Corn Progress

[feldon30]

Spray with soapy water?

[duajones]

Just did that and it seemed to help for the time being. I just didnt want to do anything to lessen pollination. Gave the plants a little shake early this morning and it was raining pollen.

[hornstrider]

Pyrethrum Rotenone .( I can't remember the exact name)....This stuff works.......I used the other day for aphids on one tomato plant.........all gone the next day......It is a natural product, but not organic....

[duajones]

From what I have read I should be harvesting my first ear around the 25th which will be around 20 days from the first silks appearance. I am so looking forward to it but the ears have a lot of filling out to do by then

[feldon30]

Pic from 2 weeks ago and then 1 week ago.

It's difficult to monitor their progress from so far away. These are cell phone pictures that were provided to me.

Really looking forward to it.

[duajones]

your plants look great, wont be long now

[hornstrider]

Looking good guys!!....Like I said this is my first try at corn...When can I plan to pick my corn?? My corn looks to be at the same relative stage as both of your crops.....These pict's are a week old.....I picked my onions a couple of days ago.......

[duajones]

From what I have read the corn will be ready for harvest around 20 days or so once the silks appear. Maybe someone else will chime in with anything different

[hornstrider]

I don't know if you noticed the 1/2 tomato cages at the bottom of my corn plants.......I put them there to deter my two labs from trampling my corn plants..........worked really well.....yesterday we had a serious thunderstorm blow through w/ high winds, and heavy rain.......the cages helped the corn plant stay upright, and not get blown over by the high winds.......got lucky I guess.....because I did use them for that purpose.....somebody upstairs is looking out for this newby corn farmer..

[duajones]

My plants are all leaned over now from last nights thunderstorm that blew threw. Not concerned but I do wish that we got more than a 1/4 inch of rain as we need it badly.

[duajones]

Well, I had my first ear today! The first one I checked didnt pollinate well and had some kind of bugs in it so I pulled it and tossed it. The second one had developed nicely and looked ready so I started some boiling water and once it was ready, tossed in the ear and boiled for around 4.5 minutes. It was very very good but I think I should have given it another day or two. Now I cant wait for my second ear. Corn for breakfast can you believe it?

[feldon30]

Did your silks turn BLACK or just brown?

Also the ears on mine still look small. I probably did not fertilize enough.

I may pull one just to check it out.

[hornstrider]

My silks were dark brown....I pick my first ear last night.......It was free of worms, and bugs........I poked a kernel, and the liquid was clear.......I believe it is supposed to be milky......I went ahead, and cooked it, and it was very, very good..........I think it could be better.......I will try again tonight w/ another ear....

[duajones]

MIne are dark brown as well. Kernel color was nice and bright yellow but the kernels were a touch on the small side. I am hoping that that will improve some if I give the next one a couple more days. I just pulled back the husk a bit to take a peek hoping not to disturb anything. I didnt see any worms but some type of bug was on one of them pretty thick. I also poked a kernel and it was milky.

[feldon30]

When I got home a week and a half ago, the silks were dark brown. But the ears were very small so I waited. Big mistake.

I harvested 3 yesterday and they are 'past done'. But all the sweetness is gone. They are indistinguishable from the grocery store ones. I guess they didn't get fertilized enough and then I shouldn't have waited when the silks were dark brown.

Oh well, it was an experiment. So I have all these ears out there, some small, some VERY small, and I'm guessing that none of them are sweet.