Secrets to Success in Growing Corn in our Area - published May 15, 2005

Theodore Roosevelt said, “ Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” What we have where we are is a short growing season where we are guaranteed to encounter some cold. In order for any plant to succeed in our area we have to find a plant that will grow in our short growing season and be able to tolerate some cold. You may think that means that there is no way corn can be grown in our area. However, there are people that have had great success in growing corn in our area. I asked them to share some of the secrets to their success.

A very important key to having success is to pick the right kind of corn to try. There are many, many varieties of corn and each variety has it’s own unique needs and characteristics. You can find out about the needs and characteristics of the corn by checking out the information on the seed pack. Two important things to look for are the growing season for the corn (the number of days it takes to reach maturity) and whether it can tolerate some cold.

The online sites of Vesey’s (http://www.veseys.com ) and Stokes (http://www.stokeseeds.com) have a number of varieties of corn that have short growing seasons - 57-68 days - and that are tolerant of some cold. Seneca Arrowhead, Sugar Baby, Speedy Sweet and Frisky are just some of the varieties listed on these sites that meet these requirements.

Once you’ve picked the right corn it is important to take care in planting it. Be sure to start the seed in a good growing medium. Plant twice as deep as the width of the seed. If you like you can start the seeds indoors but don’t start it too soon. Corn likes warm soil so putting it outside before the last frost would not be advisable. There should be information on the seed pack about how many weeks before the last frost to start the seed indoors.

Corn is wind pollinated so when the plants are planted outside it is important that the plants be close to one another to allow successful pollination. It is a good idea to plant a block of several rows with the plants no more than 6 inches apart.

Fertilization is also important. Bottom feeding is the best and the recommended fertilizer is a 20-20-20 liquid fertilizer. It should be feed with this once every two weeks.

So, there you have it - some tips on being successful at growing corn. Give it a try and let us know what happens. If you want to learn more about the gardening possibilities in our area be sure to come out to a Green Thumbs and Greenhorns Garden Club meeting. The next meeting will be held at Camp Mettabesic on Sunday, May 22 at 2:30. For further information call Jim at 673-3213.

Remember, as Sir Winston Churchill said, “Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.” or as the old saying goes, if at first you don’t succeed, try try again.