Over on TBN, I jumped into a post about getting a plot ready for sweet corn. Got some good info there, but I figured I'd continue it here.
I created a new 50x50 plot for corn by killing the grass (fescue) with Roundup back on a warm day in February. I sprayed the area again twice more in March, and then began tilling it. This past Saturday was pretty nice, and I tilled the area again, going east-to-west and north-to-south, trying to get a decent seed bed created from the clumps of decaying sod. It looked fairly decent after a while, so I chose a 25x25 corner and planted some Silver Queen. Why Silver Queen? I like my corn not so sweet, and it seemed a good idea at the time. My plan is to plant each quadrant after waiting 2-3 weeks so I'll have a nice long season of corn.
I used my walk-behind wheeled seeder (Garden Way?), and spaced the rows at about 2 feet, which is probably a bit close. I was told I should be able to plant the entire 50x50 area with 1 lb of seed, but I think: 1) My seeder spits out the corn a bit thick. and 2) I should probably go to a 30" row spacing. It seemed to me that I used almost half my seed in the one 25x25 planting. If you look at sites that suggest how much seed corn you need, you usually see 1/4 lb per 100 foot row. Even with a 3 foot row spacing, that calculates out to 2 lbs for a 50x50 plot. But it's all good. I'll just buy more seed.
Now for a question: Since I have to buy more seed anyway, I was thinking to get another variety. Silver Queen is type su, or regular sugar. I'd like to try Incredible, with is an se or enhanced sugar type. I know they shouldn't be planted together in the same plot, but I've read that the se types aren't quite as bad in the cross-pollination thing as are the sh or super sweet types. I also figure I should be able to stagger the planting dates enough to minimize cross pollination. The university horticulture pages say planting at least two weeks apart should minimize cross-pollination problems. Has anyone tried this with success?
This may all be academic anyway. I'm not fencing this new plot, and even though a few folks have said deer don't usually do great damage to corn, I have my doubts. The deer that infest my place even chewed on my okra plants the one year I didn't fence my garden.
Yeh, yeh, yeh......realistic pessimist, huh? I had heard in the past that the idea is to plant so much corn that the deer get sick of it and leave some for you. However, one of the Arkansas guys over on TBN, who probably has nearly as many deer as I do, said the deer don't bother his corn. We'll see. This morning at 6:30 as I was heading out to work, there were at least four deer down in that field. There were probably more as it was still dark, and I just saw four. They seemed to be chewing on my blackberries. These are the wild-type, with thorns like lions claws, and I had sprayed them with Liquid Fence, too. My new corn field is right in the path of their normal migration through my property. Even if they don't eat the corn, they'll probably trample it. Maybe I'll look for a deal on an electric fence. The charger will have to be either battery or solar, since the corn patch is way off from my electric service. Darn. This could turn out to be an expensive experiment.
I am following the advice of the oldtimers who have lived here in the Shawnee National Forest all their lives. If you want an acre of sweet corn be sure and plant two. [img]/forums/images/icons/frown.gif[/img]
Is that a realistic ratio?
I had just asked the same thing over on TBN. If you don't have loads of critters, but they are there, how much can you expect to lose and how much extra planting should cover the loss?
I'm guessing your post was in jest, but it makes sense at the same time....
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