Similar to germinating potatoes, corn is also a tuberous root crop. If you are familiar with tuberous roots, this is exactly what you’re going for. The difference is that when you plan on growing corn, you need to actually test the soil to determine how well it’s going to facilitate the growth of the corn.
The process of having the corn actually germinate is really quite simple. You’ll only need to soak a couple of inches of the soil below the plant area for seven consecutive days. During this process, you need to bury the ” kernels” of corn a good 10-12 inches deep into the soil.
You simply need to wait about 4-6 weeks for the corn to actually germinate. If you happen to plant sweet corn, you can simply use a fertilizer that has a higher yield during this time period.
The Best Soil for Growing Corn
The ideal soil to grow corn is rich with a good amount of nitrogen. Look for an area that is exposed to lots of sunlight. As long as you continue to improve the soil with ample amounts of water and nutrients, you’ll be able to grow plump, juicy corn.
TheCorn Planting Process
There are a few different ways on how to plant corn, but what’s important to remember is that the plants must be planted on a mound. You can find a great deal of information on planting your corn at your local nursery or even through online information.
One of the most common approaches to planting is to establish a mound of soil, add some beans and staple plants and water. This is a very effective method as long as the soil around the beans is not prone to freezing. As soon as you’re ready to plant the seeds, begin to surround the hemp plants with the healthy germinating corn stalks.
Begin to space the plants in a north to south fashion. This lays out the corn plants properly. You’ll want to bury nearly all of the attained cockerels and then water the plants to help them grow.
This may sound like a lot of process to do, but really the only thing that excessive time consuming is doing is setting up the perfect corn flower garden. You could literally spend weeks nurturing different crops and finishing them off with flower beds.
The pests that may pose a threat to your growing corn concern is birds. Some birds seem to enjoy munching on the silk ears, so you may have to put up with this small unwanted pest. One way to prevent birds from eating the beans is to put bird netting over the plants.
Use caution when planting different seeds in the same soil. Although corn is drought resistant, it does not grow well in moist soil. When you see the stalks starting to grow, remove the add-on stems and then plant another crop. This is necessary so that the stalk does not get damaged.
The corn earworm I planted recently has gotten quite large. Personally, I would much rather see it get smaller, but perhaps I’m getting old age wrong. I removed the stalk and hanged them in your garden to give way to the corn plant’s rigidly upright spires. If you decide to remove the corn earwigs at a later date andsolve a couple of issues, be sure to leave the corn plant with partially developed leaves.
I know it’s a pain, but corn is one of those vegetables that will only yield so much output. The bad news is that they’ll stop producing when the summer hits, which is a bummer since there’s still a lot of months for them to produce. If you need to get a head start with corn before it gets too hot, try covering the ears of corn with straw.
This works to keep moisture in the soil and the weeds to a minimum. straw is nice, but probably wouldn’t last through another planting season. Be sure to apply mulch. It will help to retain moisture and moderate soil temperature. Try not to use hay or straw as mulch as it breaks down quickly and can pass into the soil without much regard for the plants.
Some weeds will grow for you no matter what. Foxglove and wild cucumber to name a couple. Simply block them at the base and away from the rest of the plant.
Fence it off? That could be the easier option. I guess I’ll have to get a dog to keep me out of the garden next time.
This was a relatively easy garden. It’s not every gardener’s dream and not every gardener has everything someone might want. But it’s the only way to garden for me.
