Corn

[lupinfarm]

I kept telling myself I wouldn't plant any corn this year due to not having great success with it in the past. I probably didn't have a lot of success because of our soil and also because of my planting techniques. I plan on digging a small bed for some corn, probably around 4x4 or 5x5 and augmenting with cow and sheep manure as well as anything I can find around here... Goat... Chicken... Duck... Horse... Those are my available options. We have clay soil.

Help me out here! I'm probably a little late with the whole corn thing, my farmer neighbours corn is like 2ft tall! I have a short season variety to plant.

Also on spacing, the package says something like 18-24" spacing between rows but that seems like a lot of space. My neighbours cow corn rows are not that far apart at all.

What do you guys space at?

 

[elf]

We space the same as any other veggie rows. Just remember, you need two or more rows next to each other; you don't want to plant just one row or you won't get good pollination, or wind stability.

 

[lupinfarm]

Yes, I'm hoping for 3-4 rows. I may just go with 12" spacing and make it 4 rows. It's a tiny bed so accessability is great and it won't be surrounded by any other veggies since most of my crop is in raised beds.

 

[elf]

Oh yeah, there's a phrase; "Laying it by". Means after it get a little size, hoe it once, then leave it alone or you'll damage the roots.

 

[journey11]

You've got all that manure in there, you'll be fine at 12" for that small of a patch. Also, being small, you wouldn't get good pollination if you spaced it 2' anyway. Usually by now around here, you could have in about 3 rotations of corn (at 12 days apart). Not like you can pick off of it all summer, so that's why they do rotations. You've got plenty of time, just a little less than a month left to get some in.

 

[seedcorn]

Farmers use 30" spacing for the most part w/plants about 6" apart in the row. There are some experimenting w/15"& 20" rows.

On your small patch, plant them 12" by 12" apart (checkerboard the plants). Keep it watered. With sweet corn, you aren't letting it mature so can plant thicker. Sweet corn doesn't put on as large of an ear as field corn does. After harvesting, cut the stalk out so that the weak sisters have less competition and can put more energy in ear. Good luck.

 

[ducks4you]

This article suggests 6 inches apart, in a circle, along with beans and squash, ala "3 sisters"--
Celebrate the Three Sisters: Corn, Beans and Squash
by Alice Formiga
http://www.reneesgarden.com/articles/3sisters.html
BTW, I have successfully started corn many times, and the weeds succesfully choked them out, many times.

 

[opiemaster]

I also had bad luck with corn so this year I tried planting it in circles with my squash mounds, seems to be coming up pretty well. I also planted some between each of my tomatoe plants just to see if they would grow, so far so good. Good luck

 

[seedcorn]

to interplant things w/corn, you need to let corn get to close to pollination. that way the corn isn't competing for nutrients. Then when the corn is harvested the other crop is started and can use the useless corn stalk for support.

 

[lupinfarm]

Well if I can find my corn seeds then maybe I'll plant this week, but for now I'm too lazy LOL. At the least I'll dig up a small bed for next year and perhaps put my pumpkins in it this year.