Corn

(Zea mays) CULTURE: Sweet corn seed requires a soil temperature of 65 deg. F (18 deg. C) to germinate well, otherwise seed may rot easily due to its high sugar content. Don't rush yourfirst planting. Wait until after the first average frost-free date. Succession plantings can then be made 2 to 3 weeks apart. Sow seed 1" deep in rows 24 to 36" apart and thin to 9 to 14" apart within rows. Later, taller varieties need wider spacing than early, shorter varieties. For good pollination and well-filled ears, plant in blocks at least 5 rows wide. HARVEST: After silk has dried and turned brown, puncture the skin of a kernel with your thumbnail. If a sweet, milky juice is released (milk stage) the corn is ready for harvest. Prepare corn for eating quickly after harvest. At room temperature, harvested ears lose 50% of their sugar in 24 hours. PESTS: Corn earworm can be suffocated by inserting a medicine dropper half filled with mineral oil into the silk after it has wilted and browned at the tip (4 to 5 days after silk appears). Corn borers can be prevented by composting corn refuse and stubble as soon as possible. If necessary, use a regular treatment of rotenone, pyrethrum, or Dipel or Thurcide (Bacillus thuringiensis). DISEASE: Corn smut forms large puffy, gray, irregular masses of fungus during dry hot weather. Corn smut is a delicacy in Mexico, but if you want corn rather than corn smut, remove and destroy the fungus; otherwise the black spores will re-infest your corn for several years. SEED SAVERS: Corn is wind pollinated. Separate varieties by 600' for home use, or 1/2 to 1 mile for absolute purity. Save at least 500 seeds from at least 10% of the plants to maintain vigor and genetic diverstiy of the variety. PACKET: 1 oz or 28g (about 115 to 210 seeds, depending on variety, sows 30 to 45 feet.

OPEN-POLLINATED SWEET CORN or HYBRID SWEET CORN?

The answer to this question depends on what is important to you. Old-fashioned, open-pollinated corn is not as uniform in size and maturity as hybrid corn, but uniformity is not necessarily an advantage for the home gardener who wants an extended harvest of table fresh corn. Hybrid corn tends to mature all at once which is an advantage primarily to farmers. The new supersweet and extrasweet hybrid corns are sugary sweet and hold their sweetness in storage, but they may have weak seedling vigor, are more susceptible to ear damage by insects, and the seeds rot readily in cool soil. Standard, open-pollinated sweet corn is still preferred by a number of gardeners because of its true corn flavor. We have received a number of letters over the years on this subject. It is a fact that when pigs, chickens, horses, and cows are given a choice between open-pollinated and hybrid corn the animals invariably prefer the old open-pollinated varieties, possibly because of the higher protein content. For good pollination and ear development open-pollinated corn should be planted in blocks at least 5 to 6 rows wide, whereas hybrid corn should be planted in blocks at least 4 rows wide. NOTE: If open-pollinated corn is new to you we suggest planting less than 1/4 lb. until you are familiar with its characteristics.

DENT CORN

Dent Corns are generally best adapted to the Southeast and Midwest and are used primarily for roasting ears, corn bread, and hominy. Some old timers actually prefer eating the starchy dent corns in the same manner as sweet corns. Perhaps this practice may be attributed to the insect resistance of the tight husks of many dent corns. Two maturity dates may be given for dent corn; the first is number of days to maturity for use as roasting ears. The second date is the number of days for use as meal, grits, or hominy. PACKET: 2 oz or 57 g (128 to 186 seeds, depending on variety) sows 40 to 60'.

POPCORN

We tend to think of popcorns for popping only, but some Native Americans also grind popcorn to make bread. Popcorn is grown and dried in the same manner as dent corn or flint corn. All the popcorns and most flint corns are resistant to ear damage by birds. PACKET: 1 oz or 28 g (about 460 to 565 seeds, depending on variety) sows 125'.

GOURDSEED CORN

Gourdseed corns are one of our oldest corns, and were commonly grown in southern Virginia. The plants of gourdseed corn are heavily stalked and bear ears having a large number of rows of thin, deep kernels. These valuable corns originated from Indian gourdseed corn dating back to at least 1700. They were used for roasting ears, and for feed and flour. At maturity the kernels of some varieties are easily shelled by a light touch to the ear. Gourdseed corns were grown until about 1940, before hybrids became popular. In 1889, gourdseed corn won the Great Corn Contest sponsored by the American Agriculturist, yielding 255 bushels per acre. Because of interest in hybrid corn, gourdseed corns were virtually extinct by the 1960's, but recently they have been found to be valuable because of their resistance to some diseases, notably southern leaf blight. Dr. Brown, former president of Pioneer Hi-Bred rediscovered gourdseed corn on a Texas farm, after a year-long search for this disease-resistant variety. PACKET: 1 oz or 28 g (about 100 seeds) sows 50'.

SEED SAVERS: Corn is wind pollinated. Separate varieties by 600' for home use, or 1/2 to 1 mile for absolute purity. Save at least 500 seeds from at least 10% of the plants to maintain vigor and genetic diversity of the variety.