Sweet corn tips, pointers, suggestions

[greybeard]

If your virgin ground is like mine was, as soon as you disturb it, the soil becomes weed city.

 

[SJB]

I'm definitely afraid of that. It's pretty thick fescue and clover. I'm sure they're years of weed seed accumulated just waiting for a chance to grow.

 

[M-5]

Your no till plan would work if you have the equipment. You will not be organic because you will have to rely on herbicide. Only way to do it without using chemicals is the old fashioned way of turning it. You will have alot of weeds that way also if it was not turned last fall or winter .

 

[skyhightree1]

Farmers market is a good place or flea market to sell.

 

[JMJ Farms]

.65 for 13 ears. You buy a bag from them, and put 78 ears in it.

More power to those who do, but there's no way I would plant, grow, and furnish a bag to sell an ear of sweet corn for 0.05 an ear. But I'd like to buy some for that price.

 

[SJB]

Big farmers markets here. Johnson City just moved theirs downtown to the new artsy part of town. Flea market too.

You could buy it for $.05 and resell it and come out better than growing it I bet.

 

[hurleyjd]

You have talked about fertilizer cultivating and etc. Now how about ear worm control. I usually plant some sweet corn but have a lot of ear worm problems. Now I just watch Walmart and buy when the price is 12 ears for a dollar. I know that is the lazy way. You might look a at black eyed peas not as much competition at the grocery store. Here peas will bring in 20 t0 25 dollars a bushel.

 

[Jogeephus]

Earworms don't eat enough to really bother anything here but if they are a concern I found one spraying of permethrin when the corn was silking made a big difference. My corn was about 95% earworm free.

 

[SJB]

i wound up planting 400 seeds. bodacious and honey select.

ya'll spray grass or cultivate it out between the rows?

 

[skyhightree1]

i wound up planting 400 seeds. bodacious and honey select.

ya'll spray grass or cultivate it out between the rows?

That corn is not RR so I wouldn't spray anywhere near it. Cultivate, Hill and chop it is all id do.

 

[SJB]

there are several grass and broadleaf combo killers on the market safe for corn. probably exorbitantly expensive, but they exist. accent, harness, dual, magnum II.

 

[skyhightree1]

The spray would cost a ton more than those 400 seeds and would seem count active IMO to spend a lot of money on those chemicals for the amount of seeds you planted which is why I suggested what I did but hey its your wallet.

 

[slick4591]

Should be fun for you and the kids.

Maybe fun for you, but as a kid I followed granddad dropping seed as he followed a mule with a middlebuster. Then I got to hoe it until we hand pulled ears, then shucked and cut kernels off the cob for canning. I guarantee there wasn't a dam bit of it any fun. :lol:

 

[JMJ Farms]

Should be fun for you and the kids.

Maybe fun for you, but as a kid I followed granddad dropping seed as he followed a mule with a middlebuster. Then I got to hoe it until we hand pulled ears, then shucked and cut kernels off the cob for canning. I guarantee there wasn't a dam bit of it any fun. :lol:

Maybe not Slick but I bet it was fun eating it! And just look at what you learned from it :nod:

 

[ga.prime]

i wound up planting 400 seeds. bodacious and honey select.

ya'll spray grass or cultivate it out between the rows?

Usually I just use a Craftsman rotary tiller and a hoe because I don't plant all that much, but I have used Atrazine herbicide post plant, pre-emerge and it works very well and is not expensive at all. If I was planting a lot of corn, I'd use Atrazine.

 

[slick4591]

Should be fun for you and the kids.

Maybe fun for you, but as a kid I followed granddad dropping seed as he followed a mule with a middlebuster. Then I got to hoe it until we hand pulled ears, then shucked and cut kernels off the cob for canning. I guarantee there wasn't a dam bit of it any fun. :lol:

Maybe not Slick but I bet it was fun eating it! And just look at what you learned from it :nod:

I learned to not plant a lot of corn. :lol:

 

[SJB]

Yeah sky is right, it's probably way too expensive. But the kids ain't big enough to help yet, and my hands don't fit a hoe handle!

 

[SJB]

Anybody ever use corn gluten meal to fertilize with?

 

[ga.prime]

Anybody ever use corn gluten meal to fertilize with?

Nope, and never will as long as they have calcium nitrate and ammonium nitrate available for purchase in town. Probably not after it's not available either.

 

[SJB]

Just trying to learn - why so?