Multiple Corn Stalks, what to do?

[Sore Thumb Suburbanite]

Hello, I'm new, I looked back a few pages and didn't see any answers to this question...

I am a first year gardener and I am unsure what is going on with my corn...I planted sweet white corn and each stalk I planted grew multiple, huge offshoots and they seem to be also attempting to produce corn ears. I want to have large ears of corn, and i feel that these side shoots that are literally almost as tall as the initial stalk will be stealing the energy and nutrients of the main stalk and force my corn ears to stay small and immature. Is this the right way to look at it? Should I cut the extra stalks off?

I have a whole bunch of corn planted and I would really like to see one or two huge ears n each stalk vs 10 dinky wanna-be ears of corn.

Any help would be appreciated!

 

[seedcorn]

They are called suckers. What it means is that you have plenty of plant food and water, conditions are good. Leave them alone as some feel if conditions change, the plant will steal nutrients from the suckers. Or cut them off, the plant will develop the first ear first, then second, etc...

The only thing that is certain, is that you could have planted them thicker. Plant them thicker the suckers go away.

 

[Sore Thumb Suburbanite]

They are called suckers. What it means is that you have plenty of plant food and water, conditions are good. Leave them alone as some feel if conditions change, the plant will steal nutrients from the suckers. Or cut them off, the plant will develop the first ear first, then second, etc...

The only thing that is certain, is that you could have planted them thicker. Plant them thicker the suckers go away.

Ok, so the first group I planted 2 months ago is the group with a bunch of suckers, I planted them somewhat close to the seed manufacturers directions, only I did plant them about 4 inches closer together than instructed and in rows about a foot apart, not 16 inches apart.

The next group I planted only 8 inches apart and rows 10 inches apart, I hope this is going to be better, with fewer suckers this time, the new patch of corn is about 3 weeks old and already knee high.