Sweet Corn for 2013! Let the countdown begin . . .

[bcallaha]

Freehardwoods, what part of SW Indiana are you from? I'm from Chandler.

Brad

[Gary350]

Your corn is looking great.

For some reason I recall the best crop of corn I every had was an accident. About 1980 I had an old wooden boat laying in the back half of the garden and it was worthless and falling apart too wet from spring rain to burn so to hide it from view I threw corn seeds ever where all over the place about 10 foot radius all around that boat. Corn came up in a donut circle around the boat and it was the best crop I ever had. I filled the wheel barrel many times hauled it to the freezer and just dumped it in as is. LOL. Pulled some corn out from time to time frozen solid, boiled it and it was good all winter. Then I burned the boat.

[TheWaterbug]

I'm home! The corn is doing very well. Here I am with Jr and Grandma:

I'll post a close up of the ears later today.

When is the last time I should fertilize?

p.s. the low tassels are from the tillers. I don't think any of my tillers have ears. I do have some aphid infestation on a few stalks, but I bought a carton of ladybugs and put them on this morning.

[TheWaterbug]

Here's the bizarre part:



The corn on the left is at 85 days, planted April 11. The corn on the right is at 62 days, planted May 4. Weird, huh? The ears on the left are further along than those on the right, but the stalks are just _so_ much shorter.

Same soil, same prep, same fertilizer, same watering regime after May 4th. But the corn on the right got the row cover for its first ~2 weeks. The corn on the left just looks stunted. I don't know what I did wrong.

[TheWaterbug]

Here's the 85 day corn:



It's still a few days, or perhaps a week, from ready to eat.

Here's the 62 day corn. Most of the stalks look like this, with one larger ear and one smaller ear. I don't know if the smaller one is smaller or just less mature. I suppose I'll find out in about a month:

[lakngulf]

Corn looks healthy. I know you will enjoy. Not to be outdone by my furry critters I planted a new row of corn this morning.

[applestar]

Harvested and ate our first corn this morning. Super yummy and sweet!

[jal_ut]

Its the variety, don't sweat it. Just enjoy what it produces.

Looking great. Wish my corn was that close. You are making my mouth water.

I have tried as many as 5 varieties in one season and ten or more over a couple of seasons
looking for the one that I liked best. Yes, they all are different in time to maturity, and
size of stalk and size and flavor of the corn. In the end I settled on Ambrosia, which has
been my one corn for several years now. Still happy with it. I make successive plantings to
spread out the harvest.

[dtizme]

Congrats to everyone on their successful sweet corn growing. No comparison between fresh stuff and the junk you buy from the grocery store. I'm fortunate enough to be able to buy fresh every year from farmers in my area but have never grown my own yet. I'm jealous

[Ohio Tiller]

Here is my corn last week as you can see we got a bit of rain!

https://i80.photobucket.com/albums/j176/ ... a21603.jpg

[TheWaterbug]

So I checked my April 11th corn on July 4th (day 84) and it was immature. We started eating it during the middle of last week, and it was really good and sweet. And then I went away for the weekend and missed the best days

By yesterday (Day 95) it was already losing its sweetness and getting a tad starchy. The biggest ears are still edible, but not awesome.

So 90 days is probably ideal.

My second planting was on May 4th, so 90 days from then will be Friday, August 2. So I'm going to try to have this corn harvest party on Saturday the 3rd or Sunday the 4th, which would be Day 91 or 92.

I'm a bit worried that this corn is ahead of schedule relative to the early planting (see pictures above), but I don't know that it would be a whole week early.

I have major corn anxiety.

I've been picking the biggest ears off the April 11 corn; maybe tonight I should pick some of the secondary ears, which are smaller/less mature and see how they taste.

[TheWaterbug]

My second planting was on May 4th, so 90 days from then will be Friday, August 2. So I'm going to try to have this corn harvest party on Saturday the 3rd or Sunday the 4th, which would be Day 91 or 92.

I'm a bit worried that this corn is ahead of schedule relative to the early planting (see pictures above), but I don't know that it would be a whole week early.

I have major corn anxiety.

Well this morning I sampled an ear of my May 4th planting (75 days) and it was edible. The kernels were a little small, and they lacked some flavor, but they were already bi-color, and they had some sweetness. So they're only a few days from ready, and certainly far less than 16 days from ready.

So I'm going to have my corn party 10 days from now, on Sunday, 7/28, which will be 85 days from sowing.

BTW, anyone here the Los Angeles area is welcome to come. Just PM me for an evite

[bryce d]

Well ok mental note to self. Write down the day you plant the corn.

[gunsmokex]

Finally got some silks and ears on my corn Its looking like the outside rows are two ears some even three and the middle ones are less developed so its hard to tell yet, looking at the stalks they are under developed but I'm seeing what might look like 1-2 ears per stalk, only time will tell. That's what I get for planting my rows too close together Oh well maybe it'll space out evenly so that some will get done before the rest. Either way though I'm happy I'll try to get some pics up tonight. The grasshoppers are still having a hay day in there though, grrrr. I think its habanero spray time and more neem oil too.

[TheWaterbug]

So I'm going to have my corn party 10 days from now, on Sunday, 7/28, which will be 85 days from sowing.

BTW, anyone here the Los Angeles area is welcome to come. Just PM me for an evite

In the interest of quality control I picked 4 ears this evening for dinner today (Day 80). Here was the most mature:





and the least mature of the 4 that I picked:





3 of the ears were _perfect_, and the 4th (first two pictures, above) was actually a little bit starchy.

There are a very few primary ears on the other stalks that didn't look quite ripe enough to pick. So it looks like I'm right in the sweet spot, calendar-wise, at 80 days. I hope another 5 days doesn't take me beyond it.

I have no idea why I thought Bi-Licous was an 84 day variety when all of my notes (and the Stover website) say it's a 75-80 day variety. I'll have to remember this for next year. At least I seldom make the same mistake more than 3-4 times.

I have at least the primary ear on nearly all of my 100 plants, plus a few secondaries that are probably pickable, so I should have right about 100 ears to pick for the party.

And then a week later I'll have another 80 - 90 or so. I've even got some tiller ears that look like they'll be edible. I ate a few tiller ears off my earlier crop, and they were good, albeit small.

But this really short window of perfection is killing me! Are there any other good (preferably se) varieties that stay on the stalk better than Bi-Licious? I know sh2/supersweet varieties last a long time, but I find that I don't like the texture of the kernels as much as those of the se types.

I don't want to pick them before the party, because whole point of the party is that people get to pick the corn.

[Ohio Tiller]

Mine is not even close to ready I did get it out late! But the corn we have been buying from local guys is just wonderful this year the rain we have had did its work the corn is perfect!

[bcallaha]

I picked the last of my sweet corn Wednesday. The harvest wasn't quite as good as last year, but still, good enough. I have to plant enough for us, and the local critters. Seems the critter population likes my corn as much as we do. I probably only picked 10 ears off the outside rows.....the others were picked clean.

[TheWaterbug]

We had the 3rd Annual (?) Corn-U-Copia yesterday. I didn't have time to take any photos, but we had lots of kids and lots of corn. Most of it was very good, although I'm going to target 3-5 days earlier next year, or right around 80 days.

Note to self--remove all the really old ears from the early planting, before the party. The kids don't understand the difference, and really old, starchy corn gets thrown into the pot with the fresh stuff.

I had no earworms in the main crop, which was a very nice outcome. I don't know if it was the zapper or the Bt oil (of which I applied way too much), but it worked.

I counted 114 harvestable ears the day before, and the kids probably picked nearly all of them. I haven't had a chance to walk through the patch yet, but I'll do that this afternoon and survey the damage

I also sliced up 10 big onions and caramelized them, and sliced up a whole bunch of fresh tomatoes for the burgers. It was all very well received, so I'm already planning for next year . . . .

On another note, I have about a dozen ears that were picked and boiled, but not eaten. Anyone know a decent recipe for leftover corn?

Off-topic, but does anyone here know how to do a Hawaiian pig roast, where you dig a pit and bury the pig with the hot coals and leaves, etc.?

[TheWaterbug]

I had the dream again! Home emailed me some pictures, so I know the corn is ok, but I'm really anxious to get home now.

And so . . . 4 days after my first dream, home emails me this picture:

Heh. Now that it's all over, and the party was a success, last night I dreamt that my corn stalks were 20' tall and as big around as tree trunks!

I think I'm taking this all way too seriously

[applestar]

LOL were you blue? Avatar 2 by Waterbug....

[Ohio Tiller]

I have had a pretty good corn year I have canned 32 pints so far and the silver is just coming mature and I have three rows of mixed that are just starting 2 ear out. It sure has been a good growing year!

[WinglessAngel]

Piggy backing on this thread. This year will be my first for growing corn. I plan on a 4'x4' portion (1/2) of one of my raised beds. I noticed amongst the comments that a storm had blown over a lot of someone's corn so I'm thinking maybe a simple frame with a rope fence around the small plot to help keep storms from blowing them over if and when they grow taller. I'm glad to have seen this thread as I was searching for more information on corn growing.

NE Ohio here and we're a big corn growing state so I have that going for me at least. The other half of the raised bed will be my lettuces so any shade will be helpful for them as well. Variety I'm starting my newby corn growing with is the Bantam Sweet Yellow variety. I noticed amongst the comments as well that Ambrosia is one that a number have had really good success with and I might try that the following year if I find that the corn does like the soil and nutrients in my raised beds. If I grow corn again if I have success I'll be growing it where I'll have grown my bush beans in for two years in a row.

I plan on rotating the bush beans every two years to help aid the nitrogen in my raised bed soil as well. Last year I grew Royal Burgundy's in the top half of one of the raised beds and Cherokee Yellow in the bottom half. This year I've it rotated so the top half is the Cherokee Yellow and the bottom half will be the Royal Burgundy's. I'm hoping my method of thinking with the nitrogen fixing in the soil will be helpful over time. I'll keep rotating the bean varieties like that around my 4 raised beds to help keep the soil healthy over the years. Hubby and I do plan on expanding the raised bed landscaping area with more raised beds in the future as well.

In the meantime any tips anyone can shout out to a newbie corn grower would be appreciated lol. I did read that in a raised bed situation that the corn can be planted as close as 1 foot apart per row and 8" apart per plant. I always push the envelope a bit on those types of measurements because even when planted at suggested row width etc I always end up with smaller plants.

What's everyone's take on Bantam for a newbie? being as it's only going to be a small plot in my fenced in raised bed I don't plan on multiple plantings to extend the harvest since it's only 2 of us here, hubby and I. If harvest is good and the corn grows well I may find a way to cultivate a larger plot in one of the fields outside of the raised bed landscaped area in the future.

[imafan26]

Hi

I live a lot further south and west than you are but I have grown golden bantam. It is a hardy corn and easy to grow but it is not a sweet corn. I would feed that one to the chickens. I did grow it once, the wild chickens loved it.

Because of your location, you should be looking at a short season variety . Much of the corn is treated and GMO. So if you find a corn you like, you have to look to see if it has been treated. You also need to look for cold tolerance. Untreated seed will not grow in cold soils and corn will not germinate until soil temps are at least 65 degrees. Many of the northern corn varieties will say the latitude they will grow best at. Tight husks are good since they are more resistant to corn ear worms and you may also need resistance to Stewart's wilt or maize mosaic virus if it is
common in your area.

I like seeds from Johnny's Seeds. They have good quality seed and they also give you growing information too.
https://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-5444-sugar-buns.aspx

Bodacious has gotten some good review
https://www.gurneys.com/product/bodacious_se_sweet_corn

For myself I will probably plant UH #10 at my community garden again. Maize mozaic virus is a problem there and it is a yellow sweet corn with a tight husk and it is not treated.

I usually plant silver queen at my house, but I may try a new one for a change. Silver queen can get maize mosaic virus but it does have some resistance if I rogue out the bad ones early. If it becomes a problem I will switch to Illini Xtra sweet which is another yellow sweet corn that usually does well here.

[WinglessAngel]

Hmm good to know. I might look into finding a different variety then. The seeds were only a few dollars so no biggie I guess. These are non gmo as well. I only buy non gmo heirloom seeds nowadays. I rarely grow prebought plants unless I trust the place the plants are purchased from. I might try finding some ambrosia seed then. I still have time to search lol.

[jal_ut]

I have said it before but will say it again. Corn is a large plant and if you want ears, you must give it enough space. If you crowd it too much you will get tall stalks but they won't have any ears on them. Also you need a group so that it gets pollinated right. Too thin and your ears will not fill our well. Only have half or less of the kernels pollinated.

What I suggest is a plot about 12 feet square and plant 4 rows of corn with stalks about every 8 inches apart in the rows.

[WinglessAngel]

I don't have that much room readied up right now and yes this is merely an experiment at the moment. I'm also reading that Ambrosia is a hybrid, (excuse my corn ignorance) but would that mean GMO seed all around? And thanks for the replies!

[jal_ut]

Ambrosia is the variety I plant. It is excellent. Have fun!

[WinglessAngel]

I'm still confuddled on the hybridization issue, would that mean GMO or Non GMO, or would it just depend on what seed suppliers are selling it as? Thanks again

[WinglessAngel]

Typical hubby, he said try it and if it's not any good we'll give it to the animals. No biggie. Next year if I do get decent corn though we'll try a different variety. Like I said, it's really only a test to see if I can even get corn to grow anyway. I enjoy growing plants anyway. If it feeds us or our animal family, I don't care so long as it feeds someone. When we had our bunny before he passed away, about half the garden was grown with him in mind as well anyway. I'll give the Bantam a shot and move up from there if I can get any to grow lol.

[hendi_alex]

Very few if any sweet corn from home gardening seed companies is going to be GMO. GMO is modified via laboratory techniques, ie. gene splicing. Hybridization is simply selecting parents for natural crossing, so as to pick up a desired trait. All of the SE, double SE, etc. are gotten through traditional hybridization. Monsanto owns Seminis brand, so avoid buying any seeds from that source. Monsanto has also bought up lots of named heirloom varieties. Those aren't GMO, but buying them does support Monsanto. So if wishing to hurt Monsanto, avoid those varieties as well.

The following link gives the large list of heirloom seed varieties that are owned by Monsanto.
https://web.archive.org/web/201404302327 ... h-out-for/

[applestar]

That is an interesting list! I recognize a few variety names ...I had to quick think if I have any and whether I bought them recently.

[WinglessAngel]

I understand now thanks a bunch! I knew how hybrids worked, dummy me. I've been on a lot of meds the last few days for severe back pain and it's taking a while to heal up again this time. I appreciate all the info guys!

[Mr green]

Well they cant own the rights for these varieties wich means you can buy it from any other source and may not be supporting monsanto at all. The can only own the right to their own GMO junk since they are engineered so you may have patent on it, you cant patent nature in its natural form tho.

EDIT: Due to some more research I have to say: apperantly you can -.- So that means that any listed variety is now all over the world sure to be monsanto owned? It gets bloody obvious with things like this that the same people that controls countries are the wealthy buissiness organizations they make laws that protects their interests.

I would say if you cant live without any of the listed varieties don't feel bad, but also if you do all you can to not support such junk as monsanto you should feel real good about yourself.


I do have the Hungarian yellow wax hot that was listed, had it since many years now. Still havnt grown it tho... Maybe next year.

[WinglessAngel]

Yeah I avoid anything to do with GMO growing if at all possible. I don't want to support Monsanto any more than anyone else. Thanks

[WinglessAngel]

https://www.johnnyseeds.com/p-6434-luscious.aspx

Thoughts on this variety anyone? I've gotten the seeds from the vendor I purchased from and they came treated so a return is necessary and money to be returned. So I had to to looking again for more seed. I never miss this part of the new growing season when I end up trying new to me growing them in my garden veggies and suppliers are not reliable. Anyhoo, treated seed is a no no for us only organic/heirloom/non GMO seed for us.

[imafan26]

Sounds good.

https://ipm.illinois.edu/vegetables/dise ... arts_wilt/

I also found out that it is an adaptable bicolor corn but best grown above the 40th parallel and days to maturity are about 75. Soil temperature must be above 55 degrees to germinate.
It is tolerant to Stewart's wilt and Northern and Southern blight.

[WinglessAngel]

Awesome, thanks for the info! I'll try that one then. I've 150 seed in my cart at the moment and will order once I get my other issues cleared up with my other suppliers.

[imafan26]

Unless you have a lot of space or a lot of money to spend, pare down your list. Some seeds like beans dill will keep 10 years, but most will keep 3-5 years under ideal conditions. Corn does not keep, germination drops off precipitously by the second year so make sure you will plant the corn the same year.

[WinglessAngel]

Yep I realize about the corn. The seed packs only came in packets of 75 or the next size up at 1,000 seed. So I just wanted to make sure I had enough but not far too much for my little plot. They didn't cost much and I'm getting refunds back for my other seed anyway. My list may seem like a lot but last year my list was probably 1.5 times that in what I was growing. I manage well enough. I have 4 large raised beds and a menagerie of bins I plant in. I grow on 2 acres of fields. My raised beds will be expanded to have more in with the rest of the landscaping eventually. When we do get them expanded in the future I can get rid of my standing bins I plant in as we expand. I've been growing in this zone now for 5 years I've moved a lot in my lifetime already and have grown in a number of growing zones already but I don't plan on moving again lol. I am semi retired so the garden and my home based small business keep me busy well enough. I work from home and during season I garden and work from home. Retired hubby is happy and we get a little extra income and food on the table from my efforts.

[hendi_alex]

Since I started keeping my seeds in the freezer, the corn has given excellent germination for up,to 4 or 5 years. Keep the seeds in dry zip lock bags and freeze between uses.