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Kind of as a test, I planted 62 Bloody Butcher corn seed in 3 inch pots to germinate in my unheated greenhouse. I have never pre- started corn, but have transplanted corn sown in the garden.

The reason I did this is because I only want what comes up, and no extras, and no gaps in the planting. When it gets 1 to 2 inches tall I will plant it in three rows, hopefully 20 plants long or 18 or whatever comes up divided by 3.

All of my other corn I will direct sow in the garden, when it dries out enough to work again.

Anyone pre-start corn, and does it do well for you?

never had good results from corn started in pots of any kind. there always far less drought tolerant imo.

I am going to try to "pre start" some Corn this year. I've been starting all of my transplants in Soil Blocks this year, and I've been really happy with the results.

I am going to try sprouting some corn in the Soil Blocks, and then immediately planting them in the garden. In my mind, that will not really be "transplanting" the corn, but "pre-germinating" the corn. I'm curious to see how it works out.

Several years ago, Home Depot offered corn seedlings for sale. They were 8" to 12" tall and looked really healthy. A knowledgeable gardening friend laughed when she saw them. She told me that they would not be able to establish the side roots necessary to anchor them against the wind.

The next year, I tried it, but I didn't let them get very tall, only about 4". It worked; the wind did not topple them, but I always wondered whether I had just gotten lucky. I want to try it again this year. Like you, I plan to start only a first planting or two. I can begin direct sowing June 1, so if I could start them indoors at intervals, I could plant a 4-week old batch, a 2-week old batch, and a direct sowing on June 1. That way, I could have corn by the first week of July.

That's what I'm thinking, anyway. We'll see how it goes

Thanks, everyone for your input. For everyone, pre-starting corn this year, good luck, I hope it works out, for all of us.

I can water mine if it turns out dry this year. But the only thing I can do about the wind is plant it on the east side of another stand of corn. Maybe this will protect it a little. Most of our spring/summer winds come from the west.

Some info I found that would suggest transplanting corn is not the best way to go.

"Even though the seminal root system contributes little to the season-long maintenance of the corn plant, early damage to the radicle or lateral seminal roots can stunt initial seedling development and delay emergence."

https://www.agry.purdue.edu/Ext/corn/news/timeless/Roots.html

TZ -OH6 wrote:Some info I found that would suggest transplanting corn is not the best way to go.

"Even though the seminal root system contributes little to the season-long maintenance of the corn plant, early damage to the radicle or lateral seminal roots can stunt initial seedling development and delay emergence."

https://www.agry.purdue.edu/Ext/corn/news/timeless/Roots.html

The v-1 seedling from the link above, is the size of the seedlings I have transpanted in the past. These were seedlings that, came from thinning the corn row, and were replanted in gaps in the row. After planting them they grew and produced just like the plants, around them. So I'm hoping, my greenhouse corn, planted at this size will thrive.

I tried it once, but it was a really really bad year for corn. I had bad results, but I blame the weather.

If I did start corn indoors or in starter pots, I would make sure I artifically hardened the plants from a very young age. Corn can handle short stints of colder weather (not super cold, and not for long periods of time). Weather can be hard on corn. I would try to introduce it to different temperatures for different periods of time, and would definitely have a fan blowing on it often as soon as it germinates. If your corn doesn't have a strong root system (which in my experience it will not if it is started indoors in a controlled/stable environment) it will not survive when it is more mature.

Sweet corn is a huge market here, and we have several area farmers that planted corn in the middle of march under black plastic. We have had several frosts, and I just heard yesterday that at least one of the farmers said so far so good.

I have already direct sowed several rows of indian corn and one row of sweet corn and both are germinated. The growth will be pretty slow as it usually is, but I've planted in march for 3 years now with good results. The sweet corn usually isn't as good as the later corn, but I'm eating garden corn by the end of june, and that is great!

In conclusion, if I started corn inside, I definitely would not "baby" it, then the first cold streak or 3 days of wind kills your effort....

I am giving it a shot this year... but they are still very small and out of the 16 plans, only 8 of them are pre-starts. I should be getting them into the ground soon. They seem to be shooting up at a very quick rate now.