Great year for giant corn

[NatGreeneVeg]

So where do you get the seed?

How did you get started doing this in the first place?

[sunflower_info]

So where do you get the seed?

How did you get started doing this in the first place?

I've been interested in giant vegetables since the 90's. When I was in college I would come home for the summer to my mom's house. One year she brough home a cleome. I was never much interested in gardening until I saw how fast the cleome grew. Within no time the plant was over 6 feet tall and almost as tall as me. I asked my mom if I could dig up some of the yard the next year. I went to the hardware store and bought anything that looked tall. I remember buying sunflowers, cosmos, and long island mammoth dill. One of my sunflowers (Ferry Morse Skyscraper) made it to 12 feet tall and from that point I was hooked. No matter how tall the plants get, I had them get them taller. At first I mainly grew sunflowers, but then I started growing corn and then sorghum and millets. My main focus now is on amaranth and corn. I mess around with some other stuff, like teosinte and parsley this year, but the bulk of the garden is amaranth and corn now.
A lot of the work with growing giants is doing research online. I'm constantly looking for a news article about someone growing a really tall sunflower, for example. I spend a lot of time reading scientific articles on these plants as well. Some plants I get through research institutes as well. I also look around at any of the local fairs for something big. Many times you can get seeds by trading with other giant vegetable growers.

[NatGreeneVeg]

Thank you for the belated reply...

Does this mean there's the potential for us to message each other and for me to acquire seed? I'm involved with a public farm park where this would be an interesting possibility that can be shared with many in the community. The kids would be amazed!

[garden5]

WOW...amazing!

Is there a chance you could post a link to a site or two, where you get your corn seed? I've always wanted to grow a giant variety, but didn't get any growing last year. I didn't think that I'd have any giants this year, either, but you have renewed my hopes .

If that information's confidential, I understand.

Either way, thanks for the great pics!

[sunflower_info]

Thank you for the belated reply...

Does this mean there's the potential for us to message each other and for me to acquire seed? I'm involved with a public farm park where this would be an interesting possibility that can be shared with many in the community. The kids would be amazed!

I'm on a million garden forums and I happen to come on and notice posts on this one that I didn't see the last time I checked; so that is why it was soo belated.

There is a place in upstate NY that I sell seeds to that carry many of them P&P Seeds.
I generally have people send me an email and let me know what type of seeds they are interested in, and I give them my home address and ask them to send me a self-addressed stamped bubble package and then I send then I package it up and send it back. More postage you send the more I usually give.

Email is sunflower_info@
yahoo.com

[sunflower_info]

WOW...amazing!

Is there a chance you could post a link to a site or two, where you get your corn seed? I've always wanted to grow a giant variety, but didn't get any growing last year. I didn't think that I'd have any giants this year, either, but you have renewed my hopes .

If that information's confidential, I understand.

Either way, thanks for the great pics!

The tallest types of corn in mid-20's and up I only get through research centers. It's a process to get them though. I had to get a seed import permit from the USDA to import seeds from Mexico. I generally don't give too much information out about that except to other giant growers that I'm friends with. It took me years worth of researching and trialing different types to know what to grow and not to grow.
I recommend doing a google book search on "races of maize"

[url]https://books.google.com/books?q=races+of+maize[/url]

There are some very large races that you can save seeds to each year. Commercial types, such as Goliath from R.H. Shumway produces stalks about 12 to 15 feet tall with fairly large ears. P&P Seeds carry Mexican June maize which also gets about 15 feet. I also sold P&P Seeds some seeds to Jala maize that generally gets high teens up to 20 feet or so. Another one is Olotillo-Tuxpeno that gets a bit taller than Jala.
The absolute tallest types don't produce ears and/or tassles in time for frost; so you either have to get them from reserach centers or grow them in greenhouses in the winter. [/url]

[garden5]

WOW...amazing!

Is there a chance you could post a link to a site or two, where you get your corn seed? I've always wanted to grow a giant variety, but didn't get any growing last year. I didn't think that I'd have any giants this year, either, but you have renewed my hopes .

If that information's confidential, I understand.

Either way, thanks for the great pics!

The tallest types of corn in mid-20's and up I only get through research centers. It's a process to get them though. I had to get a seed import permit from the USDA to import seeds from Mexico. I generally don't give too much information out about that except to other giant growers that I'm friends with. It took me years worth of researching and trialing different types to know what to grow and not to grow.
I recommend doing a google book search on "races of maize"

[url]https://books.google.com/books?q=races+of+maize[/url]

There are some very large races that you can save seeds to each year. Commercial types, such as Goliath from R.H. Shumway produces stalks about 12 to 15 feet tall with fairly large ears. P&P Seeds carry Mexican June maize which also gets about 15 feet. I also sold P&P Seeds some seeds to Jala maize that generally gets high teens up to 20 feet or so. Another one is Olotillo-Tuxpeno that gets a bit taller than Jala.
The absolute tallest types don't produce ears and/or tassles in time for frost; so you either have to get them from reserach centers or grow them in greenhouses in the winter. [/url]

Thanks a lot for the tips on variety and for the P&P resource.

I noticed your username, and now I'm wondering if you do have some "Sunflower Info" for me.

It seems to me that I once came across a site where an individual was selling seeds that grew sunflowers which has several hundred small heads to a plant . I'm trying to find that site again, but can't seem to locate it. I thought that perhaps if you are into sunflowers, you might know the site I'm talking about.

Anyway, thanks a lot for the corn resources , I appreciate it.

[sunflower_info]

Thanks a lot for the tips on variety and for the P&P resource.

I noticed your username, and now I'm wondering if you do have some "Sunflower Info" for me.

It seems to me that I once came across a site where an individual was selling seeds that grew sunflowers which has several hundred small heads to a plant . I'm trying to find that site again, but can't seem to locate it. I thought that perhaps if you are into sunflowers, you might know the site I'm talking about.

Anyway, thanks a lot for the corn resources , I appreciate it.

The world record for the most sunflowers on a single plant was by Melvin Hemker in Michigan at 837 flowers. They actually sell that on P&P. I contacted Melvin several years ago and he sent me some seeds. I was never able to get more than 350 flowers on a plant. I sold some seeds to P&P years ago. He grows them now and I don't have any seed left. I gave up on that sunflower. I have some old pics from back in 2001 or so on my computer of some of the plants.