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Old February 25, 2016   #1
aimeruni
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Default corn in raised beds....please help

Yes, I realize this part of the forum is container gardening for tomatoes; however since raised beds are kind of a form of container gardening, I figured this would be the best place to post this thread.

I saw a video on you tube (I have posted the link below) where a person grew 52 corn plants in a 4' x 8' raised bed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZfkLZ_o2DwA

I was wondering with an 8" spacing between plants, and 6 plants per 'row' if I could grow that many in a 4' x 8' raised bed, or would that be too many plants? It's recommended to use dwarf varieties if growing corn in a raised bed.

The variety of corn I will plant is called blue jade, which is a dwarf type. It only reaches 3'-4' feet in height; I found a place that sells the blue jade corn, and it provides planting instructions. According to the site, it recommends 8" plant spacing. If I were to use this dwarf variety and the plant spacing listed would I be able to get 52 plants in a 4' x 8' bed or would I be overcrowding the bed?

One other thing; corn has shallow roots, so would a 4' x 8' bed with a depth of 12" be deep enough? However if it possible to grow that many plants in a 4 ' x 8' bed should I make the bed deeper (since there will be so many plants), or will it not matter?

Last edited by aimeruni; February 25, 2016 at 04:28 AM.
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Old February 25, 2016   #2
joseph
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I recommend no less than 2 square feet per full sized corn plant. In my own garden, I allow 2.5 square feet per corn plant.

Planting corn on 16" centers gives 1.8 square feet per plant. That is overcrowded, but might be OK for dwarf corn. So at that spacing, 28 plants would fit into that bed.

The thing I see frequently with corn, is that if it is crowded it may not produce cobs. And that if given sufficient space that a plant will produce multiple cobs. I'd be interested in knowing how many cobs were collected from the patch shown in the video... That's the real test, unless the corn was just being grown decoratively, then plant as close as you like.
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Old February 25, 2016   #3
Worth1
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This is a better example of what you need to do.

I saw one guy put 64 plants in a 4X4 bed but as with most of these videos you never see the yield.
https://youtu.be/vgriLjxaVlg
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Old February 25, 2016   #4
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Another good video
https://youtu.be/WvGKJ6GVuJQ
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Old February 25, 2016   #5
dustdevil
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Overcrowded corn will usually yield runt ears at best. I recommend rows 30" apart with kernels sown 12" apart in each row. Don't plant in one long row. Try to grow in a box-like shape for better pollination.
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Old February 25, 2016   #6
Cole_Robbie
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My corn has worms in it every ear if the tassels don't get sprayed with Sevin every week or so while tasseling. I just chop off the last inch or two from the end that the worm ate. But if your ears are small, the worms might get a larger share of each ear.
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Old February 25, 2016   #7
BigVanVader
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Just fyi Cole, Trichogramma wasp are very effective against corn earworms and if you provide a nectar source. (Zinnias and radish blooms are 2 cheap and effective flowers they like) and a habitat for them they will stay and the population will grow each year. At my old place I built a little bee house thing for them with bamboo and straws and by the 3rd year there were literally thousands of them flying around the garden. Easy,cheap, effective and natural. You will still have a few ears of corn with damage but after you have a sufficient population the damage is reduced around 90% in my experience. Rodger Winn, who throws the annual SPLATT tomato tasting does the same thing and said last year that he hardly ever has any damage from earworms, and he had a crap-ton of corn growing.
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Old February 25, 2016   #8
Cole_Robbie
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Interesting. Thanks.
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Old February 25, 2016   #9
aimeruni
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Thank you for all the replies to the thread and for all the advice.

I looked at one of the videos given (this one, link posted below):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgri...ature=youtu.be

and it said they did 7" plant spacing in rows per plant; the ears were decent size according to the video.

So, could I do 8" spacing per plant if I did 30" spacing between rows could I do this or would it be overcrowding the bed?

If I did 30" spacing between rows with an 8" spacing between plants in the rows, how many ears would this be total for a 4' x 8' bed? Sorry I'm really bad at math.
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Old February 25, 2016   #10
rhines81
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For raised beds you should 'double row'. Each row would be 2 plants spaced 8" apart to form the 'double row'. For a 4' wide bed, that would be two 'double rows' planted 8" from the sides. The two 'double rows' would be 16" apart. Space plants within the row 10" apart and 8" from the side of the bed. Each 'double row' would contain 20 plants total. So your 4x8 raised bed would support 40 corn plants.
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Old February 27, 2016   #11
feldon30
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Really surprised at the advice of increased distance between rows. Corn ears will not fill out unless they are properly pollinated from adjoining plants. I also found that corn does not favor loose soil and I had very low germination until I planted them in heavier soil.

I planted three rows a foot apart, with plants 8" apart. I fertilized with 45-0-0 at 12" high and 36" high. Got plenty of corn.
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Old February 27, 2016   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by feldon30 View Post
Really surprised at the advice of increased distance between rows. Corn ears will not fill out unless they are properly pollinated from adjoining plants. I planted three rows a foot apart, with plants 8" apart. I fertilized with 45-0-0 at 12" high and 36" high. Got plenty of corn.

Feldon you are right I just didn't want to say anything.
The links to the videos proves it.
Somewhere around 13 inch spacing on the rows and 7 inches from plant to plant in each row turned out to be about the best.

This is about the way I have always done it.

Worth
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Old February 27, 2016   #13
rhines81
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Quote:
Originally Posted by feldon30 View Post
Really surprised at the advice of increased distance between rows. Corn ears will not fill out unless they are properly pollinated from adjoining plants. I also found that corn does not favor loose soil and I had very low germination until I planted them in heavier soil.

I planted three rows a foot apart, with plants 8" apart. I fertilized with 45-0-0 at 12" high and 36" high. Got plenty of corn.
There is a big myth about distance between rows in garden mainly due to being able to WALK between the rows to harvest. It is good if plants are crowded together within the row, have some space so that they can stretch between the rows, but it does not have to be 2-3 feet. Raised beds where someone can walk around alleviate the need to walk between the rows; therefore that 'recommended' row space can usually be 1/2 if not more.
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Old February 27, 2016   #14
rhines81
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To further the above comment, even though I probably shouldn't ... plants need nutrients, light and water. If you crowd them to a point where they are deprived the light, then you will definitely have issues. You cannot crowd them to the point of not having nutrients or water ... this is up to the gardener to provide (a crowded bed needs sufficient nutrients and water per plant not per area). There is also consideration to root growth, but if you are providing the water and nutrients in sufficient quantities, then the roots do not necessarily have to sprawl and dominate. It's a trade-off. Feed the plant, not the space. Light deprivation is a major consideration for not overcrowding too much though.
I welcome discussion to the contrary on this ... I am definitely not an expert and willing to listen to other opinions!
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Old February 27, 2016   #15
rockman
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Default eggs on silks

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cole_Robbie View Post
My corn has worms in it every ear if the tassels don't get sprayed with Sevin every week or so while tasseling. I just chop off the last inch or two from the end that the worm ate. But if your ears are small, the worms might get a larger share of each ear.
The worms are millers, the ones that hit your windshield. If they are really thick hitting your windshield and your plant has been pollinated you can cover each ear with brown lunch bags to be organic. Usually the millers hatch after the sweet corn is mature and they head to field corn. There are some varieties that the shucks are tighter wrapped than others that helps. rockman
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