|
Post by Drahkk on May 8, 2012 20:09:12 GMT -5
I came home today to find my corn A) beginning to tassel, and B) knocked over by the blustery little squall we had this afternoon. My nice neat rows now look like someone dumped out a box of toothpicks. It happens every time I try to grow corn, because I don't have a field big enough for the plants to create their own windbreak. I have a 4x24 block, just barely big enough to expect to save seed from. I usually leave the corn to my brother in law for just that reason, but I'm trying to build up seed to get enough for him to plant a big area.
Thus far I've refused to stake corn, as it just seems exceedingly silly. But tassels below silks isn't going to work. Anyone have a bright idea?
|
|
|
Post by Joseph Lofthouse on May 8, 2012 21:08:56 GMT -5
Thus far I've refused to stake corn, as it just seems exceedingly silly. But tassels below silks isn't going to work. Anyone have a bright idea? My corn generally stands itself back up in a couple days.
|
|
|
Post by littleminnie on May 8, 2012 21:19:01 GMT -5
What about hilling it up a little and perhaps starting it later might help. Storms can come any time in summer true, but often the worst winds are in the change of season. You have plenty of time to grow a crop later in summer. Another idea would be to use a grid of netting but somehow make it rise with the corn. www.johnnyseeds.com/p-5990-hortonova-9fa-4-x-328.aspx
|
|
|
Post by steev on May 8, 2012 22:07:52 GMT -5
You could put welded fencing or hog panels on stakes, for support. I would plant in trenches and hill up.
|
|
|
Post by raymondo on May 8, 2012 22:24:11 GMT -5
A few garden stakes, some strong twine, and fence it in. Run the twine round the block of corn once or twice.
|
|
|
Post by Drahkk on May 8, 2012 23:50:35 GMT -5
Joseph, since it is an F3 sample of your Paradise sweet that I'm growing, that makes me optimistic. It has already righted itself from a couple of minor storms; it just wasn't this tall or knocked around quite this bad before.
Littleminnie, I've never planted before April 1 before, but a number of things conspired to make me plant extra early this year. First, being as it is Joseph's seed, I figured that it would be a bit more cold tolerant than the average sweet, and that my full summer heat might be too much. Second, our early spring this year was incredibly warm and mild. I planted on March 16, and at that point we had already had a couple of weeks with lows around 60 and highs around 80. February only averaged about 10-15 degrees below that, and January another 15 degrees lower. Mostly it was just spring fever. I caught the planting bug early thanks to the mild weather and ended up putting a lot of things in before I usually do. The rule here is to plant your summer garden after Good Friday. I had everything but my tomatoes and sweet potatoes in the ground by mid March.
I like that mesh from Johnny's, just not the price. I might be able to rig something similar stretched between some t-posts. I had considered mounting a piece of wire fencing horizontally for them to grow through. They got away from me, though. I've been really busy at work, and these past two weeks have averaged 88/68, with several 90s mixed in, which made the corn shoot up; it's above the tops of my posts in some places now, so that's no longer possible this crop.
Steev, I like the trench and hill plan! It's definitely easier than some of the crazy things I've tried. In 2009 I actually planted at the bottom of wells created with 100 foam coffee cups with the bottoms cut out. It helped somewhat, but definitely not enough to be worth doing again. If I take a couple of the plates off I can probably even get the Mantis to do the trenching for me.
Raymondo, that's probably what I'll end up doing for this crop, if it doesn't right itself in a day or two.
Thanks, all!
Mike
|
|
|
Post by johninfla on May 9, 2012 6:56:51 GMT -5
Hi Mike,
I often have the same problem with my morado. Especially when it gets tall. I planted it in a new garden spot this year with lower fertility and fewer sprinklers so it's shorter this year and Ihave had fewer problems with lodging.
What I have done in the past (with a smaller planting) is to set the plants upright, hilling sand around them and hoping for the best. Many times the plants have gone on to produce corn. Sometimes they even produce when knocked down.
I still hate it when that happens!!
John
|
|
|
Post by mnjrutherford on May 9, 2012 12:23:13 GMT -5
I would have told you exactly what everyone else told ya!
|
|
|
Post by richardw on May 9, 2012 14:31:49 GMT -5
Ive started planting Hollies down the one side of the two areas where my corn is grown,Holly plants seem to handle wind really well,not only great for the local bee population but add the first line of defence on the up wind side, so the plan now is to plant down the other upwind side of these 3 meter wide bed,i swoop growing corn every other year between these two 30 meter long beds along with Broad beans and oats between crops.
|
|
|
Post by richardw on May 9, 2012 14:33:35 GMT -5
A few garden stakes, some strong twine, and fence it in. Run the twine round the block of corn once or twice. I used to do this also Ray and it works Ok too.
|
|
|
Post by blueadzuki on May 9, 2012 14:52:48 GMT -5
Hi Mike, I often have the same problem with my morado. Especially when it gets tall. I planted it in a new garden spot this year with lower fertility and fewer sprinklers so it's shorter this year and Ihave had fewer problems with lodging. John Yes, the South American tall Corns do have some nasty lodging problems. With regards to the last time I planted Andean corn, I actually do not know what height it gets for me, since most of it lodged as soon as it left the ground and then started turning up after running along the ground (which itself proved a problem, as the turn was so abrupt that, when a heavy rain actually showed up, a lot of stalks broke off at the bend). If stretched out, the tallest one might have been 10 feet easy, but none of the tops actually was even up to my waist (I'm about 6' 4") I've only got 2 surviving corn plants this year, so I supposed staking them is the sensible choice, if they ever get that far (they're about 3-4" now and havent put on much addional hight in the last month or two. Theyre actually being dwarfed by the soybeans, and bear in mind that I grow running/pole soy (which either starts climbing or running when it hits 6 inches).
|
|
|
Post by 12540dumont on May 9, 2012 18:54:39 GMT -5
My neighbor lady has just a wee patch of corn. Before they come up, she lays tomato cages down on the patch. The big round ones you make with foundation wire. Like the ones in the photo and it keeps her corn from lodging. I really think that hoeing them up is your best and cheapest alternative. My barley is lodging...it's those darn heavy grains. When I did the tall posole corn, I planted it downwind from the grapes...that worked. Hollies, who would have thought they made good windbreaks. Do they take the heat? I got one as a gift once...darn sheep ate it. Attachments:
|
|
|
Post by Drahkk on May 9, 2012 20:01:44 GMT -5
Holly, I wish I'd thought of tomato cages. I've got ten of them gathering dust in the shed because I didn't plant peppers this year. (Well, not intentionally. Got a lot of unidentified volunteers...) If I'd laid them across the corn early it might have been all the support they needed.
|
|
|
Post by steev on May 9, 2012 22:13:04 GMT -5
My Plan B, when I don't get to hilling up my corn when I should (never have, yet), is to dump compost or manure around them. It's a two-fer, since I always want to up-humus my soil, anyway. Corn pretty much likes any depth of goodies it can get. Pile it on enough, the corn doesn't blow over.
|
|
|
Post by richardw on May 10, 2012 0:36:30 GMT -5
Hollies, who would have thought they made good windbreaks. Do they take the heat? I got one as a gift once...darn sheep ate it. I didnt plant them initially as wind breaks,for the bumblebees mainly,it soon became apparent how well they were handling the wind, can they take the heat?? dont know how they would handle the heat that they can get over the ditch in Australia but here during the past summer it didn't get any warmer than 36C and they were fine.
|
|