Thinning Corn

parke.hk · Tue Jun 21, 2011 12:21 am

Is there a recommended height at which corn should be thinned? I have some corn that is a good 2' tall growing an inch from one another. They don't look any worse for wear and I assume I should have thinned a while ago. I'm nervous thinning them because after every thunderstorm, it seems another corn plant has fallen over. I'd rather nature do the thinning. Maybe I should just stake the corn? If I do thin, do I have to dig one up or can I just cut it off at the ground? I don't want to disturb the root system of the plant I will leave in the ground.

Thanks

jal_ut · Tue Jun 21, 2011 12:41 am

I would not thin now. The time to thin is when the corn is 2 to 3 inches tall. It will be OK. It is not so much about how close the two are, but the question is how far away is the next plant? If you have a bed of corn with the overall density of the plants too thick, you may not get ears on every plant. One plant per square foot in a 4 foot wide bed has worked well for some growers.
I like to have one plant every 8 to 12 inches in rows 32 inches apart. Two rows minimum and 3 or more is better.

rainbowgardener · Tue Jun 21, 2011 6:59 am

If your corn plants fall over in rainstorms, usually you can just pick them up. Firm up the soil around them well, maybe hill it up around the base of the stalk some and it should be fine.

TheWaterbug · Tue Jun 21, 2011 1:22 pm

parke.hk wrote:I have some corn that is a good 2' tall growing an inch from one another. They don't look any worse for wear and I assume I should have thinned a while ago. I'm nervous thinning them because after every thunderstorm, it seems another corn plant has fallen over. I'd rather nature do the thinning. Maybe I should just stake the corn? If I do thin, do I have to dig one up or can I just cut it off at the ground? I don't want to disturb the root system of the plant I will leave in the ground.

Is the whole row on 1-inch spacing? Or do you just have a few plants that are crowded? How far apart are the rows?

If the whole row is dense, then I'd thin. Otherwise you might get low/no yield when the plants get bigger and need more water/food/whatever.

If you do thin, I'd just snip them off at ground level. That's what I did when my corn got to about 8-12" tall.

parke.hk · Tue Jun 21, 2011 7:09 pm

The corn are spaced about 10" apart within each row. Only a couple of the holes currently have two corn plants growing. I have three rows that are spaced about 12" apart. It seems the best course of action may be to leave them be as planting density isn't systematic, but only at a couple of the spots I planted seeds.