How To Plant Corn
Tips On How to Plant Corn
It’s easy to learn how to plant corn, and not only will you get to enjoy fresh corn on the cob, but you can brag to everyone about how you grew it yourself. The first thing you should do if you want to learn how to plant corn correctly is to test your soil for acidity. Usually, you can get a test kit from your local county agricultural extension agent.
A soil test is important because in order to have a good corn harvest you will need to have plenty of nitrogen in your soil. Corn grows best in soil with a pH of 6.0 to 6.5. Corn easily depletes soil of nitrogen and other nutrients, so to have the best possible crop you will need to apply fertilizer. This is usually done when the soil is prepared, again when the plants reach six inches and eighteen inches respectively, and again in the fall.
The biggest mistake that people make when learning how to plant corn is that they plant too early and the corn doesn’t get a good growth start. You need to wait until the ground is very warm to plant corn. If the soil is too cold many of the seeds won’t germinate and those that do will have stunted growth. Temperatures need to be 60-75 degrees before you should plant corn, and if you are going to plant one of the newer sweeter hybrids, you will want it to be at least 70 degrees.
Best results come when you plant two to three varieties that are going to mature at different times--early, middle, and late. If you plant only one species of corn, stagger the plantings so that they do not all mature at the same time. You need to have several rows of one variety for good pollination. As a rule, you want to avoid cross-pollination because it can have negative effects on quality and quantity. You can avoid different varieties pollinating at the same time by staggering the planting. Corn is pollinated by the wind.
Another critical aspect of how to plant corn is how far apart you place your plants. Corn takes up a lot of room and if you place the plants too close together the growth will be stunted. The best thing to do is plant seeds around six inches apart and then thin them to two feet apart later. That’s just in case all of the seeds don’t germinate. That happens if there is too wet a spring or if birds discover the corn seeds before they become corn plants. A few birds can really mess up your rows. In fact, if you feed birds and have a lot around, you will probably want to plant your corn seeds three inches apart.
Sit down with a pencil and paper and plan out your corn plot before putting the seeds in the ground. That way you can figure out the length of the rows and how many seeds you will need to buy for planting. It is always better to get too many seeds than too few. Most of the time any leftover seeds can be used the following year.
Once you have tasted fresh, home-grown corn, you will be spoiled forever. Chances are you will grow your own every year because you will never want to go back to store-bought corn again.