Hi all,
It's hard to grow corn here because of all the wild life that likes to eat corn.
But I'm going to give Yellow Mirai
http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10101&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&mainPage=prod2working&ItemId=5539&PrevMainPage=advsearchresults&scChannel=MiraiCorn&SearchText=p16.v231;s1.Corn&OfferCode=S1H
and Bicolor Mirai
http://www.parkseed.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/StoreCatalogDisplay?storeId=10101&catalogId=10101&langId=-1&mainPage=prod2working&ItemId=5538&PrevMainPage=advsearchresults&scChannel=MiraiCorn&SearchText=p16.v231;s1.Corn&OfferCode=S1H
a try because of all the hype about how tasty it is. Anyone else giving this stuff a try?
MM
Corn - Mirai - the best-tasting corn in history?
It is always worth a try. I seldom grow Sh 2 's. because they 1. Need to isolated and 2. I have not found one that I like the texture. They are sweet tho and hold for a long period after picking. Park's is a reliable company, but they do hype. It seems everything they sell is the greatest thing since sliced bread, so one needs to take them with a grain of salt and sometimes a fistful. Edited to add. Here is a description from a commercila vendor http://www.siegers.com/shop/kind.asp?kind_id=CCB
This message was edited Apr 15, 2006 4:22 PM
Hi, MaineMan.....Yes, I am going to plant it when the time is right. Sounds wonderful, but I agree with Farmerdill.....all of Park's plants are absolutely perfect and foolproof. LOL
Yes, I am going to try it just for kicks. I don't really have an ideal place for it. But, yes, I too think Parks tends to hype a lot of stuff, but, I also let them know when I think they have overdone it too.
Jeanette
Because of our short growing season here in south central Maine, I'm actually going to start my Mirai corn plants indoors individually in pots under overdriven fluorescent lights. I already have the seed and I will probably start planting some in two or three weeks. After our "safe" no-frost date of Memorial day, I will set them out with several leaves on them as fairly large plants.
And then the real fun begins, trying to keep the chipmunks, ground squirrels, gray squirrels, raccoons, crows, and groundhogs from chowing down.
MM
I've never thought of transplanting corn. I've read it 'shouldn't' be done.... Makes me think i should give it a try. Have you done it in the past?
Tombaak,
Yes, I have grown corn plants quite successfully in big pots made from the bottom part of 2-liter soft drink bottles. They become rootbound and you can see the roots through the clear pot. The pot is quite flexible, so you can gently "kneed" it a little to loosen the root ball and it just falls out into your hand intact and completely undamaged. It's like a giant peat pot without the peat walls and the unimpeded roots quickly grow into the surrounding soil.
This same technique also works great for pole beans here in this area, where our cool springtime soil tends to just rot bean seeds planted directly in it, even as late as June. I set out pole beans that are beginning to vine.
Even plants that are taproot dependent, like watermelons, do well in the soft-drink pots. Their roots basically make their own "Jiffy" pots, only the "root-pots" are much quicker to enter the surrounding soil with their roots, including the vital taproot.
MM
MaineMan,
You mentioned wayermelons as taproot dependent. I keep reading that but do not find that true particularily for me...year after year. My melon roots are mostly horizonal in the top 5 inches of soil...and I have raised some very good melons. Perhaps where it is sandy and dry they grow down more.
Indy,
I agree with you. As long as there is moisture in the top few inches of soil, the side roots will exploit it. The native melons in Africa do depend strongly on their taproots for moisture in what appears to be a desert-like environment. When I was a kid on our farm in Oklahoma we grew watermelons (Florida Giant and Black Diamond) and during the summer they seemed to have taproots in a water table several feet down, while the sandy ground around them appeared to be parched and dry.
I agree that, in our relatively moist climate here in Maine, the taproots may not be at all critical for our melons. Our garden soil is quite sandy. The sand makes it fairly easy to pull out a lot of the root system in fall cleanup. That makes it easy to verify that the roots were healthy. I notice that apparently the watermelon taproot curls around in the curved bottom of the pot and emerges when the rootball is set into the soil and then grows more or less straight down. Many other roots emerge and continue out in pretty much all directions, creating an extensive long-ranging root system. The watermelon root system is as exploratory as the vine structure.
Last year I trained my watermelon vines up onto large concrete wire tomato cages to get better use of our garden space. That let me grow significantly more watermelons and made it much easier to keep our garden clean in the watermelon area.
MM
That's what I saw in commercial plantings in Florida. As long as the seedlings weren't too big before transplant, the would do just as well as the ones that were direct seeded. The direct seeded plants always looked more vigorous and robust early on, but by the end of the season, there was no difference.
As an update on Mirai corn......forget it!!! The stingiest ears I ever saw, but the corn worms sure did like it. I planted it for my parrots, and they enjoyed it, but would enjoy any kind of corn, so back to the good, ol' standbys. At least you get some good-sized ears so you don't lose all of it cutting off the corn worms. Totally disappointed in the hyped Mirai. I can't use sprays of any kind and was too lazy to do the corn oil thing.
Has anyone else enjoyed Mirai?
I have bought about 2 acres of Mirai seed, pelleted and unpelleted, spread out over each of the varities that exist.
I am growing some indoors, in plastic bags, garbage bags, and they are well and about ready to go into the greenhouse. I also have a large amount of seed to be direct seeded. Would ask if anyone has tried the 3 sisters method of intercropping using a waterwheel planter for the corn seedling, adding seeds of squash and bean to each seedling, as it is planted. I have seen people add tubes of PVC to the rig, to add another asset to the machine. Looking for suggestions....as I am going out early, here in Vermont, under a floating row cover.
I tried the Three Sisters, and wound up with a tangled heap. Just think about it, the beans climbing madly, falling onto neighboring corn, and the squash or pumpkin even climbing. And the poor corn! Buried under the other two.
All I can figure is that the Indians wanted dried corn and beans, and late pumpkins when everything died down. Plant and forget until after frost in the fall.
Maybe somebody can get this to work for fresh green beans, and summer squash, I'm just saying I didn't.
I was happy with the Mirai that I planted, but the second sowing got rust. Yes, the ears were small, but that was OK. A lot of corn flavor as well as sugar sweetness.
Thanks for the input, I am more and more aware of the difference between theory and practice !
Certainly on a larger scale, there is a reason the three sisters are left out of agricultural planning, and
your image of intercropped chaos is enough for me. I am looking forward to seeing how my Mirai handles the
transplant into the greenhouse, and was quite surprised to see how much shoot and little root there was on each plant. I will admit they were planted quite closely together, which might explain the problem.
I have also written to the site...www.mirai.com for more info.
John
All the corn that I've planted in the ground has had monster roots. Once we planted 'field' corn for livestock feed. I ran out the next day to dig up some to see if it'd sprouted. My SO laughed at me until I came back in the kitchen with several kernels that had three and four inch roots, in less than 24 hours! But then the soil was quite warm, fluffy sandy, but only a whisper of moisture. This was central Virginia, in ?? May. Long time ago. I remember putting in the seed and the sun was really hot.
Mmm, I think the Mirai was nearly the same.
I've never tried gardening in the Far North where you are, John. Poor you!
Melissa
Ditto here on "tangled mess" with the 3 Sisters system. Ya'll have to remember that the corn the Native Americans grew was a huge field-type corn, not the sweet corn of today. Those stalks were thick and very tall, offering much more support than sweet corn ever would. I'm inclined to agree with Molamola, it would make sense the NA would be growing for a storage crop (dried beans, etc) so if the corn ever did lodge they would still be able to get their harvest, possibly pulling the whole plants to sit around in the evenings and pull the beans off, eh?
jmaeck, hope you report back in on how your corn does this year in your greenhouse (or is it a grow tunnel you are referring to?). I've transplanted corn in the past and it performed very well, easily transplant-able, but did it by hand, not a waterwheel. Keep us updated if you will.
Happy Gardening, Folks!
Shoe
Shoe I'm so glad to see you posting. Been wondering if you'd left us and that would have been a big loss.
Not all sweet corn is smallish. The Silver Queen corn that I grew in Fort Worth easily topped 10 feet and the stalks were almost tree-like at the base. If you had a pot of water on to boil when you started to shuck and silk the corn, you could go from stalk to plate in a few minutes and have all of the natural sugar still in the kernels. Silver Queen looked like monster field corn in the garden, but taken hot from the pot and drenched in butter, its taste right off the ear was unforgettable.
ZM
.Zen Man, yep, Silver Queen is a popular corn here also. Some folks think there is nothing better. And it is a great tasting corn! However, with the introduction of many other since its inception I don't believe it is the standard to go by (as is usual around here...every corn is compared to Silver Queen).
As for the size, that will vary, 6 to 8 ft is usually the norm but I have friends who say theirs has surpassed those heights easily. Now about that taste, ditto! The water should be boiling, or the grill fired up, when you go out to pick the corn. Yummy! I just can't get enough fresh picked corn!
Twiggy, nice to see you, too. I'm still here, it's my busy time of year so have limited online time before I pass out from lazy eyelids or become a veg-head (couch potato?) in my DD's comfy recliner (when she wants computer time!). But never fear. Besides, I've been sending folks to come see your "water gardening" thread. I think you have a good thing going there. I do the same for my nursery/potted plants; works great!
Shoe (about to plant tomatoes here tomorrow, pushing the envelope)
Have planted the Mirai for the past two years. Both times (because the seed was not cheap and I used raised beds) I started the seeds indoors several weeks before it was time to plant out. Have had great success with it both years. Because I have 4 x 6 raised beds I usually only plant about 20 or 25 stalks at a time. I have been planting my bush string beans in between the rows and have had great success both years. This year I am going to go vertical with my beans, so I am going to try melons between the corn and hope that it works as well.
Below is some feedback on my problems growing Mirai indoors for transplant. In the greenhouse, the Mirai is picking up, and I am wanting to keep planting it, to tranplant into a field. Mirai seems to like fluorescent lights , even under a bench....and adapts well to greenhouse culture, I think. Would be happy for feedback and expereince of others.
Here is some of the feedback I received from the experts.
Dear John,
Centest thanks you for purchasing Mirai.
We at Centest think the roots might be getting burned from too much
nitrogen. It is a possibility to consider. Further more, I have not heard
of people having luck transplanting sweet corn. The roots get root-bound
and at time of transplant and takes the roots a long time to readjust. The
corn is edible but, not very aesthetic to the eye.
I hope I have been of some help to you. I recommend you contact your local
Ag Extension for they might be able to direct you to the right path.
Best regards,
America Ribail
Centest Inc
To: centest@ameritech.net
Subject: Mirai Grower in Vermont
I have purchased large quantities of each of the various Mirai seed.
So far, starting test trials of seed indoors, the seeds have germinated
and grown well, under halogen lights.
When transplanted out to greenhouse , however, I noticed, very little
root growth, at all,
tho temperatures in gro-room have been above 70. Is this a lack of
fertilizer ?
I have used fish emulsion only and grown in Pro-Mix Bx soil.
Any suggestions on where to find growing info much appreciated.
Another factor to consider is that that are currently 10 distinct cultivars of Mirai, whites, bi-colors, yellows with different sizes and maturity dates. http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/adv_search.php?searcher%5Bcommon%5D=Sweet+Corn&searcher%5Bfamily%5D=&searcher%5Bgenus%5D=&searcher%5Bspecies%5D=&searcher%5Bcultivar%5D=mirai&searcher%5Bhybridizer%5D=&searcher%5Bgrex%5D=&search_prefs%5Bblank_cultivar%5D=&search_prefs%5Bsort_by%5D=rating&images_prefs=both&Search=Search Missing from this list is 131 Y and 350 BC
Should the 350 BC Mirai be mentioned in the Old Testament? (grin)
ZM
Interesting about the root bound issue. Haven't seen that issue with my corn, but then I do not keep it in the pots that long after it germinates. I keep it maybe 10 days to 2 weeks after it sprouts. That may be why I have not seen the root issue.