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How We Plant Corn
 Sweet corn goes into the outdoor garden as seeds, not as transplants. We tried growing transplants, but it ended up being more work than it was worth. Corn is a hot weather plant and if you plant it too soon in cold wet weather, it can rot out, a soil temperature of at least 70 degrees F being ideal. Here is a neat trick: watch in your area when the farmers plant their corn, then plant yours. Farmers generally know best, so use their expertise. We plant our corn 16” apart, which is rather close, and you must plant several rows together, or in block areas, as they must pollinate each other. Never just plant one row of corn; plant at least two or three. We put 4 seeds in each hole, and thin these to 2 plants per hole. In most cases some of the seeds will not germinate, so you might only get 2 seeds per hole anyway.
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| Cut hole in plastic |
Dig hole
Mix fertilizer in hole
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Place seeds in hole
Cover with soil
Water
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Corn is a heavy feeder, requiring lots of nitrogen. We feed the corn with a liquid fertilizer when the stalks are about 12” tall. One of the problems with corn is the size of the roots. After the growing season ends, these roots can be difficult to pull out and dispose of. You cannot simply put them in the compost pile, as they will take a very long time to decompose. And if you put them into a grinder, you can dull the blades with all of the dirt embedded in the root system. Many people say that for a smaller garden it is not worth the effort to grow corn. This is perhaps true, but we do it just the same to see if we can do it and to better understand the difficulties that farmers face when growing this important crop.
Sweet corn is more difficult to grow than field corn (food for cattle and hogs), which is why it costs more. To plant, cut a round hole (not an ‘X’) in the plastic, dig out about 2” of dirt. Mix some fertilizer in the hole with the surrounding dirt and put about 4 seeds in the hole. Cover with dirt and give a good watering.
Robin’s father always planted Kandy Korn in his garden, so we have traditionally planted NK Kandy Korn Hybrid, normally during the last week of May, observing when the local farmers around us plant their corn. By the first week of July, the corn is normally almost 3’ high.
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