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Posted: Jul/25/2008 5:25 AM PST
We planted corn in the last week of May or 1st week of June. The farmer next door planted his corn a week before us and his is a normal height. He didn't water his, and I don't know if he's getting ears yet. But ours is half the height of his, and I saw an ear already. It's not much taller than my 2.5 year old. It's sweet corn, not a dwarf variety or anything. we watered it when it was super hot. Any idea what the heck is up with this corn? Our beans seem to be half the height we'd expect also, but the rest of the crops seem "normal". This is the 1st year we've gardened on this property. I'm thinking that perhaps dumping a pile of manure on the garden in the fall and tilling it in in the spring before planting, might be a good idea. But I don't know if it's a fertilizer issue. We planted 500 seeds in 3 rows. So funny seing daughter standing at the same height or not much shorter than corn! |
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Posted: Jul/25/2008 4:45 PM PST
There are so many different varieties of corn. It could be that his is a different variety than yours. |
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Posted: Jul/31/2008 7:50 PM PST
I talked with some local farmers. They are telling me that sweet corn doesn't grow very tall in this area no matter what variety you plant. But when I see tall corn in the area, then it's cow corn. Hmm and I thought the cows ate the same corn as teh rest of us. It's still odd seing ears of corn growing less than 6 inches off the ground, and stalks only 3 feet tall. |
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Posted: Aug/01/2008 2:45 AM PST
Manure in the fall would be a great idea to till into the ground. Nothing wrong with that. It is interesting that your corn is so short. My neighbor grows a type of sweet corn called Serendipity, but it certainly gets taller than your description. Yep, cow corn is much tougher than sweet corn. |
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Posted: Aug/02/2008 1:51 PM PST
Almost any garden vegetable will throw out fruit before it's time if the plant is stressed. Good advice from witt to add manure to the soil, as corn is a very heavy feeder and needs lots and lots of nitrogen. Your Upstate NY soil is not unlike our Southern Appalachian soil: it's loaded with minerals but they're bound up in clay. Corn needs loam or it's not happy. Unhappy corn is stressed corn. |
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Posted: Aug/03/2008 9:52 AM PST
That makes sense, Witt. In the town where I'm located the people on the hills don't have the clay soil. but those of us in the valley tend to have the clay soil and also the high radon levels. Not sure of our soil type but we are in the high radon zone. And stress would give a reason that the farmers are saying the corn just doesn't grow tall here. Ok we tilled the heck out of it this year. We'll have to manure and till the heck out of it the next few years then. thanks. |
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Posted: Aug/04/2008 7:24 AM PST
make that a part of your garden routine every fall and spring! Your garden will reward you with high yields  You can also do some crop rotation too- plant beans in the place where you normally plant your corn for a few years- they are nitrogen fixers and the subsequent corn crops will certainly benefit
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Posted: Aug/04/2008 8:32 AM PST
I might have to plant alot of beans for a few years then. lol I've been thinking about crop rotation. I planted teh corn on the end this year so it wouldn't shade everything else, but when it's 3 feet tall, I guess it creating shade is a mute point. lol most of my tomatoes are shorter than they used to typically grow at our old house, but the one's almost as tall as our corn. |
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Posted: Aug/04/2008 1:07 PM PST
LOL too funny Sounds to me like your soil needs major amending (my first veggie garden did really bad too for the same reason). I would start with lots of compost and manure in the fall. Add more of both in the spring before planting, making sure you get composted manure. It doesn't matter for fall because it will break down over the winter, but fresh manure is too hot for plants. Then I would mulch your veggies (and flower beds too) with grass clippings and shredded leaves. Make sure the grass wasn't treated with herbicides (and pesticides if your trying to go organic). I put about 4 inches worth down. It will be completely broken down into the soil about now (mine is) but adds lots of nutrients. I also mulch with shredded (if I take the time to anyway) leaves. The grass clippings and leaves really help to improve the soil over time, and they are free! Most of your neighbors will be thrilled to have you take it off their hands, or you can pick up bags of clippings and leaves (in the fall) from the curb. Whatever extra I don't use to mulch the gardens with goes into the compost heap. I found it best to put the clippings down over the leaves, keeps them from being blown away LOL! |
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Posted: Aug/05/2008 6:09 AM PST
We've been keeping the weeds down in the garden by tilling and adding grass clippings in between the rows. I"m curious as to how many leaves we'll have. We only have 2 trees with leaves but have 10-20 pine trees. I"m not looking forward to seing how many needles drop! lol I told my husband that a seperate compost pile for the needles to create a really acidic compost for the blueberry plants I want to plant would be good. So far he's resistant to "sorting" compost. lol We have a neighbor with chickens and horses, so I'm sure we can get almost unlimited manure. lol They say their compost stays hot enough that the snow melts off it. heheh |
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