9 Tips for Growing Corn at Home 🌽🌽🌽

good morning everyone i am getting ready to harvest the last of my sweet corn so i thought i'd take a moment to share with you all the top lessons that i have learned through the years towards having a fantastic harvest of corn whether that's sweet corn or popcorn or flour corn even ornamental corn now i live in ohio which admittedly can feel sometimes like the land of corn and growing conditions in many parts of the state are quite favorable towards growing corn however there are a few things to keep in mind no matter where you are growing for a really fantastic harvest now some of you savvy gardeners i'm sure will know some of the tips already that i am going to share but i wanted to be sure to cover all the big important bases for anyone out there who happens to be brand new to growing this garden staple tip number one planting time is important and it's not just waiting till danger of frost has passed although that is very important for many types of corn you want to wait until that soil has warmed to at least 50 degrees fahrenheit be aware that some types are even more sensitive to cool soil than others some varieties have what is described as good cool soil emergence and vigor and this simply means that those varieties of corn specifically are going to have a better chance when planted in cool soil that they're going to jump up out of the ground rather than sitting in the soil and potentially rotting and put on quick growth not all corn will do that and by cool soil we're talking right around that 50 degree mark or slightly lower so if you want to get out there and plant super early but your soil just is not warming up quickly opt for one of those varieties the other option is of course you can warm your soil a little more quickly by covering it with plastic or doing something to retain the heat in that soil now with info here in my ohio garden my last spring frost date is typically right around may 10th i usually don't plant corn of any type until memorial day weekend some of that's just due to the fact that i'm completely overwhelmed with planting and i can't get it done anymore quickly but really even if i have the time i would probably hold off at least until the 15th possibly even later just because i tend to have a little bit better results waiting a little bit later into the month of may on the other end of the timing spectrum many types of corn can be planted later into the season the important thing is to look at your first fall frost date and make sure that you have enough time for your corn to mature prior to that frost hitting now this can be a little tricky with long season corns especially like flower corns and other types that you want to dry all the way down prior to harvesting but with sweet corn especially some of the early and even mid-season corns i've planted as late as early july and still been able to get a harvest but the trick with the later season plantings at least here in my area where the rainfall drastically tapers off after the end of may i typically when planting in june or july have to provide some supplemental irrigation to those plants at least to get them established if i do not provide extra water i can definitely tell that the plant bigger and my yields suffer because of it number two corn is a heavy feeder corn is definitely one of the heaviest garden feeders in particular of nitrogen especially later into its growth cycle if you're able to it's a great idea to work some good compost or aged manure into your planting area prior to planting seed i also prefer to side dress my corn with aged cow manure when it's about six to twelve inches tall in lieu of or in addition to this i sometimes also use a natural balanced fertilizer now at this young stage at that about six inches tall stage i don't overdo it on the nitrogen quite yet i want more of a balanced fertilizer so that these plants are focusing on getting some good roots established not putting on a bunch of lush green growth so after the seedlings are over 12 inches tall then i will typically go in with a higher nitrogen fertilizer i typically use a food called sweet corn alive it is a six three three ratio but you could definitely go higher on that depending on your individual soil conditions some growers opt for something like a 20 10 10 if you're really nitrogen deficient you could even use something like ammonium sulfate which is typically right around 21.00 so very very high in nitrogen urea is also a high nitrogen supplement that many growers opt for the thing to be aware of with urea is that if it is not incorporated into the soil via tillage or precipitation it is highly susceptible to ammonia volatization so basically just escaping as gas into the atmosphere rather than getting into the soil and feeding your plants now additionally if your plants are starting to look really picky and yellow later in the season they may be crying out for more nitrogen at that point as well the color of your corn foliage is really going to tell you everything you need to know if it is lush and dark and green those corn plants are happy if it's kind of yellowish or sickly looking there could be other things going on but it's highly likely that they're craving a dose of nitrogen number three planting configuration is crucial for proper pollination to ensure proper pollination as corn is wind pollinated planting in a block or group configuration helps to ensure that the pollen is actually reaching the silks when you plant corn in one big long row you might get some pollination but it is probably not going to be complete and what you will see are a lot of skips in your ears so places where kernels just did not fill that is because no pollen reached that silk and that kernel did not form as a general rule i like to plan out my corn plots in about a 12 by 15 block but as we will talk about a little later you can go smaller space than that number four pay attention to isolation requirements now this is one that many folks are not aware of different types of corn so sweet pop flour dent ornamental as well as different genotypes of sweet corn itself all have different isolation requirements all sweet corn should be separated from any other type of corn so you do not want your sweet corn grown next to popcorn or ornamental corn or flower corn or next to that farmer's giant field of field corn in rural areas this can be particularly tricky so you want to really pay attention to what the farmers are planting next to you in our area typically they will go corn soybean every other year so i know on soybean years i'm safe but on corn years i want to make sure and either beat them to the planting or i'll wait until about three weeks after they have planted to plant my corn now if you happen to have something like a woods or a tree line or something that will block you or separate you from the field next door you're a lot safer in terms of not having cross-pollination issues but if it's just all open like it is at my parents you have to really be careful about that because cross-pollination between a field corn and a sweet corn is essentially going to ruin the eating quality of your sweet corn now what i mean in terms of isolation is that you want to keep different types of corn separated either by at least 300 feet or by three plus weeks of maturity now for more information on all of the different sweet corn genotypes as well as detailed isolation instructions be sure to check out the video linked above where i cover this topic in depth number five clear out the competition corn does not appreciate weed competition this is true for many garden crops but corn in particular because it is relatively shallow rooted for the size of the plants and because it is such a nutrient and water hog clearing out as much of the weed competition as possible will help you get better yields be aware though if you are hoeing or tilling between your rows to get rid of weeds shallow cultivation is key this is again because corn has relatively shallow root system if you go too deep or too aggressively you'll disrupt the roots of your corn now when hoeing i have always gently pulled the dirt that i'm hoeing from the middle of the rose up towards the base of my corn plants essentially hilling them this helps a little to cover those roots and to keep the corn from just flopping over in a heavy windstorm i'm doing this very very lightly though you do not want to hill that soil clear up onto the stalks of the plant because that can lead to rot after my corn is up and growing well i typically also try to cover the aisle ways between my plantings with a natural mulch my go-to is alfalfa hay because it's going to help to really suppress those weeds but anything including grass clippings or leaf mulch even black plastic can be used between rows to help suppress weeds number six water water water in addition to being a heavy feeder corn sucks up a huge amount of water especially as it's nearing maturity you'll get the best ear production if you can provide your corn with an inch or so of water per week especially from the time tasseling starts until harvest that being said i have found corn to be an extremely resilient crop in general and there are definitely varieties out there that have been bred to deal with very stressful growing conditions including a lack of water usually with my may plantings if we get a little rain while the corn is getting established i get out there and mulch heavily thanks in part to my clay soil which retains moisture i can often get away with not watering at all or maybe only watering once through the growing season now my yields and ear size may suffer a little but to me not having to water all the time is worth that trade-off now as i mentioned before with later season plantings i do definitely have to water and if you are growing somewhere else where you're not getting the rain or your weather is very very hot and dry or you're growing on sandy soil you're going to have to provide a lot more supplemental irrigation number seven unfortunately critters love corn and somehow they always know when it is just about at peak ripeness i have had this happen to myself i've heard this from so many people you're waiting and waiting and waiting for that corn to be peak and you think i'm gonna go out there and pick that tomorrow yeah it's gonna be perfect and those honoree raccoons i swear they know it they will get out there that night and strip your corn plot bare so if you are growing in an area where you know you have raccoons or you have deer take precautions to protect your corn a lot of people opt for electric fencing i've had decent luck with just a five foot wire fence and outdoor and outdoor dogs to scare the critters away but raccoons in particular are very clever and very persistent so just be aware of that when you are planning on planting out your corn and it's not just animal critters insect pests love corn as well and corn ear worm is one of the most prevalent corn pests in the majority of the united states young corn earworm larva can feed on the silks disrupting pollination and eventually the corn earworms will find their way from the silks down into the actual ear corn earworm populations are at their heaviest during the later part of the season so one of the best ways for home growers to avoid these critters are to plant early and to plant earlier or mid-season maturity corns it will also help to seek out varieties that have good husk coverage breeders are paying a lot more attention to how the husks are actually covering the ears so they're making sure that these wrapper leaves extended good ways past the actual tip of the ear that they're very tight on that ear and that there's a good thick layer of wrapper husks around that ear all of this makes it more difficult for those ear worms to get down into the ear itself this will also help with opportunistic pests like those little black sap beetles that like to get in after the ear rooms have started feeding young larva can also be hand-picked off of the end of the ears and then you can wrap that husk back up and secure it with a tie or rubber band even a clothespin to keep more larva from entering the ear corn ear worm unfortunately can be difficult to control with insecticide because they have developed resistance to many of the commonly used sprays organic options for control include products with the active ingredients spinosad pyrethrin and bt you can also apply plain mineral oil or horticultural oil to the silks to help smother the earworms mixing in a little bt or spinocid for extra effectiveness if opting for the smothering root though timing is very important for this as well if you apply too early you can disrupt pollination if applied too late you'll miss that window and the earworms will have already traveled into the ear and be safe from the smothering oil number eight pick at the right time for the best tasting corn for sweet corn in particular if you pick too soon the kernels won't have reached their optimal flavor or size if you pick too late the sugars will have actually started to convert to starches ruining the eating quality and the texture of your sweet corn i find it easiest to look at the silks to determine maturity i want those silks to be dried down and brown if it's still blonde in color it's not mature yet i also feel the ear to make sure they are filled out and plump if you're really unsure you can peel back just a smidge of the tip of the husk peeking at the kernels inside to gauge their maturity if they're not fully mature yet just put the husk back and you can even wrap a rubber band or tie a string around the tip of this husk to keep it well covered and simply check back in a couple more days to see if they've reached peak maturity yet if sweet corn is over mature the kernels will start to get a sunken look in the middle this indicates that the sugars have already started converting to starch but these are at peak so let's take a look [Music] now most sweet corn is not going to look like this this is a new variety that i am trialing but this is what you're going to look for you want these kernels totally filled out and plump all the way to the tip no sign of any indentations yet if i press a fingernail into those kernels they're milky still juicy that is a perfectly mature ear of corn but the really important thing yeah that's good corn now for other types of corn popcorn flour corn dent corn ornamental corn you're going to leave those ears on the plants until they have dried down i typically harvest these types of corn in october before that frost hits but what you're looking for there are for those kernels to be totally hard to where you cannot pierce that kernel with your fingernail if they're not all the way dry down before the frost hits or if you live in a particularly humid climate or you've been receiving a lot of rain you can harvest them put them in a dry warm location and let them dry down that way i prefer to lay them single layer on a drying rack in some place like a warm dry barn you can use a porch even your living room just basically any spot that they're going to be protected from receiving additional moisture i let them dry for a couple of weeks before moving them to their permanent storage and number nine you can grow corn in small spaces even containers for folks that don't have the room or the desire to work up a bunch of ground to plant corn small space is an option i like to use 20 gallon grow tubs and i will grow six plants of corn per tub usually grouping them together with two or three tubs again this is just going to help to ensure that proper pollination is happening you can do something similar in a small raised bed or even a tiny corner of the garden you're not going to get a huge deal this way but you can get a few tasty fresh ears for eating or a few ears of popcorn or ornamental corn this way now whether you're growing in a container or a raised bed all of those basics are going to be the same you want to provide that corn with some nutrient-rich soil so choose a good potting mix maybe work in some manure and definitely feed them for more detail on how i grow my container corn check out the video linked above and like i mentioned before variety selection can be key here as well there is new breeding being done in particular for sweet corn that is more compact and better suited to containers you can certainly grow great big tall varieties in a container but be aware that they're definitely at a higher risk of being blown over by summer storms so those are my main lessons learned in the quest for great corn what would you add to this list drop a line in the comments below and let me know and if you enjoyed today's video please consider subscribing to my channel growfully with jenna thanks for watching and i'll see you next time do you know the twist trick you just watch you go snap twist snap switch [Music] snap yo look how big this one is mama

Channel: Growfully with Jenna

Views: 156,379

Keywords: tips for growing corn at home, how to grow corn, how to grow sweet corn, growing corn from seed, how to grow sweet corn at home from seeds, growing corn at home, tips for growing corn, growfully, growfully with jenna, tips for growing corn from seed, tips for growing sweet corn, tips for growing popcorn, tips for growing flour corn, tips for growing ornamental corn, tips for growing great corn, tips for growing corn at home video, tips for growing corn at home youtube, grow corn

Id: SlUXvfrqRLU

Length: 18min 48sec (1128 seconds)

Published: Fri Sep 02 2022