I tried growing a bunch of corn plants this year and ultimately this is a much lower yield than I had been hoping for. I had persistent issues with birds shredding the ears, which would lead to bug/mold issues. I read that it helps to cover the corn ears with a leaf of corn wrapped around, so I did that, and will be trying to get better bean survival next year because apparently that helps discourage birds.
My general grow style was a grid of corn, separated by a foot around each, with beans six inches between them. The beans were easy targets for rabbits due to my poor fencing and the fact that my squash plants took off very slow (rabbits and other small mammals don’t like walking through squash vines).
When I grow corn next year I’ll do mounds, and be sure to plant beans and squash at possibly sooner intervals. Anyone else try corn this year?
by bekrueger
3 Comments
John redcorns red corn.
Last year raccoons took out my whole crop, but this year I made out ok. I grew two types for flour and they did quite well. I luckily don’t have issues with birds but I have developed a corn leaf aphid problem over the past few years. They don’t seem to bother the ears but the husks are full of bugs. On the positive side my corn was loaded with lady bugs.
I typically plant in blocks of 10’ or so, alternating sweet corn and flour corn, since they have much different maturity rates. This seems to mostly prevent any cross pollination.
I don’t have much luck with interplanting beans and squash. The corn blocks out most of the light from the middle of the blocks so those plants only do well on the edges.
I grew sweet corn, flint corn, and popcorn because I was unaware that you’re not supposed to grow them in the same area. I grew them in two beds, 55 feet each, as double rows. I didn’t have many issues, but I live in Colorado which is good corn country. I did have to use an electric fence for the raccoons though. Also think growing a lot helps with pollination. Here’s the popcorn:
https://preview.redd.it/rm4dk1jnbkrf1.jpeg?width=4284&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5a18f0d8a4c85c37f16515e3d753c0c9c2f37c14