Hiyah all! I couldnt wait until April to ask so I’m goin for it now…
This is my first year attempting to grow corn and I will be trying out both grain and sweet corn planted about a month apart to avoid cross pollination. Thing is, im very intimidated with when I should direct sow the seeds. I am in the Pacific West Coast of Canada and although i have a long growing season with mild weather (Zone 8b) the soil i will be planting into is unamended mostly heavy clay that probably stays cool for a while. I also have quite the rainy springtime so i am worried about rotting out the seeds, though obviously that natural selection helps for any optimal survivors. I was initially thinking of planting my grain corn mid-April and the sweet in mid-May about 3-4inches deep but am now debating whether or not I should hold off until May 1st/June 1st. I was intrigued if you fellow corn growers may have some experience to share in regards to germination rates in cool ground and whether or not you follow last frost dates or actual soil temperature and weather patterns.
To add to confusion, when i look online my estimated last frost dates range anywhere from April-May which doesnt help and precisely why i am leaning towards soil temp to gauge properly. This winter has been incredibly mild with only one snowfall that stuck around for a couple days, so things have been warming up quite fast this year. How early have some of you successfully planted? Do you swell your corn seed beforehand? I am more than likely going to innoculate my corn seeds with wild grass endophytes. I’ve acquired quite the generous amount of corn seeds, including gts mix for both grain and sweet along with a few other varieties mixed in. About 400+ seeds for each crop. So I hope the odds are in my favour
Thanks for taking the time to read this and all opinions, advice and guidance is greatly appreciated!
My concern would be wet soil ratherthan cold soil. In my experience corn seed can handle cold, but cold and wet will rot unsprouted seeds. I suspect that once sprouted they’re much less susceptible, but I’ve lost my whole planting a couple of times.
I also plant in clay soil, and corn seems to thrive. I do use heavy woodchip mulch.
One thing I did last year with the early planting was succession planting, starting early March to determine the best time.
Growing corn is fun. Last year was my first time successfully growing it. I had enough space that I was able to separate my sweet, grain and popcorn by planting each in plots that were fairly far apart to minimize any cross pollination.
I would recommend succession planting your corn. Don’t direct seed all the corn at one time. Here is a good article on how to do it. Look at the picture of the rows of corn. You can see that each row is at a different stage of growth. If you do this, then you will have a better idea when your ideal planting time. Plant some corn each week. You will then know when will be too early for you. The best way to know what works for you is to try.
I know you want to avoid crossing your sweet and grain corn. You could consider only planting one type this year, then next year you will better be able to plant your planting to avoid crossing pollination.
I wanted to share the picture of the successive planting of corn for your consideration .
I also have heavy clay and wet spring weather. I usually planted my sweet corn at my last frost date and had good success. It is earlier than recommended, but I was selecting for that.
I do not use the deep planting method. I don’t think it is necessary or helpful in the clay + wet environment.
I also do not do any pre-treatment, I just plant them in the ground and let the wet soil do the work.
Ooh no, lost whole plantings?! Ouch! Noted about the wet soil. I was already debating presprouting my corn so i could separate the ungerminated seeds right off the bat since i have limited space. Not sure how close i can cram em in together before losing yield. What was the lowest day and night temperature when you started planting successfully, if you could recall?
Glad to know that the clay soil worked well for you! Perhaps it is because it holds onto moisture so well and hold the roots tightly in the ground? I have lots of woodchips to mulch everything that I grow this year
Thank you for sharing a picture! Seeing all of the different heights looks so neat and gradient. I will consider succession planting but im really set on trying out both grain and sweet varieties this year! I wanna do it all ahahah
I appreciate the article recommendation and will check that out when ive got some spare time. Perhaps I’ll succession plant my grain corn from mid-April to the beginning of May and my sweet corn from early to mid May, give or take by a couple weeks. I do like the idea of observing exactly which timeframe works best for me so i can plan accordingly for next year… i like your reminder to try
Oooh good to know that the last frost date worked out for you! Fantastic!
I was concerned about the deep planting being an issue due to my soil conditions so thank you for giving your opinion on that. How deep do you plant, then? 1-2inches?
I like the idea of just planting em straight into the ground as is and letting the wet conditions do the work for me as you mentioned… but i also like the thought of pre-sprouting so i know exactly which seeds are viable and i dont have random empty spots in my precious limited garden space. Perhaps I’ll try both methods if i have the motivation to do so
I was worried about germination/spacing and started out planting two seeds together and thinning plants later as needed. Germination was usually good enough I stopped doing that and just dealt with a few empty spots if something didn’t grow. Especially once I was using my own fresh seed from previous year.
Noted! The only reason i was considering deeper planting was to avoid pest pressure from rodents and birds. The robins love to linger when i move mulch around so they can pick at the worms and I love watching em, but im not sure if the stellarjays will try pecking out the seed given the opportunity. My real concern is the squirrels, those buggers get into everything!
Although i dont like the idea of empty spots (I can always plant extra beans or something to compensate) I think i rather deal with that instead of thinning out seedlings unnecessarily. I have a hard time with that one because i want everything to live! Clearly i will have to come to terms with it since that is part of adaptive gardening but it will be a little sad and painful for me hahaha. All the better for robust healthy genetics though!
The squirrels and other rodents are why I have taken a break from planting any corn. They didn’t mess with the seeds but they kept destroying the crop before I could pick the ears.
If you are worried about rodents getting the seeds you could sprinkle some hot pepper powder when you plant the seeds. Works very well to prevent any mammals, will not stop the birds.
Any time I have to do any thinning all I can think about is the potential of the genetics I might be losing.
That article was very helpful, thank you! I had NO idea that corn seedlings could survive light frosts, that just amazes me because i have always viewed corn as a vulnerable sensitive crop. Lots of good info to look back to when i start planting… much appreciated!
Aaack, i feel the exact same way about losing genetics when thinning !! Cant help it haha. For that reason alone i think i might pre-sprout the corn prior to planting just for this season and accumulate a variety of genetics, then next year I’ll be a little more selective.
I have used cayenne powder to sprinkle around the garden and though it helps immensely in the moment, the rain washes it away so fast that i have to re-apply frequently. Still a resourceful method if the weather permits but kinda tedious
I understand feeling a little discouraged about pests and corn, seems like that is a pretty big issue in general. My main concern is raccoon damage, I’ve read quite a few horror stories, so my plan is to grow a bunch of squash around em as a protective spikey barrier, utilizing the three sisters method at the same time for a better harvest.
Ground should be at least 10C for the first 48h or there is some sort of shrinkage problem with the seed when they soak up from cold water and they will fail. I don’t know if presoaking them would help, but if your goal is to have no extra work, then probably better sow them dryYou can read more about it (with actual temrs) if you google about min temp for sowing corn. I have quite extensively tried to find studies what the exact limit might be and if how much variation there is. It seems that 10C is what just about all will tolerate. Some sources said that 5C might be enough for some, but overall there is very little actual sustance. I don’t think it really matters that much as 10C even wont give you fast growth so anything lower is useless in terms of getting a headstart. Corn isn’t that susceptible to frost and should resprout after -2C -2,5C frost so I would wait until first longer warm period that will get the ground to 10C closish to the last frost date. If the ground is that 10C or little over they will take easily 10-15 days to emerge so you can probably start to look for a good window 1 month before last frost date.
I would start with grain corn. Last year my sweetcorn failed multiple times in the cool early season when grain corn worked the first time (I actually presoaked them same as sweetcorn, but can’t say if it had effect). Might be about the ground type, but I believe the grain corn kernels are just stronger. I have also found many grain corn to be faster than sweetcorn. Distance also can greatly decrease cross pollination. Also it matters more from grain corn to sweetcorn. If you have elevation on your plot, you could locate grain corn downhill as far as you can. Corn pollen is relatively heavy so it doesn’t go as easily great distances. And as last resort you can just cut tassels from the grain corn once sweet corn starts to silk. Although if you you for seed, only trouble from cross pollination is that you just have to find the ones that have been pollinated with grain corn. That itself isn’t so hard.
Oooh nice that you can plant corn that late! I dont think I could get away with that since September can be unpredictable here. We usually start to get pretty rainy by October at the latest so im not sure if we would have enough sun or heat.
Noted about the minimal temp! Ive read some sources say atleast 15c but consistently 10c is not too long a wait for me. That is super helpful information and it would be great if i could get the grain corn in a month ahead of last frost date!
Im definitely starting with grain corn. As you said, it is hardier in general compared to sweet corn, plus it also takes the longest to mature. I will have my grain corn on a slightly slanted plot, closer to my flat area since my back yard is a bit of an angled hill. Sweet corn will be uphill of that but planted about a month later. Cutting the tassels is brilliant! I wouldve never considered that to avoid cross pollination so i greatly appreciate the advice. Thank you
now that seems handy dandy! Appreciate the recommendation. As long as there are no weird chemical ingredients involved, I’m all for it!