Question Tips for Corn?

Mark

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Well, this is the right time to grow corn in our part of the world Stevo so that's a good start.

Corn is best grown in a block with plants about 1 foot apart so they can cross pollinate and get good corn heads with full kernels.

Don't over fertilise with nitrogen or they can sometimes grow tall and weak.

Watch for caterpillars attacking the tops of the cobs as they get to ripening stage.

All over corn is a pretty easy crop to grow - keep the water up and they should grow pretty fast.
 

Ash

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Agree with Mark, and indeed you can even grow them closer than a foot apart, as they have deep non-spreading root systems and the closer they are together, the more likely pollination will take place.
 

ClissAT

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Also to note that the fresh silks are full of natural antibiotic.
When you pick the cob, pinch off the brown bit of silk & discard, slice off the bottom of the cob so the husks can be levered apart somewhat.
Grab hold of the bundle of silk at the pointy end of the cob, pull gently to release it from around the cob & eat like long strands of spaghetti.
YUM!

Carefully lay the husks back around the cob to store. They will store as good as ever or for cooking with husk on. The silk must be consumed fresh for the health benefits.
 

stevo

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update photo... some are possibly too close together?

full
 

ClissAT

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This all reminds me that I should get my next lot of corn in too before there is too much rain.

I've rather neglected the garden recently since being so sick & lethargic.
Now it's just plain hot & humid, not conducive to gardening except for an hour right before dark & maybe the first hour after dawn.
 

ClissAT

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Yep those mozzies certainly know whether it is going to rain or not!
 

Ash

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We're fortunate on the range that our temperature and humidity is just that touch lower than towards the coast or the valley, so we can still work comfortably through the day. The apples seem to be doing well in this climate so far.
 

ClissAT

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oh what I would give for an apple tree that I could walk to & pick some fruit from.
I do have an apple tree which is supposed to be a tropical, but so far I have not been able to cajole any fruit from it.
This year looked quite promising but none seems to have set.
 

Mark

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Mine have set well been eating a few but the fruit fly destroy every one not under a net. Thankfully I netted one of my two trees this year. The tropical Anna is ok - tastes more like a granny smith to me though... but beggars like me can't be choosers!
 

Kasalia

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I pruned my apples by half this year to fence height, Anna and Dorset Golden but they are very successful. For dwarf trees they grew way way too big. I tend to bag my fruit individually now, too hard to throw the net over. Try ebay wedding bags large size or make your own with net or organza fabric. In saying that the double plum fruited major this year and has gone berserk with quantity, so individual wrapping was out of the question. So threw the net over. Put it to the cold winter we have had, roses loved it too.
Back to the corn....if you find they don't produce Kernels in every kernel spot, I read somewhere that the individual silks all need to be fertilized or you get these kernel gaps.Watch out for the caterpillars when ready to pick they eat the top lot of kernels and are yukky. (technical term).
 

stevo

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Welp... my corn looked great and healthy... I picked them all off, got about 10 cobs, placed them on the edge of my pond and forgot about them. The next day I came outside and all the crows took off. They had spread the corn around the yard and basicly got in to each cob. ohwell... :(
 

ClissAT

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Oh no Stevo what a nightmare!
We should start a thread about bl00dy crows!
I had to pick my whole mango crop early because this year it being late, it co-incided with the crow babies fledging & requiring massive feeding & mangoes being the ideal baby food...........well who wouldn't have a go? :D
I have to watch out for them all the time as they will take anything nearly ripe just like the king parrots. Currently they are all into capsicums.
I've decided that as soon as I can afford it I am going to build a massive structure to carry bird netting.
I have to cover the pawpaws, mangoes, tomatoes, capsicum, mandarins, grumichamas, lychees, bananas, cucumbers anyway, may as well put the whole garden & orchard under netting.
 

stevo

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yeah, rookie mistake by me. There's a big family / murder of crows that hang around the neighbourhood, and now that you mention it, they're always on the big mango tree down the street.

Good idea with the netting, I think i'll just be more carefull with my small garden. I guess if the neighbourhood was just grass and no food source they'd all go somewhere else, so having all vegie gardens and fruit trees we're just going to attract everything, bats possums, crows... what else... oh yeah.. mice and rats in the chicken coop.
 

Mark

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That's a shame... stone the crows :)

The crows around here steal our duck and sometimes chicken eggs but don't usually hit our patch that's the cockatoos territory (they probably scare them away).
Oh well, feed the cobs to the chooks then if you can't salvage them :cheers:
 

Ash

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Scarecrow is my next project too Steve. It's nice to attract nature to the property but there comes a point where labour has to bear fruit for the farmer's home too.
 

Daniel.Mav

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I saw a photo on pinterest showing the use of a 5 gallon bucket as a template to plant corn in the 3 sisters method but I'm sure it would work with just the corn in mind.

It suggested to plant 8 in the groove from the bucket. A vine in the middle of the circle - pumpkin, cucumber, etc and then beans on the outside of the groove.

I was thinking about just planting corn out in the circle formation and see if it helps with the polination
 

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