Sweet Corn & Popcorn Part Deux!
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by Triss on December 21, 2005 06:44 AM
Sounds good Robert.
I had a thought as well in reading this post. Could you start one of the corns early and indoors and then transplant outside? Would that give you a longer growing season? Would that even be possible for you or too difficult to do the transplanting with your back concerns.
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We are all under the same stars... therefore we are never far apart.
I had a thought as well in reading this post. Could you start one of the corns early and indoors and then transplant outside? Would that give you a longer growing season? Would that even be possible for you or too difficult to do the transplanting with your back concerns.
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We are all under the same stars... therefore we are never far apart.
by beebiz on December 21, 2005 08:41 AM
Triss,
Corn is not usually well suited for starting somewhere and then transplanting. It forms relatively shallow roots that are easily disturbed and once disturbed, it can easily cause the corn to die. I think that my best bet is to use my trusty old push planter and plant both corns directly in the garden with a 2 week stagger. But thanks for the suggestion... shows you have your thinking cap on!! :>)
Robert
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Corn is not usually well suited for starting somewhere and then transplanting. It forms relatively shallow roots that are easily disturbed and once disturbed, it can easily cause the corn to die. I think that my best bet is to use my trusty old push planter and plant both corns directly in the garden with a 2 week stagger. But thanks for the suggestion... shows you have your thinking cap on!! :>)
Robert
* * * *
My New Web Site If you take a look, please sign my guest book so I'll know you've been there! Also, check out the new African Violet addition to my site! Thanks
by Triss on December 21, 2005 10:09 AM
Well and by asking, I learned something new. That is good to know, not that I plan on growing corn, but still good to have in the back of my mind.
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We are all under the same stars... therefore we are never far apart.
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We are all under the same stars... therefore we are never far apart.
by tkhooper on December 21, 2005 11:22 PM
One of my favorite flowers has a long growing season and cannot be transplanted at all well. My answer is to use biodegradable pots. In my case that means egg cartons. And I just plant the entire carton in the ground when it is time to transplant. I don't know if that would work with corn but it was a thought.
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by beebiz on December 22, 2005 07:12 AM
Thanks for the idea tkhooper. I've used the biodegradable egg cartons to start things like watermelon, cantaloupe, cucumbers, and squash in, but never corn. It's just so much easier for me to use my push planter to plant my corn that I've never considered doing otherwise. But, I don't see why it wouldn't work.
The reason that I start my melons, cucumbers, and squash in such containers is that they don't like their roots disturbed once planted. This is particularly true of the melons. Melons tend to have long tap roots and if they are disturbed or broken off by transplanting, it is hard on the plants. Most of the time, they will recover from it. But, they almost never realize their full potential.
Tomatoes are a horse of a different color. When transplanted from a flat into a container, it is actually good for the tomato's tap root to be broken. It doesn't hurt the potential of the tomato, but it forces it to build a stronger, thicker root system that will be closer to the surface of the ground. That way, it will not be up-rooted quite as easily in high winds and will make quicker and better use of the shallow nutrients that you provide and the shallow moisture provided by those stingy summer sprinkles! It also helps prevent the roots from standing in rain soaked mud in the earlier part of the growing season.
Okay, I'm sure that's more than you wanted to know, but you got it anyway!! ;>)
Robert
* * * *
My New Web Site If you take a look, please sign my guest book so I'll know you've been there! Also, check out the new African Violet addition to my site! Thanks
The reason that I start my melons, cucumbers, and squash in such containers is that they don't like their roots disturbed once planted. This is particularly true of the melons. Melons tend to have long tap roots and if they are disturbed or broken off by transplanting, it is hard on the plants. Most of the time, they will recover from it. But, they almost never realize their full potential.
Tomatoes are a horse of a different color. When transplanted from a flat into a container, it is actually good for the tomato's tap root to be broken. It doesn't hurt the potential of the tomato, but it forces it to build a stronger, thicker root system that will be closer to the surface of the ground. That way, it will not be up-rooted quite as easily in high winds and will make quicker and better use of the shallow nutrients that you provide and the shallow moisture provided by those stingy summer sprinkles! It also helps prevent the roots from standing in rain soaked mud in the earlier part of the growing season.
Okay, I'm sure that's more than you wanted to know, but you got it anyway!! ;>)
Robert
* * * *
My New Web Site If you take a look, please sign my guest book so I'll know you've been there! Also, check out the new African Violet addition to my site! Thanks
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Last night, I got to doing some thinking (very dangerous for me) about maturity dates for sweet corn and popcorn. I knew that the sweet corn "maturity" referred to the stage at which sweet corn could be harvested to use for corn on the cob or cut corn. But I wondered if the popcorn "maturity" referred to the stage at which the kernel was mature or if it referred to the stage at which the kernel was not only mature, but hard and dry.
So, I called Harris Seed Co. and spoke to an individual who is supposed to be highly knowledgeable about corn (sweet and popcorn). I also called my county extention agent about this question. Both gentlemen said that the maturity date for sweet corn referrs to the time that it takes (under the correct conditions) from planting to the harvest of the ears so that they may be used as corn on the cob or cut corn. They also said that the maturity dates of popcorn referrs to the time that it takes (again, under the right conditions) from planting to the harvest time. But with popcorn, they said that the harvest time is NOT when the kernels are mature, but rather when they are dry enough to be hard!
After having given this information, the guy from Harris Seed Co. maintained that a sweet corn with an 85 day maturity and a popcorn with a 115 day maturity could be planted at the same time. His reasoning was that there would be a 30 day gap in the maturity dates. My county agent disagreed. He said that the sweet corn should be planted first and the popcorn should be planted 2 weeks later. He said that he was afraid that no consideration had been given for the drying time which had been figured into the popcorn's maturity date. And if I planted these corns at the same time, they would probably tassel at the same time or within a few days of each other, thereby yeilding themselves vulnerable to cross pollination.
Knowing my county extention agent's qualifications and experience, as well as wanting to make sure that there is no sweetg corn/popcorn hankey-panky going on in my garden, I believe that I will stagger the plantings by 2 weeks.
As for the idea of double cropping the corns, my agent said that their was a better chance of it snowing on July 4 than their was of the second crop maturing. He said that if the end of the growing season was not plaqued with heavy and frequent rains, I might have a fighting chance. But given the extremely high humidity during the time when the popcorn would need to be drying out, he said that it just wasn't feasible.
I thank you all for racking your brains and rattling the information cages in an effort to help me out. I first thought that this would be a simple question to answer, but have learned that it was not as simple as it appeared on the surface.
And Triss, I don't have the time to do it right now, but I will be posting the informaiton about the potatoes for bad backs in the gardening with disabilities forum. I like that forum due to the fact that my wife and I are disabled as well.
I hope that everyone has a Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year.
Robert
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My New Web Site If you take a look, please sign my guest book so I'll know you've been there! Also, check out the new African Violet addition to my site! Thanks