Great year for giant corn

[sunflower_info]

Looking for other people that grow giant corn to share tips and tricks. I didn't break any world records this year, but I broke almost every single personal best for every type of plant that I grow. Of the corn I measured so far, tallest are as follows: (I still have several around 20 feet tall or so to measure so the list will change)

Tehua - 25 feet 9 inches (personal best for tallest corn)
Tehua - 25 feet 2 inches
Tehua - 24 feet 6 inches
Uchima - 23 feet 2 inches (personal best for this race)
Olotillo-Tuxpeno - 22 feet 3 inches. (personal best for this race)
Uchima - 22 feet 3 inches
Olotillo-Tuxpeno 21 feet 1 inch
Montana 19 feet 5 inches
Uchima 19 feet

[JohnnySolo]

Good grief, I had no idea!

[rainbowgardener]

They are indeed the tallest corn plants I've ever seen... what do you do with them? Do they produce more ears per stalk than regular corn? Or giant ears?

[petalfuzz]

Amazing! Great job, by golly! Do you use tons of compost for the plants to get them that gi-normous!

[TFA303]

Ooh, yes, give details!

This could be a great boon for those of us with limited horizontal garden space.

[pharmerphil]

WOW....great Job...I believe the record is 31 feet?
correct me if I am wrong...

I love the supports you used, very good Idea and something I'd have to adapt here where we live, very open, VERY windy (what once was Minnesota Prairie...now wide open fields)

I won the Steele county fair ribbon for mine, it was the tallest at 11ft. 6 inches...a baby compared to these..
the variety was "Bloody Butcher" an old heirloom dent meal corn.
You can see it here on this forum at the link below:
Fair Results



I'd sure love some seed if you were interested in any type of trade...

I made their jaws drop open at 11.5 ft. feet at the fair department...anything over that would send them into a tizzy

[NatGreeneVeg]

That's fantastic!

A niche I've not seen before. How were you introduced to giant corn? Where did you acquire the seeds? Do you amend the soil? What do your neighbors think?

[applestar]

You GOTTA grow some of those in your garden, NatGreeneVeg! I can just picture the people staring. Time to get your garden design map out.

I'm thinking I need some for my "waving to the neighbors" corn.

[NatGreeneVeg]

You GOTTA grow some of those in your garden, NatGreeneVeg! I can just picture the people staring. Time to get your garden design map out.

Oooh... I think the creation of a separate bed in a different location may be required...

[applestar]

What if you grew them in a circle and tied the tops into a giant tee-pee or a gazebo?

sunflower_info, you've got our imaginations going! Sorry I don't have info to contribute, but I hope you'll stick around.

[NatGreeneVeg]

What if you grew them in a circle and tied the tops into a giant tee-pee or a gazebo?

Would be an architectural feature for sure, but don't have a ladder that tall... and would be more dramatic if tied a the top than only as high as a human can reach.

Lots of potential though!

[sunflower_info]

That is a 21 ft. tall aluminimum flag pole. I don't actually stake those plants with that. It's only to straighten out the plants for the pictures. Generally, I try not to use stakes. If I do, then it's a 8 ft. stake at the base to give to the plant extra strength at the base. I also tie plants together to give them extra strength. I was also tying them to rope from my second story windows.

:shock: WOW....great Job...I believe the record is 31 feet?
correct me if I am wrong...

I love the supports you used, very good Idea and something I'd have to adapt here where we live, very open, VERY windy (what once was Minnesota Prairie...now wide open fields)

I won the Steele county fair ribbon for mine, it was the tallest at 11ft. 6 inches...a baby compared to these..
the variety was "Bloody Butcher" an old heirloom dent meal corn.
You can see it here on this forum at the link below:
Fair Results



I'd sure love some seed if you were interested in any type of trade...

I made their jaws drop open at 11.5 ft. feet at the fair department...anything over that would send them into a tizzy

[sunflower_info]

I started gardening in '98. My mom brought home a cleome in '97 and it grew over 6 feet tall. I was impressed with its growth; so I asked her if I could dig up some of her yard and plant some things. I bought a pack of sunflowers, dill, and cosmos from the hardware store. One of the sunflowers made it to 12 feet tall; so after that I was hooked. I then started growing corn a few years ago. My first corn plants were 15 feet. After corn, I started growth amaranth and then I had my first world record. I have been getting better and better at it each year. The secret to all of this is finding the best variety to grow. Most of my work is actually doing research. I constantly search for information on races of tropical maize or a newspaper article about some guy growing a giant sunflower. You don't have to be a great gardener, but just a good gardener to grow this stuff that big. As long as you have the right seed and just give them some basic care, they can grow over 20 feet.

I actually measured some more of my plants. Here is the list now
I did well with the corn and amaranth this year
Tehua - 25 feet 2 inches
Tehua - 24 feet 6 inches
Uchima - 23 feet 2 inches
Olotillo-Tuxpeno - 22 feet 3 inches.
Uchima - 22 feet 3 inches
Olotillo-Tuxpeno 21 feet 1 inch
Montana 20 feet 11 inches
Uchima 20 feet 2 inches
Olotillo-Tuxpeno 19 feet 11 inches
Montana 19 feet 5 inches
Olotillo-Tuxpeno 19 feet 2 inches
Uchima 19 feet

I also did well with my giant amaranths this year. I still have some more to measure.
Amaranthus australis 24 feet 4 inches
Amaranthus hybridus X Amaranthus australis 22 feet
Amaranthus hybridus X Amaranthus australis 22 feet
Amaranthus australis 21 feet 1 inch
Amaranthus cannabinus X Amaranthus australis 20 feet 10 inches
Amaranthus cannabinus X Amaranthus australis (self-sown) 20 feet 1 inch
Amaranthus hybridus 19 feet 2 inches

In past years I've had some great plants as well. Here are a few pics of some of the plants I've had

Row of giant sunflowers


My 2007 Guinness World Record 23 feet 2 inch tall giant amaranth (Amaranthus australis)


18 feet tall and 16 feet wide tidalmarsh amaranth (Amaranthus cannabinus)


2008 Garden. A mix of sorghum, millet, corn, and amaranth


Sunflowers at my wife's parents house

[gixxerific]

That does it I'm growing corn next year for sure.

[tomf]

Wow every thing you grow is tall.
Jack in the corn stalk.
How tall is that kid going to get?

[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"

http://books.google.com/books?q=races+of+maize

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"

http://books.google.com/books?q=races+of+maize

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.