Advice needed on varieties

jal_ut · Sat Dec 18, 2010 1:26 pm

Corn = Ambrosia. A bicolor, gets 6 feet tall. Holds well on the stalk.

lorax · Sat Dec 18, 2010 3:46 pm

Corn = Seneca Sugarburst, a single-colour gold. Stalks out at about 5' here in the rarified air, doesn't drop its cobs, and maintains its sweetness longer than most other varieties. Great high-heat producer - it doesn't poop out in the worst of the summer heat, although it might stunt the stalks a bit.

Corn also = Peaches and Cream, a bicolour. About 6' tall, holds its cobs close, and can't be beat for a nice balance of sweet and starch. This is my hands-down favourite corn for the BBQ.

Chard = Bright Lights. The flavour is more rounded than most white-stemmed varieties. Mine is still going, even after a couple of weeks of 45 deg C heat with high UV. Try planting it in part shade - mine lives in between the current crop of tomatoes, and does wonderfully.

Chard also = Bright Yellow. A bit hardier than Bright Lights, definitely more heat resistant. Very sweet, so much so that I use young stems raw in salads.

rainbowgardener · Sat Dec 18, 2010 3:58 pm

Don't have the space for corn, but I do grow the bright lights chard and love it. Mine goes and goes and goes all season, from before the last frost in spring until after the first few frosts in fall and sometimes it over winters and comes back the next year. But I agree with lorax... mine is in a part shade area. Especially being in TX, your chard will definitely benefit from some shade.

applestar · Sat Dec 18, 2010 4:38 pm

Has anyone compared Bright Lights vs. Rainbow Silverbeet? That's what they have at SESE. Other variety on their list is Luculus and a red ribbed variety that I can't remember the name of ( haven't tried it).

rkunsaw · Sun Dec 19, 2010 8:27 am

Corn: Honey Select. We have grown it for several years and it has become our all time favorite.

bcallaha · Tue Jan 04, 2011 8:11 am

We've grown one variety of sweet corn in our family since the mid-60's. It's Illini Super Sweet (85 days). It's an SH2 corn, and must be isolated from other corns. It's not the best germinator....it needs warm soil to germinate well, and tollerates heat well. It's a yellow variety, and gets 6'-7' tall. It's the best keeper of any corn I've tried. It will keep it's sweetness for about a week in the fridge if you keep it in the husks. Our kids would only eat "grandpa's corn" when they were growing up. Now my grandkids are eating "grandpa's corn"!!

I'm trying another corn this year also. It's Mirai (pronounced ME Rye - 73 days). From what I understand, it was developed in Illinois, and has been grown in Japan as a gourmet corn. It's super sweet. You can eat it right off the cob without cooking!! My neighbor grew some last year, and gave us some. It rivals my Illini Super Sweet!!

That's my 2 cents......

Brad

garden5 · Tue Jan 04, 2011 9:00 am

Well, I know that you did not ask for a tomato variety, but I'm giving you one anyway: chocolate cherry. This purple cherry tomato kept going and going all year long and the plants grew probably another 2.5-3ft. over the 4ft. tall stakes. It's hard to say since I left the excess to lay across the tops of the stakes. Also, I've grown bright lights and have found it to keep going all year long. You could try shading yours during the hottest part of the day with a section of lattice or some light shade-cloth.

applestar · Tue Jan 04, 2011 9:51 am

This is not a recommendation per se since I'm trying them for the first time myself, but I'll be planting Buhl CORN and Stowell's Evergreen CORN. I'll also try to plant the Cherokee Long Ear POPCORN seeds selected from this year's harvest if I can figure out how to separate all three properly.

...well, now that I think about it, I also have Double Red Sweet corn harvest from this year that I saved for seed....

I need a FARM!

... did somebody mention how long corn seeds last -- I could maybe put them in the freezer and plant them next year.

jal_ut · Tue Jan 04, 2011 10:12 am

Here is a link to my recommendations for my locality. I am afraid you are far removed from this place, and whether these things will work for you is unknown. Any way some of the tips may be worth a look. This will be good for anyone in zone 5.

[url=https://donce.lofthouse.com/jamaica/GARDEN.pdf]Link[/url]

The Bearded Farmer · Tue Jan 04, 2011 3:47 pm

That was a great link for zone 5'ers Jal! I finally have a dedicated corn plot this year, so I'm kind of excited about the corn talk. 10'x15' should work nicely for my small family.

Last year I grew Jackpot Hybrid (bicolor). Wasn't super happy with it. Was a little on the soft side for me.