sigh...I am a sucker

I am going to try corn again this year. Just a sucker but I figure one year it will work. Got a really short season, early maturing seed coming. Will give it a shot. Maybe not the best year as we got a snow flurry again this year, but I can't resist the temptation of home grown corn.....sigh....

Then I'm a sucker right along with you, because I can't grow corn either. No sun, not enough room, deer eat it and bears too! But I plant it anyway. Because hope springs eternal. I planted mine in the shade to REALLY up my chances of success. Good luck to us both!

Here is the deal with corn. It is a win-win crop. Even if you never get a cob you can feed it to your animals. Horses, goats, sheep, all love the stocks. Embrace corn!

Positivity, Sue, that's the spirit! I have also tried to grow corn every year I've had gardens (4!) and will be trying again this year. Last year I got cobs, but they only ended up with 2 or 3 kernels on each head and they were really split open; there was also that aphid infestation, including helper ants! I'm not worried about GMO contaminating the seed I grow because there aren't corn crops within about 10 miles of me.

Progress thread? I will be growing the dwarf varieties again, along with some purple flour-type corn and some other one I got half price from Salt Spring seeds. I know just where I'll put them all too, as I'm digging up a new garden in the warm sun. I'll fill the soil with bunny poop and plant them down and cross my fingers. The worst that happens is I fail again and try more next year LOL

Oh Coopslave, you need a Defeated Corn Growers Group. The DCGG's we can meet once a week and talk about how much hope we have and how we love that sweet taste...
I will be sitting right there. I too am trying corn again this year. Yes Deer, cows and pigs will most likely eat it before I do but hey like its been said at least I tried.
I too have no worries about GMO because we live in a wet belt and I really don't think anybody around me even has a garden. Defeat runs high in our area.

Not trying to brag or rain on anyone's parade, but we can grow wonderful corn here. Corn. OK, I’m going to let you in on a secret. Watch out for the kind of corn you buy. Last year I forgot to order corn from Stokes. That is where I get my corn, there are some very, very nice corns offered. I like to buy the supersweet (sh2). Just like the larger kernels, usually about 16-18 kernels per row. I also love the sugary enhanced too, and will sometimes plant that too, as it pollinates at a different time than the supersweets. The supersweets require a much more warm soil to germinate than the sugary enhanced, so are planted later. I like the supersweets because they hold longer on the stalk and after picking and are very nice for handling when preserving. Never mind, I ramble too much.

Last year I purchased seed of the supersweet type. I was OK with the taste of the corn, it was indeed super sweet, but did not freeze well and there was issues with the growth. I will make a caption above each picture to tell about what I did not like and I will also name the variety. Ordering seed from Stokes in the next couple of days, I like the source. Have an awesome day, CynthiaM.

The variety name was “Canadian early supersweet hybrid F1”

There was awful problems with ear tip cover. The corn grew so much and the husks did not cover the tips, exposing the corn tips, that is not a good thing.

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Most of the corns had an extra small ear attached. That was a good thing in some ways, cause that baby corn attached was very yummy. But I think that the quality of the mother corn on the stalk was compromised. Almost all of the cobs had this extra attachment to the cob, growing separately, like two corns on one ear. Not good for the most part.

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A good many of the stalks had two ears that formed. I prefer to have only one ear per stalk. I think it makes for a nicer corn. No picture of that, but there was....

The buff orpingtons loved to hang out in the corn patch, nice and cool in there on a hot summer day.

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You guys make me sad. I had so much corn last year that I could have had a corn roast and fed ever person on this forum and then sum. corn seems to like HOT sun. My garden is in a very hot, sunny location and most things grow well there. Every other year I plant a cover crop of field peas on half of it and garden the other half. When the peas start to flower, we disc everything under. My issue with corn is that if it is too hot and dry early on, the corn has an issue coming up through the layer of baked clay that forms on top the ground. I just plant twice as much as I need and thin it out.

Bowker Acres wrote: I just plant twice as much as I need and thin it out.

How does that old saying go?

"one for the row, one for the crow and one for the one to grow"

I always plant my corn about 2 inches apart and then thin to about 6 inches, with at least 2.5 feet between the rows. Yes, corn loves full sun, hot, hot, hot....can totally see that the seed may have trouble to break that clay soil with the growing tip. Gotta work with what ya got though. If the area is not too big, perhaps lots of watering a few days after the seed sow? I am sure you have thought of everything though. We have clay soil here too. But I have a smaller garden area than you I am sure (do you have fields of corn? that would be much bigger than my area, smiling). With the amendments I have done to the clay soil here, it is perfect. Lots of clayey stuff mixed in with the composts of all sorts, makes for very nice soil, the clay helps to retain nutrients and moisture. I think I have the best of two worlds with my garden area, I am blessed. have a most awesome day, CynthiaM.

I bet having your BO's hang out in your corn patch Cynthia helped keep bugs at bay?

CynthiaM wrote:

Bowker Acres wrote: I just plant twice as much as I need and thin it out.

How does that old saying go?

"one for the row, one for the crow and one for the one to grow"

I always plant my corn about 2 inches apart and then thin to about 6 inches, with at least 2.5 feet between the rows. Yes, corn loves full sun, hot, hot, hot....can totally see that the seed may have trouble to break that clay soil with the growing tip. Gotta work with what ya got though. If the area is not too big, perhaps lots of watering a few days after the seed sow? I am sure you have thought of everything though. We have clay soil here too. But I have a smaller garden area than you I am sure (do you have fields of corn? that would be much bigger than my area, smiling). With the amendments I have done to the clay soil here, it is perfect. Lots of clayey stuff mixed in with the composts of all sorts, makes for very nice soil, the clay helps to retain nutrients and moisture. I think I have the best of two worlds with my garden area, I am blessed. have a most awesome day, CynthiaM.

We do not have any field corn, too short a season here, but my garden is close to an acre so it is much to big to start ammending too much. The field peas help, but a truck load of peat would be better! The soil in the greenhouse that has been dug deep and heavily ammended with peat and compost is absolutely beautiful. I could till it with my finders and it is absolutely crawling with earthworms! I am contemplating trying the permaculture thing in a few beds to see if not tilling helps any. The mice have spread some canola seed everwhere, so I may have to dig some of the beds, but others may not need tilling at all. I also do not have the ability to water my garden. I haul water to the greenhouse, but the garden is too big. It is totally on it's own. I have tried to water from the well, but our water is hard as nails and it leaves a white film on the soil when I use it. I let mother nature do her thing. The great thing about clay is that it holds water very well.

I cant believe you guys have such trouble. Out here we always get enough for at least a few meals. I am only feeding the husband so not a problem.

I love to eat the little cobs raw. If there are any undeveloped ones at the end of the season that are clearly not going to grow I peel them and put them in salads or steam them whole or sliced with butter.

Corn loves lots of water. And full sun.

A good idea with corn, because it depletes the soil of nutrients so much, is to plant potatoes the following year and move your corn. Rotate every year for best results.

I have to say, I can see this. I planted the last of my Peaches and Cream corn in amongst the Potatoes (sweet corn and potatoes are apperently companions according to my Tomatoes Love Carrots book), and they got the furthest in development.

? Never have had any issues getting a good crop with the corn yield every year ? Last year it only went into the ground ( seeds ) in mid June and we still ended up having lots as well as sharing with friends .But as was mentioned it needs lots of sun and water .I normally plant it where I have spread the chicken manure from the winter months and it loves the stuff

Well I have lots of good water. It gets hot here thru the day in the summer, up to 36C, but the evenings are cool. We have been here for 3 years and 1 summer we had a frost every month even though the days were very warm.
I have gone with a variety that has a short growing period, but I hope it works.
All you other corn challenged, but persistant growers keep me posted on your progress this year.

Cough cough, and I noticed yesterday my corn is already sprouting and an inch or two tall.

Hillbilly wrote:Cough cough, and I noticed yesterday my corn is already sprouting and an inch or two tall.

Hillbilly wrote:Cough cough, and I noticed yesterday my corn is already sprouting and an inch or two tall.

SPROUTING? There is still a foot of snow on my garden! I will plant some in pots in the greenhouse tonight so that I can get a head start on some of it - just in case we have a REALLY late spring and an early frost.

You are in the mountains, Coopie?

Schipperkesue wrote:You are in the mountains, Coopie?

Yep, 830metres.

Try floating row cover over your corn until is about knee high. It can mean a 4 to 5 degree difference at night. I grow great corn and I am higher than you. I always think it is going to be bust and then it comes on gang busters at the end. I do double dose with the compost.

What height are you at Bckev? We are way up in the mountains here, I wouldn't have thought you were that high???

I have to say I am a bit of a lazy veggie gardener. They either survive or not. I really don't have the time (nor the inclination) to pamper things.

I still have the second half of the garden to rototill. I did the first half while it was snowing......did I say that already?

I would agree to using row covers. You can plant earlier then, and give it a head start.

Try starting the corn in peat pots and then transplant it out when the risk of frost is over.

Hillybilly, smiling, you are coastal BC, well Island coastal, you probably live in a micro climate over on that Island of Vancouver Island . We should do a comparison test. I mean it. I know we grew lots of corn in Maple Ridge, but it didn't come to full maturity until September. I think it is the so much moisture in Ridge, that may have kept the soil more cool. The Island is much more dry, right? Anyhow, do me a favour. Go and look at your variety of corn, tell me the name of it please and the days to maturity. When you planted it and when you see the first tassling and when you actually eat some corn that is mature. Do this please. I know that there is much to do around life, but take a few minutes and do some record keeping. Pleeese. If not. I understand and that is OK too. I think our corn grows very fast here in the Okanagan, in our particular area because it is an area where I get full sun all day long. I also think there are all kinds of subterrain water, because I don't need to water the gardens here, barely ever, maybe a few times through the entire growing season. Don't know, but that is my guess. The days are warm until sundown, then gets cold, the sun rises early so it warms fast during the morning. So really, only cold for I would say six hours (night temps) and I don't think the soil really has a chance to cool down from a very hot temperature during the day very much. Warm soils. Makes interesting growth with vegetables and such. On the other hand, the cool weather crops, like spinach and radishes do not do well in summer, at all. Period...bolt...but Swiss chard goes growing like there was nary a tomorrow. Anyhow, wanna do that Hillbilly. I will keep records too of sowing date, variety planted, first tassling (particularly want to know when the pollen begins to fall on the silks, that is really what I would like a record of. You can see the pollen falling on the leaves. That date is VERY important). I love the scent of the pollen when it is in full blown out falling on the silks, smells much like honey to me, so sweet and so darn strong. Do yourself (anyone) a favour. When the pollen is falling from the tassels and fertilizing the corn silks, go nearby and smell the air, you will too love the scent of that pollen. I imagine all corn has this pollen scent that is unimaginably sweet. Rats. Ramblin'.....where was I? I forgot. Have a wonderful day, CynthiaM.