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Tilde
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Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2011 1:56 pm
Location: Hurry-Cane, Florida USDA10/SZ25

Ack! Instant corn "field" - help !?!?!

So I was chatting with fl folks a couple counties north of me, and mentioned I wanted to try corn but reaalu wasn't sure I could pull it off on my square inch yard ...

And a local farmer market style place had foot tall starts ...

So tomorrow I'm planting 30-40 plants in Florida lawn - was just going to dig little holes 12 inches apart in rows a couple feet apart and remind them to water them ... Land owner grew up with corn but they had a cattle ranch personally.

Should I put newspapers down around, then break open a straw bale around them? I'm also starting peas I'll plant at the base in a few weeks.

The sartrrs are probably 2 foot high and I'll only be able to get up there once a month or so.

Advice? I don't even know what kind of corn it is but since the market is supplied by its own industrial farm (couple dozen acres) its just left over starters from their own fields ...

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soil
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id plant them and give some mulch. this way the peas wont have much competition with weeds.

garden5
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If you can't get to the too often, I would say to definitely mulch them. This will help to retain moisture in the soil between rains.

If you have it.....plant it :).

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Tilde
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Location: Hurry-Cane, Florida USDA10/SZ25

Well I bought the flat (I get to keep the 200 cell container ) and now have a lot of corn.

Thought about it on the drive back; I'll probably pick my spot, lay out and wet newspaper, strew with straw/mulch. Then dig the plants in, two to a hole, and pull the weaker ones in a few weeks. That should plant 2/3.

The other 1/3 I'll take home and try in containers ....

Nothing to lose, lots to learn.

Plus I have the container to start other things.

The cells are 1 Inch, so the Plants are still only a foot tall.

Thanks!

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Alan in Vermont
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Location: Northwest Vermont, Champlain Valley

I tried starting corn and setting out the plants, once! Corn doesn't seem to like getting transplanted and it gets rootbound if it is too small a cell prior to setting out. The experimental batch I tried was 10" when it went out and only about 24" when it set some 3" ears 60 odd days later.

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rainbowgardener
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But you have the plants, nothing to lose by planting them. Following Alan's advice, just be sure when you take them out of the cells that you loosen up the roots before putting them in the soil. Take a toothpick and just gently pry them loose, especially any on the outside that are tending to go around in circles. You want all the individual roots loose and hanging straight down.

Then you should have less of the kind of problem Alan described.

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applestar
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I agree. And when planting something like that, you want to use a "dibble" or a planting stick. Poke a deep hole and water in the roots.



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