Seedling Corn

[carnumbernine]

Good Afternoon,

I am having a little trouble with some corn stalks I have begun. The first problem, is that I think I did not place them deep enough in the soil to germinate properly. So that may or may not be a nonissue. What I am actually concerned about is that they have begun developing a light brown discoloration on the top portion of the leaves. I am posting a photo in hopes that you can help explain what that is and how I can fix it. Any help is greatly appreciated


They began germination about 3 weeks ago.[/img]

[alaskagold]

Your little peat pellets look dry, it may be turning brown because it is lacking water?

I would transplant into a bigger pot, if I were you.

[Bobberman]

Corn send out a deep tap root and needs a bigger container to survive and get to is full size. The tap root can go down several feet! Corn is also a heavy feeded so it needs room and more ground! Plant the whole pot as soon as you can at least 6 inches deep! You may want to check out Burpees red sweetcorn. . The seeds are actually red. If you want something different plant som red straberry pop corn that you can actually pop! Usuall you get two small ears on each 5 foot stock!That is my opinion!

[DoubleDogFarm]

Here are a few guesses.

Not enough soil and or root bound. 3 weeks in those little peat nets is probably to long.

Corn is a heavy feeder. No nutrients in the peat.

When you plant them outside plant them a little deeper to help keep upright. While weeding, hill up around the base of the corn also.

Eric

** What they Said**

[applestar]

When is your last average frost? Will you able to plant them soon?

[soil]

you should be planting the corns straight in the ground when its warm enough out, corn started in pellets or cells do not do nearly as well as ground planted seeds.

[carnumbernine]

Thank you for all the tips!!

Hopefully I can save these, if not I will immediately begin planting this weekend.

I'll let you know how it goes!

[Bobberman]

I did some farming with my international 50 horse power tractor 20 years ago and planted lots of 300 foot rows of corn! I used a ford 309 two row seed planter. It had a blade in the front of the planter that broke the soil and the seed slid out several inches below the surface! It would plant even in unplowed soil! The side of the row of corn was dressed with a fertilizer usually I used 10-20-20! The tractor had the two front row tires togeher that went between the rows! I was amazed how the side dressing of fertilized made the corn grow so big! I grew some corn with the sweet inhancer which tured out exceptional compared to road bought corn! The seeds are more expenive but for a small area its worth it! Corn will come up even if its planted 4 inches deep. Side dress it with something organic a month after it comes up unless you have rich soil! The was a corn called candy corn that had very tall redish stocks that was also very good and the tall stocks made nice hollowwean stocks! I prefer the white corn myself! Corn will grow good even in rocky soils! Good luck!

[Marlingardener]

Carnumbernine,
I, too, am in Central Texas, and just this week direct seeded my sweet corn. Forget the peat pots, lights, watering schedule and put corn seed directly into your garden. If you soak the seed for 24 hours in lukewarm water, it helps it germinate faster, but the soaking is not really necessary.

[carnumbernine]

Then the plan is to plant them directly into the ground this weekend.

Thanks for all the tips again!

I think I will get two more varieties to try as well.