Popcorn?

[binarysunrise]

I read a few posts about growing popcorn, but I still have questions.

It seems people want you to keep the ears on the stalks until the outsides have dried out, and then to store it in your basement (1 month-1year, depending on who I read) to further dry it out.

My question is this - birds are eating my corn. What is the earliest that I can harvest the corn and still have it popable? (I'm fine with letting it dry out in the basement for a year if need be)

[opabinia51]

You want the corn to have as high a starch content as possible. So, you should leave it on the plant for as long as possible. Popcorn varieties are naturally high in starch as it is so, I should think that if birds are a huge problem, taking it off in mid to late august should be okay.

The corn does apparently pop better after it has been stored for a year. What I did last year was shuck the corn and stored it on shelves that enables good aeration and plucked the corn off the cobs last December. I then stored it in Ziploc bags until now. I did try popping some of it and it works, just not as well as would happen with what I normally buy at the store. So we'll see what (last years crop) is like in a month when I am harvesthing this years crop.

[jstr12]

For the birds you should birdnetting or putting paper bags of the ears of corn.

jstr

[opabinia51]

Thanks JSTR!

[jstr12]

Your Welcome

[binarysunrise]

Thanks for the advice. What is the point of storing it for a year? Is it to let it dry out further? (and if so, wouldn't storing the kernals in ziplock bags sort of defeat that purpose?)

[opabinia51]

I'm not sure what actually happens, I have just been told that it pops better after being stored for a year.