Square foot gardening...has anyone used this method??

[Nifty]

be able to learn from *their* mistakes rather than insisting on reinventing the wheel yourself.

But I'm so very good ad making mistakes myself!

1 per sq. foot!?!?

I'll need to negotiate with my wife on the "need" to have corn in our garden as I'd much rather have a few other items in each square foot than one stalk of corn.

 

[Dilly Girl]

Hi nifty. Do you use the one third mixture he suggests in your boxes?

I just bought some vermiculite to add to my soil. Can't hurt. I have just worked too darn hard on this batch to disgard it for his recommended compost vermiculite and compost blend. lol

Stubborn lady I guess.

Dilly

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Hey Nifty! I bought a few corn plants last year, just for the heck of it, but my mom kinda laughed at me and said you need at least a few good rows if you want to get pollination and corn ears! The stalks did make rustic fall decorations though.

 

[patandchickens]

Yeah, if you're not going to devote at least a 6x6 area, absolute minimum (small corn patches should be squarish, not long and thin, to get good pollination and thus good filling of the ears) it is probably not worth it. (Corn is wind pollinated). And 6x6' is a *real* minimal size patch, too...

Pat

 

[Cassandra]

Well, how much corn would you get off 36 plants? I have thought about planting corn and we like it. But I don't want to dedicate a lot of space to it, either. And a few plants don't seem enough to bother with.

Cassandra

 

[DrakeMaiden]

Thanks patandchickens! I have seed this year, and want to grow a minimal amount -- partly to test my skill and partly because I don't have much garden dug yet.

 

[NiftyGirl]

Here's the image of our current raised bed. From your posts, Rob & I gather that our corn is too close together and that there's not enough of it to adequately self-pollinate with the wind. In your experienced opinions, would you 1)pull it out & toss it (compost it) out, 2) transplant them in another spot (we have 8 plants), or 3) just leave them and see what happens. :watering

Let us know what you think. Thanks!

 

[OaklandCityFarmer]

We plant our corn really close together about 6 inches. I can't really tell how close yours are. We've been successful in planting a block of just four plants and having them pollinate themselves. We actually have done this in a patio planter for a friend with fours corn stalks planted less than 6 inches apart.

Less than 6 inches, then they're probably too close. Pollination might be a game of chance if you're plot is really small but we have planted 2 single rows of corn about 7 feet long, with corn spaced 6 inches apart and received good yields.

 

[newchickwi]

I just stumbled on this thread and know that it's past the zucchini part, but if someone does want to plant vining zukes, zucchini rampicante is a vining zuke--and it can get 10'+ high! It is a great veg; it doesn't get soft and turn to mush when cooked like the regular stuff. And you can pickle it just like cukes! We were able to grow it in North Dakota on our chain link fence. It tends to grow in a spiral and can get 18"+ long without turning nasty! Really freaked out our conservative neighbors. You should have also seen their faces when they saw the lemon cucumbers...

 

[patandchickens]

NiftyGirl, Rob, I guess if it were me I would probably just pull the corn and replace it with something else. I do not think you have ANY chance of ANYthing from it unless you thin it down to 4 plants at the absolute most, 2 would be better... and not only are you going to get really poor pollination but without the wind-buffering of being in a whole block of corn, I suspect that their main act will be to keel over and crush your tomato plants. Also corn is such a heavy feeder that removing them will make your tomatoes happier.

I suppose you could try transplanting, but frankly corn is not reputed to transplant well and even with a grand total of 8 plants I really dunno what kind of pollination you're going to get. I suspect that at best you'd get very poor, spottily-filled ears.

But of course if you just leave them there and see what happens, it will not be the end of the world and might be educational and entertaining and all that Just be careful of them wanting to fall over in a strong wind -- it's different growing a tall plant essentially-alone than it is growing 'em in a big block or field.

Next year, if you want to do corn, try to set aside a fair-sized square-shaped block, like ideally at least 6x6 and preferably bigger.

Sorry to be a downer ,

Pat