Tomorrow's the day--I'm planting my corn!
I've only tried this once before, and had a terrible time with the stalks falling over after they got about 4 feet tall and we got a good stiff breeze. I was thinking that this year I would dig a trench maybe 3 inches deep, plant the seeds, and then as they got bigger (say around 2 feet tall) fill the trench in to give them a little extra support.
Is this a good idea or a bad one? Is there anything else I can do to help my corn stand straight and tall? It'll be a very small plot, only three rows about 6 feet each, planted at one-foot intervals in every direction in the square-foot-gardening approach.
Thanks for any advice!
Corn question
Standard procedure is to plant the corn in a 3-5 inch trench,and fill the trench with each cultivation. It should be level when the corn is about a ft to 18 inches high. at two ft or so ( just before it starts to tassel) hill it up so the corn row in 2-3 inches above the soil in the middle between rows. It helps but a flooding rain accompanied by high winds will still knock a lot of it down. Some cultivars have better anchorage then others so you may want to experiment with that also.
A trench might help out there, but I would be afraid of doing that here early in the season....just too wet in normal soil unless it has been highly amended. But in the desert and sandy soil it sounds good.
Thanks, Farmerdill, thanks, Indy! Good to know I'm on the right track here.
Off to go plant!
Anyone know when corn gets planted in Zone 7b?
BB
Zones are not good indicators of planting dates for annuals. I usually like to plant corn about two weeks before the last average frost date. I will plant during Master's week, April 15 frost date.
Two weeks before last frost date? I'm already late, then! Our average last frost date was last week! I'm planning on planting tomatoes this weekend, but I hadn't even considered corn yet. I have my garden layout ready, and I've done the initial ground prep, but I still have to work the compost I spread in...and my tiller is in the shop for a valve problem on the engine. I guess better late than never.
I'm planting 'Sugar Dots' and 'Kandy Korn'. The seed packets say that Sugar Dots is 80 days to maturity and Kandy Korn is 89. Plant files says 81-90 days for both. I had thought to plant a batch of each, then another batch 2-3 weeks later. That would give me fresh corn for more than a month.
Farmerdill, have you noticed a difference in days to harvest between the two varieties? If not, I may have to stagger my plantings only a week or so apart, but alternate types.
David
I have grown both and they do overlap some, Sugar Dots will be approximately a week earlier. Even so, you should have about a three week harvest from a single planting. A second planting thre weeks later than the first sounds about right. Remember tho that days to harvest are an approximation. Corns grows slow in cool weather and takes off like a rocket in hot weather. An 80 day corn may take 80 -90 days in an early planting, but come in at 70 on a later planting.
can one plant corn as a transplant ? or is it better to sow straight in the ground .
just curious
alot of flooding here in Oh . alot of feilds are still under water some are 2 ' under . I htink we are going to have a late corn season.
Our field is not flooded but would like to try corn for the first time this yr .
thanks
sorry to get off topic
sue
Much better to direct plant. You have plenty of time, I will plant sweet corn the week of the Masters.
"Knee high
by the 4th of July"
It rhymes
I am getting a very late start, but what the heck. How close can I plant for my experiment in intensive gardening? I'm planting Sugar Dots and I lost the packet!
TF, my square foot gardening book has me planting at 1 foot spacing in each direction. I'm giving it a shot in some very small plots, since that's all the room I've got for it. Shoots are up!
Can corn be transplanted? My "helpers" and I planted 2 seeds in each spot, spaced maybe 1/2 inch apart, thinking that it would give us a backup in case one failed to germinate. In most cases, both seedlings are fine, but in a few spots, neither germinated. I'd love to transplant one from a two-fer into an empty spot, but I don't know if that's possible.
tucsonjill...back in March I came across a thread (post#4423371) by MaryE from Baker City, OR., where she mentioned transplanting corn. We shared a couple of D-mails on the subject. I don't think Mary would mind if I quoted her here.
"Save your toilet paper tubes! I stand them on end in a plastic dishpan, as many as it will hold, fill them with potting soil, and plant 1 seed in each, then after the corn is up I transplant them, tube and all, making sure the cardboard is completely buried.
Also, I don't plant them in a single row. I rake a row smooth, and make a depression with the hoe, just enough to make a small furrow, in the shape and size of a large watermelon. The corn gets planted in the furrow, 6 seeds each 2 on each side and one on each end of the oval. I make 2 or 3 short rows so there is a block. They help hold each other up when the wind blows. When the corn is 2 or 3 inches high, the center of the circle and the outside edges are hoed up against the plants, and I fill the center with manure/compost. When I water them they get fertilized too. The center of the next "row" is 4 ft from the first one. It looks like wasted space at first, but when the corn is half grown it is really pretty small if you need to work between rows."
I thought the idea was pretty clever and I've been saving "toot-ta-do's" for the past month. I have saved enough to experiment with in my first row of corn. Always fun to try new things - hey!
Well, that is interesting and sounds very logical. I think I'll start saving my "toot-ta-do's"!
Well, I relocated some of my corn seedlings this morning to fill in the gaps where either seeds didn't germinate or something (the darn thrashers, probably) ate them. Will have to see how this works for me.
Mraider, I love your idea of circular planting, and how the plants can support each other. Next time I'll have to give that a shot. Seems like it would also help with pollination as well, since there would be a bunch of plants in close proximity.
Not my idea Jill, that came from MaryE. I have not had a chance to even try this method. Mary and I had quite a discussion on the matter of transplanting corn. I added that part about the circular planting because I thought it fit well in this thread. Thank you MaryE where ever you might be..
I also liked your comment about the relocating plants to fill gaps. My early attempts at planting corn always leave a number of gaps. I have gone back and reseeded the gaps in the past. Think I will try the relocation method next time...any tips on how you do that.
If you can get a good scoop of soil with it and water it in well, the little guys don't realize they've been moved. Filling in the gaps this way is best done as soon as possible, the smaller the better.
I was just very very careful, and used a very small trowel. It helped in that when I was planting, I planted 2 seeds at every spot, about 1" apart. Since I had "help" (my 5-year-old), I figured there would be some mishaps with things either too shallow (and the birds would get them) or too deep. I know reseeding can be an option, but I've got so little planted, if a few plants are 2 weeks behind the rest, there would be very little point.
I just checked on them, and it looks like they're doing okay--a little droopy maybe, compared to their fellows, but I think they'll pull through.
When relocating corn or any plant for that matter.....Covering the plant with an upside down 4-6 inch plastic flower pot turned upside down for 2 days does wonders.....after watering of course.
I've never done this with transplants before, Indy, although I've done it with baby seedlings in high winds. What's the rationale?
Most transplanting like this is done in hot weather and the mostly shade gives the plants time to get over the moving stress.
Don't you run the risk of cooking your seedlings? When I've shaded something, I try to use something very open, so I still get good air circulation. Otherwise, I worry about crispy critters...
These flower pots have holes around the bottom. Still, they are pretty cool here with the trapped dampness under the pot. The shade is cooling!
Course, if it is THAT hot, you can tip the pots with the north side open some and still shade the plant.
This message was edited Apr 6, 2008 1:12 PM
So it sounds like it depends on a good choice of pots. Thanks for the tip, Indy, I'll remember it next time I move something!
Interesting reading about your corn falling over. Mine did this last year, looked like someone (or something) was attempting to do a "crop circle" & ran out of crop! My corn patch is only 20X20! I had never had corn fall over like that. It was a problem the whole season. I wasn't sure if I just planted it too shallow or it was some freak hard wind I slept through or what. I staked the downed ones up & a few days later more were down. It was a disappointment the whole season. Didn't get really great corn either.
Just today I asked the guy at the nursery about it & he said he had never heard of corn falling over. I asked about planting it deeper, or mounding the soil up higher as it grows, & he said that corn is very succeptable to fungus & thought by covering it up to much might invite fungus.
Farmerdill, I think I will try your approach this year. We still have a month before planting seeds out. Late May we can still get frosts.
I'm finding these wind comments interesting. Been noticing these sorts of comments from all parts of the country. Montanans have been complaining about the wind for the last year like it was something new. Having lived in Kansas where the wind blows almost constantly I hadn't given it a whole lot of thought. But, I'm looking out my window at the sodium vapor light across the street watching quarter inch snow flakes blowing sideways, wondering how any of them hit the ground. Wind has been pretty constant this month, and last year I had my corn blow over six times in winds exceeding 50 miles per hour. Although I mound up extra soil at the base of each plant, there is no real protection from sixty mile per hour winds. I just go out and prop them back up with more soil and wait for the next chanook. Last year I planted half a pound of sweet corn and as you can imagine that took the better part of a day to realine. Like weeding, it's just part of gardening.
I normally cultivate corn three times. Once just after it emerges, second when it is about a foot high, third just before it begans tasseling. I use a tractor and cultivator so I can't let it just very tall on the last cultivation or I will break too many stalks.
I had some corn in some really soft, fluffy soil with thick mulch, and over it went! I think harder clay soil is better! And hilled up, the stalks grow roots out of the first one or two joints.
Can pollen be collected and kept for a week or two? Would it still be 'viable'?
My corn is coming out with second ear on the stalks, but there seems to be little or no pollen. The bees aren't going nuts like they did a week ago.
Pollen viability is measured in hours or less and is not storable. On my corn plantings I never see a "second life", but rather a quick progression to finishing the life cycle. There may be some odd varieties that behave differently.
When my corn blows down, it is caused by first a heavy rain that softens the soil and then heavy winds. Last year I had 2 of 8 plantings that blew over....which is par for the course. Corn a foot tall or shorter can be blown flat and straighten up by itself 100%. The taller the corn the worse the situation.....like Kandy Korn.
Odd corn would be normal for me. Some of the stalks had tons of pollen last week, and now they are popping out with ears that weren't evident all all when they were pollinating(?)
Guess we'll just have to wait and see. The variety is for the far north, 56 days, planted here where the days are only a half hour longer than the nights. Plants might be confused.
Farmerdill...you mentioned cultivating your corn with a tractor and using 48-inches between each row. Curious as to how you do that and what is your cultivator?
this is planting mode, but same principle. Wheel spacings on this machine dictate row spacing.
Appologies Farmer...poorly frased question. Let me back up here. In several past conversations you have advised me on corn spacing to compensate for problems acquired from planting the corn seeds too closely together. Last season I planted half a pound of seed in four rows and this year I'm extenting that amount up to eight or more rows. Since I have more than adequate space to work with I thought your idea of cultivating with a tractror might work for me. I have a lawn tractor with a pull behind tiller. I could easily go from 36-inch row spacing to 48-inch if I chose to use the tiller. Though I'm still debating about that choice.
What I have seen in a corn thread is the use of hay or alfalfa when cultivating. I just couldn't picture this using a tractor/tiller. Quite possibly I'm confused here about the use of the term 'cultivation' here. Maybe it's just simply turning the soil without any additives? Clarification Please!