So last Monday morning I got in the car to go to work and the thermo said 37 degrees and got to 36 on the way to work and frost on the windshield. It was 100 the week before and forecast in the high 90's today. Bummer. So I also found out why you don't plant your garden in a low area. I had noticed in the recent past that when watering my garden in the evening it was noticeably cooler at my garden level which is probably 15 feet lower than our living quarters. Sometimes you could see your breath and walk up the hill and feel a heat/warm wave. Forecasts had been lows in the 50's or high 40's but a front came through that weekend and it got cold.
I went to the garden that afternoon after work and peppers, cucumbers, and tomatoes were a shriveled mess. Corn leaves look burnt. I enjoyed it anyway but kinda sucked.
So I didn't check it out for about 2 days and went to visit. Cucumbers still had some flowers on them, tomatoes were a goner, corn looked burnt still, and some pole beans I had planted at the corn base may have some survivors.
I had four rows of early corn earing but not fully robust kernels. The next four rows were silking and tasseling. The last four rows starting to tassel but no silks. The last corn, silver queen hybrid, does appear to have some trills that have viable tassels coming forth but the top tassels are definitely toast. All leaves seem white/brown but the stalks are still green.
I picked some corn from my early plants and they seem to have filled out in the kernels. The first I ate today didn't taste bad but not all that sweet.
Does anybody know if the middle batch of corn that had silked ears will continuing growing decent tasting ears. I've started watering everything again just in case. What about the silver queen that didn't have any silks before the freeze? Any chance they will silk and can get pollinated by the trills tassels?
Thanks
So no takers or similar experiences. no problem, new problems I suppose. so anyway I went to water again today and checked everything out before. Picked two ears of corn on the early grow.
Looks like I have some silk on the Silver Queen Hybrid. So I gave an initial water and then gave some blood meal and then some more water.
Will see what happens and keep you informed.
Thanks
Looks like I have some silk on the Silver Queen Hybrid. So I gave an initial water and then gave some blood meal and then some more water.
Will see what happens and keep you informed.
Thanks
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applestar
- Mod
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- Location: Zone 6, NJ (3/M)4/E ~ 10/M(11/B)
I actually looked around to see if you mentioned where you are from in another post somewhere because I couldn't imagine getting first frost -- a hard frost enough to shrivel the warm weather crop -- THIS early. North Dakota, is it?
I'm not expecting first frost until mid-October and usually there is a period of winding down, but I know the feeling when there are things growing still -- hoping they would mature -- in the garden and the frost takes them down. So sorry to hear.
I hope someone can answer the corn question for you. My experience with corn is limited and none with fall corn.
I'm not expecting first frost until mid-October and usually there is a period of winding down, but I know the feeling when there are things growing still -- hoping they would mature -- in the garden and the frost takes them down. So sorry to hear.
I hope someone can answer the corn question for you. My experience with corn is limited and none with fall corn.
I've been here for 3 winters now. I think it has snowed with some accumulation in May all 3 winters. I didn't plant corn until almost the first of June I believe. There was still a chance of freezing temps until then.
The silver queen was slated to mature at 92 days according to the seed package. I planted all the corn within one day of each other. The early grow was about 63 days to maturity and the middle at 73 days.
We had a big wind storm that blew all the corn down around the end of July (and shredded my cherry tomato plants) but the corn had straightened itself up with in a week. I'm not sure if that caused any shock or not.
Definitely an odd climate. Classified as semi arid. So I think there is more chance for evaporation than precipitation, I could be wrong though. Very long days though at times. Doesn't really get dark dark until 10:30 pm in June and July. So I figured if you can water at will (well water) with long days you should have good results unless you hit some rouge weather which is evidently possible. I just need to pick a better not so low lying spot next year if I am still here and hope for better luck with the weather.
I did plant according to the seed package at 4 inch intervals and I did not thin. I do have lots of trills with there own ears and tassels in my early grow. My research on the web said recommended planting intervals were based upon not getting enough sunlight so I thought I'd run with that and not thin since I had the sun on my side. Then all I have to worry about is water and nutrients, and of course the cold I know now.
I did not amend the soil. I probably tilled about 2 weeks before planting in what was probably farmed years ago but not in the last five at least. Just lots of weeds/grass growing and self mulching. I had only fertilized with the good old blue miracle gro a few times hand watering until I finally found some blood meal in stock recently.
The silver queen was slated to mature at 92 days according to the seed package. I planted all the corn within one day of each other. The early grow was about 63 days to maturity and the middle at 73 days.
We had a big wind storm that blew all the corn down around the end of July (and shredded my cherry tomato plants) but the corn had straightened itself up with in a week. I'm not sure if that caused any shock or not.
Definitely an odd climate. Classified as semi arid. So I think there is more chance for evaporation than precipitation, I could be wrong though. Very long days though at times. Doesn't really get dark dark until 10:30 pm in June and July. So I figured if you can water at will (well water) with long days you should have good results unless you hit some rouge weather which is evidently possible. I just need to pick a better not so low lying spot next year if I am still here and hope for better luck with the weather.
I did plant according to the seed package at 4 inch intervals and I did not thin. I do have lots of trills with there own ears and tassels in my early grow. My research on the web said recommended planting intervals were based upon not getting enough sunlight so I thought I'd run with that and not thin since I had the sun on my side. Then all I have to worry about is water and nutrients, and of course the cold I know now.
I did not amend the soil. I probably tilled about 2 weeks before planting in what was probably farmed years ago but not in the last five at least. Just lots of weeds/grass growing and self mulching. I had only fertilized with the good old blue miracle gro a few times hand watering until I finally found some blood meal in stock recently.
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jal_ut
- Super Green Thumb
- Posts: 7447
- Joined: Sun Jan 18, 2009 10:20 pm
- Location: Northern Utah Zone 5
It can be a problem gardening in cold areas. Here at 5000 feet elevation in Northern Utah, we are usually frost free from June 1 to Sept 1. Trying to grow crops that take 120 days gets tricky. My day for planting corn is May 5. Yes we will get some frost after May 5, but the corn seems to make it anyway. I like the variety Ambrosia. It has been good for me. I will make successive plantings. May 5, June 1, and June 10.
About the 90 day thing. Corn may be 90 days in the field it was developed, but move it to a cooler climate it may then be 95 or 100 days. I have also found that the Ambrosia planted on May 5 will take more days than the Amborsia planted on June 1. One year I made three successive plantings a week apart and it all came ready at once. That is why I spread the first two plantings out three weeks. Any way its all fun, and we can try things and see what works for us. Oh, ya, corn does respond well to fertilizer. Have fun!
About the 90 day thing. Corn may be 90 days in the field it was developed, but move it to a cooler climate it may then be 95 or 100 days. I have also found that the Ambrosia planted on May 5 will take more days than the Amborsia planted on June 1. One year I made three successive plantings a week apart and it all came ready at once. That is why I spread the first two plantings out three weeks. Any way its all fun, and we can try things and see what works for us. Oh, ya, corn does respond well to fertilizer. Have fun!