Growing Corn
To grow corn successfully, focus on proven
production practices such as timely planting, high-yielding hybrids and
appropriate seeding rates.
A major consideration is planting date. Consult your local extension
agent or master gardeners or the optimum date for your area.
If soil conditions are dry, growers can begin planting slightly before
the optimum date, but avoid early planting on poorly drained soils or
those prone to ponding. Yield reductions resulting from 'mudding the
seed in' may be much greater than those resulting from a slight
planting delay.
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Extend your corn harvest
by planting successive crops when the previous crop's plants have three
to four leaves. Or plant early-, mid- and late-maturing varieties all
at the same time.
To make sure your sweet corn gets pollinated, plant several rows
together in a block, rather than one long row. Side-dress with 3
tablespoons of 10-10-10 per 10 feet of row when the corn is 12 to 18
inches high.
Keep corn well watered, especially from tasseling time to picking. Hill
corn plants by pushing a few inches of soil up around the base of the
plants when you fertilize them. This will help the corn to stand up,
but take care not to disturb the roots or remove suckers.
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Other tips for successful corn production:
•
Plant hybrids of different maturities to reduce damage from diseases
and environmental stress, and spread out harvest time and workload.
• Plant full season hybrids first, then alternately plant mid- and early-season hybrids.
•
Adjust seeding depth according to soil conditions. Plant 1 1/2 to 2
inches deep. Monitor periodically during planting operation.
•
Adjust seeding rates on a field-by-field basis. On productive soils,
which average 175 bushels per acre or more, final stands of 30,000 to
32,000 plants/acre may be required to maximize yields.
• Make
sure the planter is in good working order. Inspect and adjust the
planter to improve stand establishment. Slow down to optimize seed
placement. Uneven emergence affects crop performance because of
competition from larger, early emerging plants.
• Avoid unnecessary phosphorous and potassium application. Utilize soil testing to guide decisions.
•
Perform tillage operations only when necessary and under proper soil
conditions. Deep tillage should only be performed when a compacted zone
is detected and soil conditions are dry (usually late summer).
•
Take advantage of crop rotation. Corn grown after soybeans will
typically yield 10 percent to 15 percent more than corn grown after
corn.
• Determine harvest dates by crop maturity, not the
calendar. Harvest loss increases 1 percent to 2 percent for each week
of harvest delay. The ideal grain moisture for harvest is 25 percent.
Source: Peter Thomison, Ohio State University Extension agronomist.
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Keeping
Hearth and Home in Old Colorado
A Practical Primer for Daily
Living
Drawing from Colorado's
newspapers, books and magaziness of the 19th century, Carol Padgett has
compiled a hope chest full of tips, recipes, advice and instructions
for
the gardener and homemaker. While many of the maxims and counsels are
quaintly
old-fashioned, much of the practical guidance is timeless and practical
for today's readers.
Weeds of
the Northeast
Garden Knee Pads
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