A Gardeners Forum Forums Gardening Reference Gardening in 2005 Whats the secret to growing corn?

Most of my garden does good but I can never do any good with sweetcorn its weird because years ago my Dad grew bushels of it in the same garden I always put stuff on my ground to replenish the soil I,ve tryed different varities of corn does anyone have any ideas?

Hi Katb,
Can you tell us what you do to grow them>>
ie: Mostly.....How you plant, like amount of rows??
What you do to the soil when the corns' growing..
How close you plant the corn?

Weezie

Green Giant makes some good little nibblers!

Seriously, though, we have the same problem with our sweet corn. I am looking forward to reading any answers to see if I can help ours, too!

Dianna

You need to plant corn in multiple rows. Preferably at least 4 rows side by side. You need to plant them in blocks rather than in one or two long rows, because with long rows you get poor pollination. I space my rows 30 inches apart, but have seen recommendations for as little as 18 inches. I like to be able to walk down my rows easilly. I space my corn about 12 inches apart in the rows and there's usually 2 stalks per hill.

P.S. Corn is a heavy feeder and you should work in sufficient fertlizer before you plant. I use 8 pounds of Harmony organic fertilizer per 100 square feet. In the past I used less at the start and then side-dressed fertilizer on either side of the row later in the season, but the one time application is easier and I have good results with it.

Obyawan does as i do. I'm assuming the problem is with the number of cobs your getting and the lack of vigour in the growth????
The best i've had is 5 cobs from 1 plant but the average would be 2-3. I still side dress once the secondary root system gets going. That's those big ones that come out from the base. They will take the extra feeding if you supply it. I usually wait until they are forming, then mulch the corn heavily with compost and hay and water well and regular. They'll take plenty of water once the cobs start to form.
Check your soil Ph. It may be a little low.

Hey guys, What is the Ph for growing corn??
Inquiring minds would like to know!!!

Weezie

G'day Weezie, it's actually pretty tolerant of a range but if it got below about 6 it may be affected. 5.5 or less would definitely be a problem. Up to about 7.5 absolute maximum i'd say. So that's a pretty fair range eh??? It may not be the problem, just ALWAYS worth checking first i reckon.

Oops, just re-read my post. Where I said "poor germination" I meant poor pollination. I'll see if I can still edit it.

Hope those answers will help Kat as much as I think they will help me!

Dianna

I just had one area of my veggie garden tested,
and it was 7.2...
I guess good for corn, which it did good for
corn last year, but not so great for tomatoes...

That's the tough part of rotating crops...UGH!!

Weezie

I plant my corn a few inchs apart with several rolls the corn always grows very good with lots of tossles but when it comes to haveing corn on the stalks I always lose out I use plenty of fertlizer liquid & pelleted also someone said I may lack nitrton.I,m trying it 1 more time this year I havent tryed the last 2 years if it doesent grow this time I,m giveing up.

That is our problem, too, Kat. We had four rows planted about 10 inches apart. We just never seemed to have a lot of ears and some of the ones we did have were undeveloped. We will try the nitrogen boost and hope for a better crop this year. We must not have had enough of it in the garden last year.

We've planted another four rows this year and are hoping for better results. The weather here has been weird lately, too, though and don't know if these cold temperatures will affect it. Couldn't wait to get the garden planted and then we have temps in the 30's. Sheesh!

Dianna

I haven't planted corn too many times,
but the first time I didnt' get much ...
but last year I planted some edible peas
at the base of my corn, I let the corn get a good
start on growing, then did the peas..
I did seem to get a ear or two more than usual..
***Peas put nitrogen back into the soil as they are growing, any legume will do that..***
The only problem is the one's on the side that got more shade were a bit leggie...

And I planted radishes to the sides of them too.

Weezie

Katb and Dixie Angel, that seems like an awfully close spacing for corn. If you have room, maybe you should try 12 inches apart in rows that are 2-3 feet apart or in a bed 18 inches apart each way.

I am probably way wrong. But isn't there something about temperatures over 80 degrees at certain times in the corns growing cycle that can mess up the harvest? I'm thinking I heard something years back about the midwest being very concerned because of late summer high temperatures in that region. I could be completely out there in la la land. It seems I have been laboring under a lot of incorrect information when it comes to plants. No wonder my thumb is black.

Temperature has a big effect on sweet corn all through its growth cycle. It won't germinate if the soil is too cool, say leass than 50-55 deg F, it won't grow well in the same situation. High temperatures can reduce pollination rates and high night time temps can increase respiration and water loss.
Almost makes it sound hard to grow.
But we know that aint true.

From a farm boy who grew corn and still does on 160 acres . . .

don't plant sweet corn on ground where it grew last year

don't plant rows closer than 20" apart

don't cultivate closer than 6-8" to the stalks . . . you are cutting off brace roots if you do

corn needs LOTS of nitrogen- side dress after knee high

plant corn in blocks of at least 4 rows wide for good pollination

sweet corn is not veggie of choice for a small garden . . . it likes lots of itself

they are NOT called "cobs" - plants pollinate from the tassels to the silks on the developing "ears" of corn . . . cobs are what you have left after you eat the corn kernals off the ears . . . if you are eating cobs, you are a darn hungry!

City slickers! Sheesh!

So, Bigboy, are you telling me I'm a bit since I bought 2 packs of sweet corn seeds, and my house sits in town, on a .14 acre lot?

Meg

,Hi everyone,

Big boy is right,they are not called cob.

Meg i wish you success with your corn hey! maybe you ll have it anyway.

me, it s the first yr. i plant corn,i tried something first without knowing if i ll even get growing,because the weather here for the past 2 or 3 weeks has been very cold and always rain so herse s what i ve tried(keep in mind i m crazy franny): i planted my corn in a (dont know the english word for it) a kind of square seedling thingamajig...well up to now i saw a something grow...a little....don t know if it ll last...so can someone tell me if my way works and wath s my next step cornwise.

hi Longy,hope you re doing well(pun), yah,i just saw what you do for a living,so it s a little pun.

so thank you in advance everyone...and to everyone a good night!!

hey gangn it me again,

if you have read my message before,and chance are that you did cause you re here now,i only have 1 thing to say after having reread myself and it is :I SWEAR I WKNO WOH TO WTERI AND SPELTS...i swear.

oh yah,another thing,,I M XTATIC....I M A GARDEN HELPER( yap! me not touch garden and me helping it!!!)

tata!!

kind of square seedling thingamajig...well up to now i saw a something grow...a little....don t know if it ll last...so can someone tell me if my way works and wath s my next step cornwise.


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Hi appropriatly named lady;)
The square seedling thingamajig is the proper name. Unless it's round. Good guess:)
Big Boy pretty much covered everything you need to do. Just make sure you have good drainage where you're gonna plant them and that the soil is warmed sufficiently. The reason corn likes lots of nitrogen is that it is in the grass family. Grasses love nitrogen. Started preparing the vege bed yet Franny? Go on. Get out there:)

Thanks for all the info I,ll try my luck again this year I,ll let you all know how it turns out.

Thank you, Katb, for starting this topic. Maybe we will both have better luck with our corn this year!

Thanks, all, for the advice that y'all have so freely given. I am looking forward to better "cobs" this time around!

Dianna

hi longy,

thanks for the answer,i m glad corn in thingamajig is allright.

no,for now with the cold coming to an end(hopfully we ll be up in the 70 soon)my veggi are still all in pots but i cant wait to transplant them.

hey,did ya change your thing from "Australia east coast" to "down under east coast" or am i dreaming.

oh ya forgot to ask,: how long does the corn have to be before planting in soil.

one more thing from the news this morning:
if ya listen to the news you know what happened at my airport yesterday night,well don t worry i m ok, going back to work in a few minutes.

Dianna,i loove you moto at the end,where you got it or was it your thing,love it,don t ever forget your song people.

so good luck with the corn all.

crazy Franny.

did ya change your thing from "Australia east coast" to "down under east coast" or am i dreaming.
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You're not dreaming Franny

oh ya forgot to ask,: how long does the corn have to be before planting in soil.
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When the roots are poking out the base of the square thingamejig. Otherwise, about 4 inches high give or take a bit. Give them (or anything else for that matter) a drink with a weak mix of liquid seaweed fert before and after transplanting and it'll help reduce transplant shock.

Hi,

thank you very much longy and have a good one.

Franny, I don't know who is the author of that little quote, but when I first read it, I thought about the meaning of true friendship and that quote was spot on.

Dianna

What's up guys and gals. Sorry I've been out of the fourm for a week or so, been chasing largemouth bass fry around. We grow Silver Queen sweet corn here in Alabama. Rows about 30" apart and work in some 13-13-13 before planting and again after knee high but in center of rows away from the base. If you have a corn planter you can save time by not having to thin it out. You can get a planter that comes with different inserts that plant more than just corn. Not very expensive. Good luck.

Hey all. If you're getting good tassels and tall, healthy plants but poor corn size or few kernels, pollination is your problem. Corn is wind pollinated, primarily, so the idea of planting in blocks is good. I've come across several references to planting corn in spirals so that the stalks can all sort of nod toward all the others in the wind...haven't tried this, but I've heard that the Native Americans did something like this. One more thing...if you plant the supersweets, the extremely hybridized sweetcorns, and you have regular sweetcorn close by and producing pollen at the same time, it will make the supersweets produce something like field corn.

aren't any of you afraid of cropcircles???

i'm sorry i couldn't resist

hi peppereater,

yes you re absolutely right.native amerindians used to plant in three,used to call it ..the three sisters.if i recall it was corn,beans andcukes or squash.

had a good site talking bout it but just looked in fav. for you and i must ve erased it by mistake but if you do a search for it you should be able to find something about it.

good luck.