them, I need to, to, I need rain!
Tha Question was what else,
well I block blanted an area never tilled till this year with beans & peas.
All my property is sand except the lower part that floods.
5 times last year. Its almost gumbo.
Haha [got pic's]
Pic is last year, or tha year before
I bought "Bon Appetit" corn this year, but I don't have a place to plant it now because the spot I was going to put it in is going to tomatoes (I went a bit over board this year!)
I wasn't planning on growing a lot; just enough so that I could have a few ears of fresh corn for myself (DH can't eat it). I think next year I'll have the whole yard tilled so I can just plant everywhere! : )
Charlie: good to hear your grandson's foot will be ok. I was born with a clubfoot, too--took four surgeries to straighten it out, and the ankle is fused, but it gets me around just fine. It's a pain in the arse to get shoes, though. ; )
Rhonda
tamara - I told my secret ingredient, tell me yours? I won't tell anybody! ;-)
Tamara, I suppose I do sound a bit corn-nuts! lol
We've devoted a 20' x 8' area for corn. Planted three seeds per hole, and spaced them a foot or so apart within the rows with two feet spacing between each of the three rows. Nearly every seed germinated last year, yielding 1 ear per stalk, so we went ahead and did the same thing this year.
That's really not *ALL* that much corn to spread out over the year once we've enjoyed and shared some of the fresh bounty. ;)
Charlie, I appreciate your additional information on the hardiness of the corn. In fact, I enjoy all of your comments when I'm lucky enough to stumble upon them. :)
Donna
Donna~
That is pretty intensive planting for corn. May I ask how you are amending the soil?
Hmstyl~
Lat year I over did with this secret ingredient, and I had palnts busting out of their stalks and stems from rowing too fast! It neutralizes the ph (important here where the soil is WAY alkaline), and stimulates growth, and encourages microbial activity in the soil. Called AquaNu. I have a link for it somewhere, I buy it locally. These guys are brilliant, and they have had the privilege of helping to reclaim lost farmland, esp in Colorado. Oh, and it also speeds up germination.
I have access to some goat and rabbit poo as well. But my most favorite ingredient for corn is---loose Alfalfa hay! Last year when it was time to hill one of the corn patches (only had three), instead of dirt, I used loose alfalfa hay. It was weed free, and in perfect condition, didn't wash away with all the extra rain we had. And boy, did it work. In a 12x20 area with 4 rows, I got over 13 dozen ears! I just go to the feed store down the road every now and then, and clean out her barns when her haystacks are getting low. Everything loose on the ground, and inside the pallets is mine. She is so glad to help my garden, and not have to clean it out herself!
Hey Charlie~
Thanks for the compliment on my store. I have really enjoyed working on it. Even with all the happy customers I have had (some referred from your site and some from the DG Watchdog), you are still the only one who has given me a Garden Watchdog Rating. Glad you did, or I would look un-rated!
Gald you had some time off, and with your grandson, he must be proud of his pappy! You sure work hard, and it pays off. One of my favorite sayings is that many people miss opportunity when it arrives because they do not recognize it dressed in overalls and looking like work! You truly do Live to Garden and Garden to Live!
Speaking of weeds, there is no place for them around those tender corn roots. The other day I got one set of circles weeded, now is time to do the other. The weeds are still tiny, so I don't even use a tool (those corn roots are shallow), just my gloved or bare fingers raking gently through the little baby weeds, and then they are gone :-) My happiest day of the year should be when I sink my teeth into my first ear of Triple Play corn, hopefully on or about my birthday, and also my one year anniversary as a DG member.
Take care everyone, and grow your best corn ever! Next year, we can bump this article up a little earlier in the season, as a reminder that warmer soil improves germination. And I don't like to thin my corn, I like to plant a good stand, and get almost 100% germ rate!
Happy holiday weekend...
Cornius~AKA~Tamara
Tamara, in answer to your questions:
Last year's garden was virgin soil recovered from the lawn the year before that, from which we removed a healthy stand of grass and weeds and rocked 'till the cows came home... sans music. *giggle* Added a few bags of aged steer manure, tilled in well, planted, covered with a thick layer of straw.
This year, the corn was planted in the previous garden area but in a different portion (for the most part). Added a few bags of aged steer manure, along with a layer of our year-old compost from the bins, tilled in well, and planted. Straw is soon to be added... just been to danged soggy to do so before now.
No additional anything last year or this, except for a ton more earthworms that showed up all by themselves. :)
Year two of veggie gardening in the same plot.
We also expanded our garden by recovering more virgin soil/lawn just south of the original and about the same size as the previous one. But that's not important right now. *giggle*
Editted based on clarifications provided by SO1. :)
This message was edited May 27, 2005 9:59 PM
That's funny? Not your planting, look at the edit time it gives, earlier than your (or my) posting time...
Yep, that good ol' manure works wonders, though I believe the earthworms came due to the straw. Keeping the soil cool and moist makes a BIG difference. I remember last year, I couldn't believe my eyes when my corn was ready two weeks early! Then I learned that RAIN (which we got a ton of in June) will actually make your corps (at least corn) mature faster.
Bring on the rain!
Less lawn, more garden. You are my kinda gal! Guess your DH figured it out: more fresh food, less time mowing...
As if he was mowing back there to begin with? You have *NO* idea what we moved to clear a garden area ... ;)
While we had earthworms before, they DEFINITELY multiplied in the veggie garden from last year! There was a time not so long ago that I physically jumped and squeaked every time I found one of those big fat nightcrawler types when I dug into the earth.
I'm into Earthworm 102 now, the giggling stage.
Yes, cute and wiggly, they are! And the redworms, too. Which is what we mostly have here. The first time I saw an assassin bugs, I was sure I had met an Alien! Now I look forward to the protectors of the corn patch!
Gardens are sure more procutive than grass, or piles of stuff LOL
Here is what the Victory Garden at PBS has to say about growing corn...
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/victorygarden/knowhow/pp/corn/index.html
Good article;
I use the mineral oil and think it works jus fine.
"the kernels at the end are as large and well-formed as the ones around the middle"
Might be true for perfect corn.
I watch for the silk to start turning, guess work huh!
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"raccoon dining is at least a good indication that harvest time is only a couple of days away"
Haha, so true!
When I think the corn is right, I feel the end of the corn on the top, not jus for well formed kernels but for a rounded end.
Its usually more pointed but as it gets ready it become rounded.
If I must, I eat one right there lol. Some times 2 or 3 hummmm mmmm good......
Auugh it's the dreaded C word again...*looks at the beautimus pictures of corn* That's it I'm just going to have to bulldoze the garage next year I need more planting space!
My favorite sweet corn is Kandy Korn. It's great fresh and I freeze about 40 bags , just like eating fresh during winter time. Geneve
:-) I am just drooling now. My first corn won't be ready for 27 more days.... :-(
I bought two kinds of corn this year and I'm confused on the directions.
The first one is: Honey Select. 79 days. "Sow seeds about 1 inch deep in rows about 24 inches apart. Later, thin to about 6 inches apart."
The second one is: Northern Xtra Supersweet. 67 days.
"Must be isolated from other varieties. Sow seeds about 1 inch deep in rows about 24 inches apart. Later, thin to about 6 inches apart."
Isn't 6" apart in a row pushing it? I always thought it was 10" to 12" apart in the row and I thought it was suppose to be 30" between rows.
"Isolate from other varieties." I thought that if you had two seperate mature dates, you could plant them in the same field.
Ok, so, I'm lost. I don't know how to plant this now. The directions have me all confused from how I've been taught in the past.
Can someone help me out with this?
Darrell
Darell, let me confuse you some more. I use traditional methods although I push the envelope some times. For most of lifetime corn was planted in 42 inch rows with 42 inch spacing. The advent of hybrids and the abundant use of fertilizer has really decreased the space requirements. I still plant sweet corn 15 -18 inches in 42 inch rows.Usually works out an I get nice ears. But any closer and I will have 1. to increase dramatically applications of fertilizer and 2. irrigate. I have more space and time than I have money so I choose not to use the dense plantings.
The second problem is that an SH2 like your Northern Xtra Supersweet will become very tough and chewy if cross pollinated with any other type of corn. Technically it should work with the Honey Select, since in a reasonable season, it should be pollinated before the Honey Select tassels out. Unfortunately the vagaries of seasonal growing could put them much closer together than 12 days. If the Honey select is throwing pollen when the silks on Northern Xtra Supersweet are receptive you have problems. Plant it upwind from the Honey Select and hope for the best. I quit growing supersweets because they were more trouble than they were worth.
Darrell...Honey Select won't be affected by other corn around it (or so they claim). However, the Northern Extra S-sweet can be affected by the Honey Select. (Weird, eh?)
The maturity dates of those two are not very far apart. If one of them was a 90 day or 120 day maturity date then you could plant them both at the same time. At this point, you may simply want to stagger your planting dates so that one of them tassels out at least two weeks later than the first.
As for row spacing, I have grown much bigger corn stalks than those two varieties and space them about 8 inches apart so I can see those at 6" doing just fine. As for distance between rows, I'd determine that by your equipment that you use for cultivating. If you cultivate by hand I'd go with their recommendations; apparently they may know their crop better.
Quoting:
Oh, you po baby. (No sympathy here, since MINE is just getting to knee-high stage now!)My first corn won't be ready for 27 more days....
I'm glad to hear of the mineral oil trick - I think I still have some left from my "oiled sand bucket" experiment (which works great, BTW)
Marauding raccoons are a definite nuisance here. Not sure how (or if) I'll foil 'em this year, but I'm sure gonna try. (One year, I came out to find my entire corn crop laid over and GONE in one glutinous feast. Grrrr.)
I also do intensive planting - 4 rows, about 4-6" apart in 4' x 4' raised beds. Two beds, staggered plantings. Suburbia - gotta make do with what ya got. I'm fertilizing with alfalfa pellets, but I may have to see if anybody has alfalfa hay around here.
As to space, we do have an acre-plus but I can't get DH to tear out more lawn if it's going to be used to feed the raccoons.... Can't say as how I blame him, but I would dearly love to be able to freeze some ears as well as eat fresh corn to our heart's content.
Shew! There sure is a lot to learn.
For the most part, I was looking for large cobbs of corn and the Northern description said they are 10" ears. So, I ordered the seeds.
I heard good things about Honey Select, so decided to try it out for myself as well as for market.
Thanks for the good info.
Darrell
Of all the posts in this thread, I think mine was the only was that admitted dropping 3 seeds in a hole and letting as many of them grow as wanted to.
Do the rest of you just do a single seed per hole? Or do you plant 2-3, yet thin to only the strongest one?
I'm already writing up my lessons learned thus far this season, to roll into the best plan for next year, so your input is valuable. :)
Donna
Hey TuttiFrutti (Donna)
Over tha years I've planted corn several ways.
Even used a handle of a rake or hoe to make a line and drop tha seeds in, cover and water in.
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I have poked holes in tha ground and dropped in seeds etc. Haha lol
One yr I might do two or 3 but finally stopped doing that because they're hard to thin.
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I would like to point out, using the method I use now, there are many times what I'd call twins come up. Most times they do great.
What I would point out or remind is how heavy a feeder corn is!
Now I plant most things in a furrow.
Corn, potatoes, tomatoes, cukes, squash soforth to help control erosion.
[Much of my gardening space is sand and on a slope]
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Corn spaced about 6-8". Lol again, so if ya drop more, so what! Let it grow or hoe it out later. Very scientific huh.....
I use a middle buster to make my furrows, which are all the same depth. 8" more or less.
Notice behind my slaving wife the potatoes are hilled to some extent.
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After the corn is up we pull dirt to hill them, though not as much as tha taters.
(clear as mud huh)
The pic in tha next post is that same corn taken taday...
Pic of corn 6/05/05
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I might add;
I never fertilize when I plant my corn.
Grows to fast and is tender. Should you have a light frost ya loose your corn.
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Wind and heavy rain can lay your corn down!
This message was edited Jun 5, 2005 6:22 PM
Perfectly clear to me, Charlie! Both in digging furrows and in the slight hilling of the corn. Since we're working a small area, it was easy to just spade up a hole every foot or so, plunk in the seeds, and cover. Not so practical for larger fields. Speaking of which, your corn field looks beautiful! :)
Thanks for answering and including the pics.
Donna
Thank you Donna;
One of these days I'll find a place & post some pic's of that grandchilds feet.
Fertilizing: Do it twice I do!
I side dress as ya see in tha pic when it reaches 6-10".
Again when the corn tassels appear.
When I've had small gardens in tha past, I would put it in a circle around the stalk out about 6".
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Much to much work for this old man.
Most of my methods are corrupted from other peoples ideas.
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Know this one legged person. Farms about 20 acres.
He modified a couple of ATV's. Does it all! Wife helps of course but all planting and actual farming he does.
Isn't gardening and those that do it, Beautiful!
Next year Charlie your going to have to plant one whole row of stuff and mark it SAINT'S ROW, so I can know what to pick when I sneak up and pick it :P~
Finally draggin the DH to the Farmers Market at the Airport next Saturday I'll take pictures so you can see if it's still any good.
Saint
Donna~
Last year I did well planting only one seed per hole, 12 inches apart. I didn't want ot waste seed or thing. Had very few that didn't come up.
This year, I did the circles. The first batch, I planted 10 per circle, and it was still cool, so I only got about 8. Thinned the other day, it broke my heart, but they went to the compost hole. The second batch had warmer soil, and all 10 came up. After thinning those, one fell over, so one circle is one plant shy of 6. That is why I don't like to thin. Seems like mother nature is going to do it herself, and I am just messingt things up LOL
Keep in mind, I covered them, so no birds or other critters dug up seed or seedlings...
I keep thinking I'll make that list on paper instead of in my brain...
I ordered Sugar Buns Hybrid. Never used it before. I know nothing about seeds. A couple years ago I planted Silver Queen. The ears turned out small but it was so good.
The last time I grew corn, the plants fell over. I either had them planted to close together, or didn't plant them deep enough I guess.
I'm going to try to grow corn again this year. (after waiting 10 years from that bad experience)
On the package it says to plant them 6" apart and 24" between the rows. After questioning these "directions", further up here in the forum, I guess I better follow the directions on the label. ;)
Is there anything else I might do to help the corn stand up and not fall over? Hilling comes to mind but I don't understand "Hilling" to well. I know that you plant cucumbers on a "Hill" or in a row. Same with some of the other vegetables. I don't think "Hilling" means to plant the corn seeds the same way you plant a "Hill of cucumbers."
1. I cannot grow corn at anywhere near that density. I plant in rows, 36 , 42 or 48 inch depending on the equipment available fro that patch. As the corn grows, I begin "Hilling" which simply means that the cultivators are set to push dirt to the corn plants. At final cultivation, the corn will be on a low ridge, with a low valley between the rows. I keep my spacing between 12 and 18 inches. 12 for the smaller early like Sunglo, 1 8 for late corn like Silver Queen.
So, let's say the garden is flat. I plant the corn in rows and as the corn grows, I start pulling dirt up around the base of the corn stalk. I guess I wait untill it grows a little first though, between each time I start to "hill" it. I'm a little worried though that I might get dirt on top of the small plants as they grow. Guess I better be careful. :)
I will be using a hoe and elbow greese. I don't have any machinery to help me out with any of my garden. Not yet anyway.
I'm not a "small" man. I'm pretty big and having only 24" between the row isn't going to be enough space I'm affraid for me to get between the rows of corn. Because the directions on the package say 24" between the rows, I'm thinking that it has to be close together in order for the tops to do their job on the silk to polinate the corn. But like you FD, I think it's way to close together. I would have been ok with 10" to 12" apart and 2 1/2 feet between rows, (even 3 feet between rows would have been better in my minds eye)
I bought Bone Meal to top dress along the sides. I think that goes on when the corn si about 10" high and then again when it begins the ears. (got that from reading in other forums and I think I have it right)
I started the corn seeds a couple days ago. I put the seed in a bowl of water and let it soak overnight. Then yesterday, I planted the seeds in 3 oz. Dixie Cups. Last year, in that area of the garden, I planted the same crop over and over and over again. I "think" it was a rabbit or maybe slugs. That part of the garden is about 15 feet from the edge of the woods and I've seen rabbits out here in the grass eating clover, so I'm pretty sure they were in the vegetables over where I want to plant corn this year. We have huge black birds and the occasional Moose. Thats the reason for planting in dixie cups first. I want to get some height to the plant and I think it will help keep the birds from pulling out the plants to get to the seeds and I think the rabbits will stay clear because it won't be as tender as a seedling by the time it's planted in a couple weeks.