Please allow me to begin by saying thank you to all who responded in the "Sweet Corn & Popcorn" post that I made. I love this site and have have already developed a "special place" in my heart for you all.
Last night, I got to doing some thinking (very dangerous for me) about maturity dates for sweet corn and popcorn. I knew that the sweet corn "maturity" referred to the stage at which sweet corn could be harvested to use for corn on the cob or cut corn. But I wondered if the popcorn "maturity" referred to the stage at which the kernel was mature or if it referred to the stage at which the kernel was not only mature, but hard and dry.
So, I called Harris
seed Co. and spoke to an individual who is supposed to be highly knowledgeable about corn (sweet and popcorn). I also called my county extention agent about this question. Both gentlemen said that the maturity date for sweet corn referrs to the time that it takes (under the correct conditions) from planting to the harvest of the ears so that they may be used as corn on the cob or cut corn. They also said that the maturity dates of popcorn referrs to the time that it takes (again, under the right conditions) from planting to the harvest time. But with popcorn, they said that the harvest time is NOT when the kernels are mature, but rather when they are dry enough to be hard!
After having given this information, the guy from Harris
seed Co. maintained that a sweet corn with an 85 day maturity and a popcorn with a 115 day maturity could be planted at the same time. His reasoning was that there would be a 30 day gap in the maturity dates. My county agent disagreed. He said that the sweet corn should be planted first and the popcorn should be planted 2 weeks later. He said that he was afraid that no consideration had been given for the drying time which had been figured into the popcorn's maturity date. And if I planted these corns at the same time, they would probably tassel at the same time or within a few days of each other, thereby yeilding themselves vulnerable to cross pollination.
Knowing my county extention agent's qualifications and experience, as well as wanting to make sure that there is no sweetg corn/popcorn hankey-panky going on in my garden, I believe that I will stagger the plantings by 2 weeks.
As for the idea of double cropping the corns, my agent said that their was a better chance of it snowing on July 4 than their was of the second crop maturing. He said that if the end of the
growing season was not plaqued with heavy and frequent rains, I might have a fighting chance. But given the extremely high humidity during the time when the popcorn would need to be drying out, he said that it just wasn't feasible.
I thank you all for racking your brains and rattling the information cages in an effort to help me out. I first thought that this would be a simple question to answer, but have learned that it was not as simple as it appeared on the surface.
And Triss, I don't have the time to do it right now, but I will be posting the informaiton about the
potatoes for bad backs in the gardening with disabilities forum. I like that forum due to the fact that my wife and I are disabled as well.
I hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year.
Robert