Taking Your Gardening Advice

Tips, Tricks

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Visit http://www.jandjacres.net for more hobby farm activities. Subscribe: http://www.youtube.com/subscription_center?add_user=Jandjacres FREE eBOOK (Your Dream Homestead: Where to Start): http://www.jandjacres.net/your-dream-homesteadhttp://www.jandjacres.net/your-dream-homestead Last Corn Container Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rE8ckXtXClk&index=15&list=PLj2RMfvPdG7vOedmPPtIZl0xibYSLQjMU Today I show that I really do read comments and take some of your gardening advice! Corn Container time! The advice I'm taking is to thin out the corn even more than I originally had. We started off with what amounted to a lawn of corn in our container. I removed perhaps 2/3 or so of the corn and yet still had a very thick planting. Now I have thinned it down to 13 stalks. 13 stalks of corn is still more than a few of you suggested, but it's a whole lot less than was in there before, so maybe we can work on this compromise!

Comments

That is so funny... I can hardly stand to kill a baby plant. lolol

Corn will tassel in a certain number of days no matter what.So look to see how long they have been planted and see how long it is till they tassel.From the looks of it the corn is suffering bad from a lack of nitrogen based on its color.It could be the camera angle to the sun but it dosent look real dark green like it should.My field corn is planted 12 in apart as a minimum.I have better results that way with mine.Im still curious how it turns out with the beans.

Looks great. You can always pare down later if they get too crowded; they will get much bigger and much fuller, but those beans will help keep them in nitrogen. Experiment and learn. You are doing well.

you know I was considering planting corn because we have a little issue at my mom's house which is the only place I could grow the corn. I might still try it I just got to find a short season corn to grow even though California has really hot summers day spring season has been very slow to warm up here. it'll be very interesting to see how your corn grow up goes good luck. :-)

I recon 6" is fine Jared and the plants look great and with feeding they will be ok.

I would say feed them like you said with both fertilizers and the beans will really help with putting that needed nitrogen into the soil too.

No need to take out more as you feeding them .Will need to tie some twine around them when they get between 2 and 3 feet so they do not blow over. Never as strong in pot as in the ground.

Jared, I have no idea how these plants will do, depends a lot on the variety as well. I'm 75 percent confident, that 13 plants in this container will likely not fare well, I.e. minimal end product. Heck, if it does, I'm getting a lot of containers for my corn next year!! All that corn will taste good with the crow I will be eating from this comment.

What is your end goal goal? I have to admit I would have never thought to do this, but now I'm going to try. I'm suspicious that with all of the extra care involved in feedings, yes, it may not be worth it.

Regardless if what happens, what a great thought experiment challenging what we think we know. I'm sure the is no data out there about growing 13 stalks of corn in a container, you'll be the first!

Thanks again for sharing this.
Dave

I always just HATE thinning! Makes me feel so heartless...lol. I know it's necessary, but I still just hate it. Your corn is looking pretty good there. Corn, as you know, is a huge nutrient hog.

Have you considered transplanting some of them (as opposed to disposing of them)?

You have so much space why don't you just make a garden bed? If you make it tall enough you don't even have to bend down or crouch to tend it?

Corn gets really big- the height of a person or more, thick stalks, big leaves... not sure about how big they get in a container but certainly get big when grown in the ground. I'd probably only have 4 plants in there myself- even 6 seems like pushing it, and 13 seems like far too many still.

I tried three sisters in a medium sized bed a few seasons ago. It was a complete FAIL. I had a one foot space between each maize plant, four rows of ten.... 40 maize plants. The beans I put in at the same time grew too fast and started to strangle and bend the maize, so I had to prune them right back to release the maize which caused a delayed season with them and in the end harvested only 10% of what they should have produced . The maize became stunted because of the damage the beans did to them. The squash started growing well enough but because it was not getting enough sun (because of the maize) I got too much fungus on the leaves. I had to remove lots of leaves and successfully treated the rest with milk, but because of the loss of too much leaf many died and I got only a 10% harvest from them. As the squash leaves were removed the weeds took over at the speed of light. Hard to get to them in the middle rows. The maize couldn't really catch up after the corn stunted them and the harvest was dismal.

I will try it again sometime but I will not plant beans till the maize are one foot high, and I will not plant maize till the squash have their first flowers. It's a real mistake throwing them all in the plot at the same time. I wasted a whole season. Next time will be squash first and waiting on the first flowering of them, then evenly spaced maize and waiting for them to reach a foot high, then the beans go in at the base of each maize plant. I will use straw or hay for weed control too. If all that doesn't work I may never try it again.

I feel the same way, if its growing I like to let them live.

I hate to pull up and thin plants too. Feels like it's a waste of food, but I know too, it's better for them.

Bend them outward. Break the structure but not the outside. They'll till grow but will get light & air inside.

I'm like you. I want people to chat all about my vids and things that I grow. I welcome it because I love the community almost as much as producing the vids. I experiment a bunch. So, having fun, 'cause whoever says they know it all is full of it, I've had a few bouts of corn experimentation in containers.

I grew 18 of the variety Vision (sweet) in an 18-gallon tote in the summer. They did much better than expected in the greenhouse despite being neglected. Had some pollination issues, but they tasted fantastic in hydro self-wicking. It spurred me to do more. I tried growing Vision in the winter months in a heated portion of the greenhouse. Not good. Pollen wouldn't hardly drop. Now, I'm growing 4 in a 12" diameter pot. They are doing great from what I can tell. I'd say they're about 5' tall. I think it's key to provide all the nutrient/water they want in warm weather with lots of sun. However, for now, I've I've yet to have full cobs in the greenhouse. I know that 5 and maybe even 6 would likely grow. I'll video the corn as it matures.

All said, I "feel" like 13 is about max in that pot, but if you keep water/nutrients at 'em, the should be fine. Maybe 1 cob vs 2 is all. Looking forward to the grow brother.
Brent

No advice but I didn't realize you could grow corn in a container.

Better than taking advice off the internet and applying to your life because the internet said so, do it your way and learn what works. Do keep all 13, if they do half as well as 6 might have THEN YOU KNOW BECAUSE OF EXPERIENCE. That's what I do. I go through life skirting the edge of disaster as a learning experiment. Good luck. And do keep asking for advice.