“Corn as high as an elephant’s eye” is a line from the musical Oklahoma. Corn can indeed get very tall, but only under the right conditions. Home gardeners can struggle to get good pollination and full ears.
Much of the struggle can be avoided by planting corn in a block instead of a row. Pollination is done by the wind, so you need enough plants in close proximity to one another for the pollen to reach all the plants. Otherwise, you do not get much of a crop.
Prior to planting corn, spread 2-3 pounds of 10-10-10 fertilizer per 100 square feet over the area and work into the soil. Corn should be planted about 1 inch deep. Space the seeds 3-4 inches. The rows in the block need to be about 2.5 to 3 feet apart.
When the corn is 2 feet tall, you will need to scatter one cup of fertilizer for every ten feet of garden. Spread it evenly between the rows and water it in.
The Native Americans planted corn as part of the Three Sisters. When the corn came up, they planted beans next to the stalks and squash between the rows. The corn used the stalks as support and added nitrogen to the soil for the corn to use. The corn shaded the squash from the worst of the sun, but the squash crowded out weeds that would compete with the corn for food. Everyone benefited.
Corn is ripe about three weeks after the tassel comes up out of the ear. The juice in the kernels should be milky white. Harvest your corn in the early morning when it is cool, and refriderate promptly. Corn quickly loses nutrients and flavor at room temperature.
Corn is prone to diseases and pests. Raccoons will come in a corn patch and steal the ears. Wild hogs will devour them. So will deer. There are a host of catipillars that will eat your corn. Bt will kill them if you apply it according to the directions on the label. Flea beetles and grasshoppers can be deterred by Sevin™, although grasshoppers are really had to defeat.
One note of caution. Aflatoxin is a highly toxic fungal infection that grows on corn sometimes. If you pull the husk back and black soot or spores are present on the ear, throw the ear away where no animals or humans will find it — a sealed trash bag is good. High temperatures and water stress favor the formation of this fungus. It is so toxic it is regulated by the government, who determines how much may be present in products humans and animals consume.
“Corn as high as an elephant’s eye” is a line from the musical Oklahoma. Corn can indeed get very tall, but only under the right conditions. Home gardeners can struggle to get good pollination and full ears.
Much of the struggle can be avoided by planting corn in a block instead of a row. Pollination is done by the wind, so you need enough plants in close proximity to one another for the pollen to reach all the plants. Otherwise, you do not get much of a crop.
Prior to planting corn, spread 2-3 pounds of 10-10-10 fertilizer per 100 square feet over the area and work into the soil. Corn should be planted about 1 inch deep. Space the seeds 3-4 inches. The rows in the block need to be about 2.5 to 3 feet apart.
When the corn is 2 feet tall, you will need to scatter one cup of fertilizer for every ten feet of garden. Spread it evenly between the rows and water it in.
The Native Americans planted corn as part of the Three Sisters. When the corn came up, they planted beans next to the stalks and squash between the rows. The corn used the stalks as support and added nitrogen to the soil for the corn to use. The corn shaded the squash from the worst of the sun, but the squash crowded out weeds that would compete with the corn for food. Everyone benefited.
Corn is ripe about three weeks after the tassel comes up out of the ear. The juice in the kernels should be milky white. Harvest your corn in the early morning when it is cool, and refriderate promptly. Corn quickly loses nutrients and flavor at room temperature.
Corn is prone to diseases and pests. Raccoons will come in a corn patch and steal the ears. Wild hogs will devour them. So will deer. There are a host of catipillars that will eat your corn. Bt will kill them if you apply it according to the directions on the label. Flea beetles and grasshoppers can be deterred by Sevin™, although grasshoppers are really had to defeat.
One note of caution. Aflatoxin is a highly toxic fungal infection that grows on corn sometimes. If you pull the husk back and black soot or spores are present on the ear, throw the ear away where no animals or humans will find it — a sealed trash bag is good. High temperatures and water stress favor the formation of this fungus. It is so toxic it is regulated by the government, who determines how much may be present in products humans and animals consume.
