Important corn-growing tip

[Rosalind]

Plant only fresh seed bought the year you plant it. Plant in BIG blocks even if it means you will drown in corn. Four rows just does not ensure adequate pollination.

I have a whole bunch of little mini corn coblets that are about 2-3 inches long. They are the proper shade of yellow tinged with red and blue (Triple Play). They are just all pathetic-looking.

Hoping my other block, that was planted as six rows, does a little better--although that's all flour and popcorn, it won't be ready for another few weeks.

 

[DrakeMaiden]

I've heard it can help to go out and shake your corn plants when they are tasseling. Anyone have experience?

I was fortunate to prepare enough soil for only 4 short rows. Time was definitely not on my side this year.

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

We have 4 'short rows' of corn, we do plant ours about 6 inches apart and do go and shake our corn during tasseling and have never had an issue with pollination. Nonetheless, if you can plant wider over longer that would be better.

The issue with small ears can be from poor pollination but can also be caused by a wide variety of other factors. Lack of water, lack of nutrients, etc.

As a general rule of thumb most corn varieties can be used within the first 2 years and still be viable. If kept under ideal conditions they can be stored for up to 10 years!

 

[Rosalind]

Oh, I know it's pollination. All the beds in that section were fed with compost and chicken poop in the same way, and the other heavy feeders (squash, pumpkins, etc.) are doing great. Soil tests were good, I added just a little sprinkle of greensand and a little sprinkle of lime, and watered late in July with dilute turtle aquarium water. When I shuck a couple of ears, they've got about ten rows of nice full kernels and then a little stick-like piece of itty-bitty non-kernels sticking out the top. Also, it rained buckets this year--I haven't had to fill the swimming pool since May, I just wait for another rainstorm and add two packets of pool shock once a week. We got 7" of rain in July alone. I know it's not nutrients or water.

I planted them 6" apart, it didn't help. Seed was definitely not stored in ideal conditions, but instead in a drawer in the study--which isn't exactly climate-controlled, it gets down to 45-50F in winter and up to 80-90F in summer. It was viable but not great, I would say 25-50% viable. I meant to plant it last year, but DH operates on a different time scale than I do. "I'll rototill the garden next week" turned out to mean, "I'll finally promise to do it in July, and it will only really truly get done next spring when you get fed up and hire someone to do it."

 

[curly_kate]

So what did I do wrong if my ears are really skinny? They look great from the outside, but when I pull off layer after layer of husk, the ears look like they have gingivitis! The kernels didn't fill out very well.

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

So what did I do wrong if my ears are really skinny? They look great from the outside, but when I pull off layer after layer of husk, the ears look like they have gingivitis! The kernels didn't fill out very well.

Essentially it could be any of the problems I listed above. Or others. Like Rosalind suggest and experienced pollination is a big issue with corn.

What are the growing conditions you have?

 

[curly_kate]

I have 2 blocks. There were lots of bees & other pollinators this year. It was pretty cool & rainy until the week after the 4th, when it started getting into the 90s. It was still raining about 1" a week until the last week or 2. When the seedlings came up, I fertilized with composted cow manure, and then added reg. compost about a month later.

 

[silkiechicken]

Since corn is wind pollinated and I think takes up to 3 days to get fully pollinated, I hear that the school's green house takes a piece of paper to the tassel, shakes pollen onto it, and then dusts it over the silks for a few days in a row to get hybrid cross corn to their desires.

 

[seedcorn]

1) Best place to store seed to use next year is the freezer.
2) If you have pollination problems, planting in block will help but I suspect 2 things--lack of moisture during silk development or insects. A single tassle will shed enough pollen for 100 plants.
3) Old seed is only a factor if it doesn't come up. Once up, the plant doesn't care if it's new seed or 100 years old.

Post picture and I can give you better answer.

 

[Rosalind]

1. Yeah...I definitely should have. Wasn't thinking.

2. Oh no, we had plenty moisture. Buckets of rain. Every darn day, rain rain and extra rain. We're talking four rainy days per week. It's been raining several times weekly for months now. I can't use the clothesline, it rains that much, and it's been raining like this since April. No apparent insects, tassels and silks got nice and long on the vast majority of plants. Corn was fertilized with well-composted chicken poo, composted cow/horse poo, and dilute turtle aquarium water. I saw aphids on all of two plants, and the very next day the ladybugs were feasting on them, and then I didn't see any bugs at all thereafter. I've got about a zillion ladybugs.

3. A lot of it didn't come up. So the plants are spaced reeeeaaaally far apart even though I planted the seed fairly close together. In some spots there are these wonky little patches of a few plants huddled together, then a big space full of weeds, then a few more plants...Hard to get good pollination like that. Also, my whole entire garden doesn't get much wind at all, it's extremely sheltered. We're talking, not even in thunderstorms do you feel so much as a breeze.

I gave up and picked a bunch, cut the pathetic-lookin kernels off and made 'em into cornbread. DH kept laughing at them. If any more turn up, I will be sure to get a pic.