growing corn ?

[lindaray]

For container gardening--Burpees has a variety called "On the Deck". It really does well.

[gdaddybill]

The last few years I've had trouble getting a stand. The birds peck it out as soon as the green shoots appear-they're apparently after the endosperm as the green shoot is left laying on the ground. Guess I'll have to cover with row cover until the shoot get some size.

[Nattybo!]

Gdaddybill, my daddy would tie thin strips of old t-shirts to a string that was over his corn rows to keep the birds from pecking. It sounds like a lot of work tieing a bunch of scraps to a string but he did it while watching t.v. So the work went by w/o much trouble. Maybe sparkly ribbon (like for helium balloons) would work too? But the bird netting row cover does sound faster.

Brownrexx is spot on! Follow his advice for corn spacing/rows.

Now all y'all that have raccoon problems I might have a solution. It's cucumbers. Ring your corn patch with cucumbers. I planted mine thick and had them climb string upwards. Make sure your cucumber variety is prickley. IIRC, I think the mouse melons didn't have any prickles and I worried about that corner of my corn Fort Knox.

This worked for me when I grew corn 2 or 3 years ago. I wanted to test it again with Silver Queen before recommending it but my gardenening plans haven't gone as planned for a couple of years now.

About 3 years ago I picked up this packet of corn seed. It was red, looked like fun, family thought it was too weird and they all said, "I ain't eating that!" Tasted fine to me? So did the raccoons stay out of my corn patch b/c of the cukes or b/c it was weird and red?

[kurt]

For my mangoes,some old CDs ,on thin fishing line,not too long as to guillotine all your fruit/foliage during those unruly winds.Drives birds ,squirrels,especially the neighbors whose trees get my driven away vermin BONKERS!.Win Win.

[My Foot Smells]

wow. appreciate all the replies. I do grow in raised beds, so big block would not work for me as the native soil is a hard clay.

ya'll plant corn close, I was thinking 12" apart, but maybe I could drop that # down a bit. the raised bed is 6 feet wide x 12 feet long, and the other is 6x8. I figured I could squeeze 3 rows in 6 feet, but maybe? that would block it up a bit more.

abiding my time until maybe mid april, local farm report suggests either the 2nd or 3rd week in april for best production. oddly, planting late bugs become a problem and production drops off.

[brownrexx]

If you can't make it more of a block than that you can do this. When the tassels have formed and you see silks, you can gently shake the stalks so that the pollen falls onto the silks and improves pollination.

[My Foot Smells]

Originally Posted by brownrexx

If you can't make it more of a block than that you can do this. When the tassels have formed and you see silks, you can gently shake the stalks so that the pollen falls onto the silks and improves pollination.

thanks for the advice. yes, this will be a small backyard batch. saw corn at the grocery store yesterday for 59c an ear.

[Gardeneer]

Mine are in a block of about 4 rows and about 6 per row.
They are now growing tassel ans silk.

[My Foot Smells]

wow. yours is a lot further along, I don't have silk or tassels yet. the wind has blown a couple over and something has eaten the tops (leaves) on a couple.

[JRinPA]

Does anyone else here start their corn inside and transplant it?

Last year I did soil blocks, planted out after maybe 3 weeks old, worked great. This year I doubled seeded in soil blocks, planted out after 2 weeks. Three plantings, staggered two weeks each. I had some issues this season with the stalks forming, ended up curling into themselves, but I had enough that formed okay. Then under hoops and AG19 for the first month of each planting. I figured the half silk date for first planting as july 3rd.

Awesome harvest for us, picking 7-8 per day for two solid weeks. At least a week earlier than any local corn for sale. I figure the two staggered planting put the second stand about one week behind. Squirrels started hammering the stands after 16 days of picking, so I had to pull down the remainder of first and second stands the last couple days. Dozens in the fridge now... My third stand is still there but still young. I don't think that will stop the squirrels from destroying it though, now that they had a taste. When I check this evening I expect to find more damage.

I thought about hanging old CDs, read that years ago, but I can't imagine it helping at that spot, and would be an eyesore (community garden). Another thought was to make a wall with AG19 and basically wrap it when it gets ripe. It would be a pain this year because I have rows with squash running through it, but maybe next year I can do it with planting blocks and just one butternut in each block.

[Gardeneer]

I soak the seeds for a day or so and direct sow. Then come up on their own terms depending on the soil temperatures.
This past season my crop did ok but not as good as I would've liked. Next year I will give them more fertilizer an also I will do some staggered planting, to stretch the harvest time. And I will get some better seeds. The ones from Dollar Tree store .. well, what do you expect.

[JRinPA]

Yes, dollar tree seeds...4 packs for a buck is not worth it when it doesn't germinate. We had 2 different types of cucumber that looked fine with zero germ, 2 packs of zinnia that looked beat up with about 20% germination, and broccolli, cauliflower, shard, and spinach that were fine. Giant Noble spinach was great. I wouldn't trust corn to dollar tree, though.

Next year I will plant in blocks with just one squash plant in the block, and wrap up blocks in AG19 when the squirrels find them. A pain, but I think it should work. Looking at my last post, there were 5 more ears destroyed when I went back, and I ended up having to pull everything. All were young, some too young to bother with, but the squirrels didn't care. I do have many butternut, acorn squash, and a some nice cantaloupe that ran nicely under the corn.

[clkeiper]

Did I miss what kind of corn? sweet or dent or ornamental?
the container corn I suspect wont yield anything. there isn't enough soil or water for it to form much of an ear. it may be great for raised beds though.
We grew "Paydirt" this year. best corn we have ever grown. we will plan on that for several plantings next year.

Dent corn is for making your own corn flour. or just use it ornamental for fall decorations.

[JRinPA]

Not sure who you were addressing, carolyn/ The last two years I grew a supersweet (sh2) from johnnys. The white one. Xtra-Tender 3473, untreated. I still have about 600 seed bought this year, so I'm hoping I don't need to buy more next year. Will test germinate some in Feb or March.

[Gardeneer]

Next year I will get/plant some good seeds and feed the plants real well .

BTW: how many ears do get from each plant, in average ? I got mostly 2 ears.