Nitrogen for the Corn Patch

[Mackay]

We did a trail run of corn, because we planted too late we knew things would not produce but we just wanted to see what would happen..

I felt like things were not green enough... so I started thinking the soil needed more ntirogen...

We are planning a pretty big corn patch next year and composting all of it is out of the question... way too hard and too little compost available.

What do you suggest I do? as natural as possible but if it comes in a bag that we can just scoop on that would be great..

Does corn like magnesium too?

 

[lesa]

Is your growing season over? If you have time to plant some bush beans they put a lot of nitrogen back into the soil- you could till them under in the spring. Do you have chickens? I couldn't believe how much better our corn did after a winter of adding chicken poop to the soil...
It would be nice if you could have that soil tested- to give you an idea what you might need...

 

[obsessed]

Soil tests don't always test for nitrogen. My extenstion agent said they never test for it cause it is so dynamic that it could be there one day and gone the next. Try just adding a balanced fertizler and a ton of compost to the soil. I think corn is often used as a nitrogen mop as are squashes.

 

[hoodat]

The best concentrated natural nitrogen source is blood meal. Cottonseed meal is longer lasting but has an acid reaction so should always be used with lime if you have a naturally acid soil. If your soil is alkaline it is fine by itself. Fish meal used to be good but is almost unobtainable now since it has too much value as animal feed. remember that you need to keep feeding nitrogen throughout the season. You can't just put it in at the beginning or it will peter out half way through the growing season. It is not as stable in the soil as mineral nutrients like phosphorus and potash.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Magnesium deficiency causes yellow streaks in the leaves. If the soil is highly acidic, the plant cannot get what magnesium there is in the soil. It should not hurt to add magnesium, but it may be more beneficial to lime the soil to get the ph where it needs to be. A soil test can help.

I understand wanting to be natural and I try to depend on compost and such as much as I can. But I also have a bag of high nitrogen fertilizer, I think my current bag is something like 29-2-3 formulation, that I use to side-dress my corn once it is growing well, maybe 10 to 12" high. I just don't have enough compost for everything, though I usually mix some compost in the row when I plant the corn. I think the texture and moisture holding inhancements helps it get off to a good start as much as any nutrients it provides. I probably should side-dress it again later, but I don't and it produces pretty well. I usually plant it where I had beans or peas they year before, so that helps some.

 

[seedcorn]

In most balanced gardens, blend a little triple 12 or 14, you will be fine since most don't plant real thick.

You can buy a gallon of 28% or urea from local fertilizer company (they will charge you a lot per ton since you only want a little) as you can buy a 1 gal. sprayer and spray 28% on as the plants get yellow to keep that dark green foliage. You need to mix the 28% with water.

 

[Mackay]

great ideas. thanks

It was too late to plant beans as we were already under snow.

I purchased a huge bag of blood meal at a garage sale for 2 dollars and wondered what I would use it for. Now I know why!

Our soil is alkaline for sure and next to no humus.

for the urea, Im trying to train my husband where to go
It is part of the plan for keeping the dear away

I am thinking of plowing in some dry alfalfa hay into the soil in the spring. Not a lot, maybe one medium size bail for the 30 by 10 foot space just to aerate the soil. is that too weird? that should give it some nitrogen too and with the blood meal and maybe adding some regular nitrogen chemical half way through the growing season? could plant beans too. Opinon? with blood meal can you get too much on?

 

[seedcorn]

The bacteria will tie up the available nitrogen while using it to break down the fiber in the alfalfa. So you could see yellowing of the leaves for a while. Also sulfur is needed to make nitrogen available.

 

[digitS']

Mackay, use a mask when putting that bloodmeal down.

These animal protein sources are starting to look a little dangerous to me, health-wise.

I used to mix bloodmeal with wood ashes before applying it but the darn stuff was not only bad smelling but dusty ! Actually, the corn patch was the last place I was directly applying bagged chicken manure. It got a little heavy lugging it out there but I may go back to that. I use bagged organic fertilizers the last few years - for the entire garden. 8% N versus 3% N = less weight to carry .

Steve

 

[hoodat]

If you planted the late corn after the soil had cooled down that could account for it not being very green. It might not have been active enough to use what was there. Corn likes warm soil.