VARIETIES: Without doubt Silver Queen is the sweetest corn around. A very succulent and juicy white corn. However, outside the Southern US it may be hard to find the seeds. However, it’s hard to not like any variety of corn fresh from the garden. I usually plant several ‘hills’ of yellow corn or white corn depending on what seeds I can get. Typically the yellow corn seems to always have larger kernels than the white. I also try to plant a few hills of Indian Corn. This colorful corn is not to eat but rather for decoration. At the end of the season you will be moving towards Halloween and Thanksgiving and a few stalks of this corn tied at their top and leaning against a gate or fence adds something to the season. Take a few of the ears and peel the shucks back to the end revealing the kernels. Tie together three of these colorful ears and hang for decoration. The kernels are usually blue, red, white and yellow. However, I would hang them on a door or an exterior wall, not indoors. You never know what insect has laid eggs on the dying plant and is just waiting for the warmth of your house to hatch them.
WHERE TO LOCATE: Corn needs full sunlight several hours per day. Also, it grows taller then most things in your garden, so plant it so that its shadow does not fall across the other plants. You need some space for corn to get any kind of a yield. Each stalk needs to be one foot from any other stalk and will bear two ears of corn.
SEEDS OR SETS: Seeds, seeds, seeds!!! I have seen corn sets in grocery stores and wondered what mis-be-guided soul bought them. A pack of seeds is $1.00. A pair of sets about $3.00. You figure the math. Corn will grow from seed easily. Just follow the instructions on the envelope.
HOW TO PLANT: Mark out your row or rows. Plant the seeds about 12 inches apart with three seeds in each hole. "One for the Worm, One for the Crow, and One to Grow’. That’s the general rule.
SUPPORT: Corn plants need no support other than their own roots.
HOW TO NURTURE: Corn loves Nitrogen. After the plants reach around 6 inches I would put a tablespoon of Bat Guano sprinkled on the ground around the stalk. This excrement of bats is rich in Nitrogen and available at most garden stores. Try your neighborhood shop and not the big box stores. Do this every ten days or so. In northern Nevada it is very windy when the corn is growing, so I make sure that the plant is pollinated properly. About the time the tassels come out at the top of the stalks, small ears of corn will be just peaking out at the joint of a leaf with the stalk. Soon the tassels will be emitting pollen. The ears will have silks extruding from their ends. The pollen MUST get on the silks for the ear of corn to mature. If it’s too windy it makes this an uncertain proposition. I check the tassels every day and when I see a small pollen cloud fly way when I touch it, I go to work on the plant. I take a gallon plastic ziplock bag and place it around the tassel and gently jiggle it causing the pollen to be trapped in the plastic bag. I go from plant to plant doing this capturing the pollen in the bottom of the bag. After two or three plants the pollen will be visible in the bottom of the bag. Next I take a new, unused, dry artists’ paint brush, dip it down into the bag, stir it around in the pollen, and then ‘paint’ the pollen onto the silks of the small ears of corn. In doing this we are helping Mother Nature to ensure the corn will pollinate properly.
WHEN TO PICK: When the silks on the ears begin to turn brown the corn is ready for harvest. All ears won’t ripen at once so you can enjoy fresh corn through the last part of the growing season. When you think one is ready to pick gently peel a small portion of the husk back so that you can see if the kernels are full grown. If not wait a few day and try this again.
PESTS: I have never had corn attacked by pests, except for crows which like to eat the young shoots as soon as they come out of the ground. Take a few sticks and string twine between their tops. From the twine hang a couple of used silvery CDs. They will spin in the wind and scare the crows away. For all other pests it doesn’t hurt to sprinkle the plants and the ground around them with a thin layer of Sevin Dust. Once the ears appear I would stop putting any on the plants. Chester Burley of CT writes that he uses marigolds. 'Plant marigolds thru out your garden.' This is a nice earth friendly way to avoid insects and other pests in your garden.
STORING EXCESS: For a beginners garden I would simply eat the corn as it ripens. It’s never better than at that time. Also, canned corn is cheap. If you do have excess, simply blanche the corn on the cob in boiling water and freeze in plastic bags. I have canned corn before but it’s not worth the effort to me. Also, frozen corn on the cob cannot compete with the real fresh stuff!
RECIPES FROM YOUR GARDEN: Click on the recipe below using the above as an ingredient and it will pop up for you.
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