Corn Technology plant double rows instead of single rows.

[Gary350]

I was talking to my cousin in Illinois he share crops and plants 2000 acres of corn every year. He told me they don't plant corn like they use to. They use to plant single rows but now they plant double rows. Rows use to be 1 row 30" apart but now they plant 2 rows 12" apart with 30" between the double rows.

Example.

100 rows 30" apart = 250 ft wide field.

71 double rows = 250 ft wide field.

The double rows gives you 42 more rows of corn in the same space.

The harvest is about 40% more than before.

For a 2000 acre crop that is = to planting 2800 acres.


I moved away from Illinois 36 years ago we were planting single row corn and still using a plow and disc to plant. We use to plant 1/2 acre crops of sweet corn 2 week apart to sell at the farmers market. Planting double rows will make a larger harvest of sweet corn.

Some of us gardners might benifit from double rows in our home garden especially if you want to grow a larger crop in a limited space garden.

[gixxerific]

Great idea. I do this as well with my tomatoes. I plant 2 back to back rows with a good row in bewteen them. I can fit more in this way, just as they are trying to do.

Trust me they are right I went over I don't know how many differant planting schemes last year to get the most out of my limited space. Double rows was the answer, along with a few other minor practices.

Dono

[jal_ut]

Corn is an interesting crop. Usually a stalk of corn will put on two ears. However if it is too crowded it won't put on any. The trick is to put it close , but not so close that it fails to put on the two ears. Just how close that is depends some on the variety.

We need to experiment with our variety to find the optimum spacing.
We also need to have some goals in mind. For me, I want good sized ears and a yield of two per stalk and all kernels pollinated.

Crowd it too much and you may get one ear per stalk or smaller ears.

Spread it out too much and sometimes it doesn't get pollinated.

A very tall standard corn needs more space than some of the smaller SE types. I used to grow NK-199 and it needed more space than the SE that I grow now. I would even plug every other hole in the drill to space the NK-199 out more in the row. Giving it more room made for much larger ears.

I have tried several things over the years, but came back to single rows 30" apart for the SE I now plant.

[tomf]

What is SE corn? I plant different sweet corns.

[jal_ut]

SE = Sugar Enhanced.

[imafan26]

I plant corn 6 inches apart in a block.

I get two ears but only half of them will fill and sometimes a third ear will start. I don't plant in rows. My space is only 4 ft wide by about 7 ft. and it is an oval shape. Lately, I can only get 39 plants in because parts of the bed have longer lived plants. I still get a couple of sunflowers on the perimeter.

I plant in a block instead. I don't have a lot of space and corn takes up half my vegetable garden, but it is one crop that always gets eaten with no left overs.

It usually works out that I get around 67 ears from 47 plants. My favorite corn to plant is silver queen.

[rainbowgardener]

I don't have room to grow corn, but I always plant peas and beans as a double row on both sides of trellis. Seems like a similar principle.

[shadylane]

If a gardener has a tight space for growing corn it can be grown in 5 gallon buckets.
As jal_ut had mentioned, an interesting plant. They can send down their tap root over 8' and yet grow successfuly in a 5 gallon container
https://www.ehow.com/how_7325112_grow-co ... ckets.html

[Tonio]

I am going to try a 12" x12" block scheme. At least 3 wide, not sure about the length yet as it depends on how much I want to sacrifice for other plants in the same bed.