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Post by homegrower on Oct 12, 2012 11:42:58 GMT -5
I'm wondering what are some of the best tasting relatively early sweet corn varieties out there?
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Post by Joseph Lofthouse on Oct 12, 2012 12:05:54 GMT -5
I'm wondering what are some of the best tasting relatively early sweet corn varieties out there? How is your corn tasting vocabulary? What are you looking for in a sweet corn? Texture of kernels? Sugar levels? Anthocyanin flavors? carotene flavors? Other flavors? Same old boring yellow that you can get at any grocery store, or something in which every cob tastes different? I find synergistic, Xtra, and sh2 to be barely edible. Yellow sugary enhanced corns are OK, but boring. Astronomy Domine is a fabulous corn for getting a variety of tastes, textures, and colors. Definitely not a boring corn!!! LISP Ashworth is the earliest corn that I grow. Around here, Ambrosia is by far the most popular sweet corn. Almost has to be sown as treated seed though because otherwise germination can be poor.
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Post by homegrower on Oct 12, 2012 12:31:08 GMT -5
My corn tasting vocabulary is virtually non existent i'm afraid...Astronomy Domine, LISP Ashworth & Ambrosia are probably much better than anything i've tasted before .. Your Paradise Sweet Corn sure looks appetizing
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Post by johninfla on Oct 12, 2012 13:25:42 GMT -5
My experience is limited, and I'm biased toward SWEET corn......prior to this year I'd have said Silver Queen is the best.....now I really like my Hawaiian Supersweet #9........
John
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Post by DarJones on Oct 12, 2012 14:20:50 GMT -5
There are 3 variants of sweet corn available plus hybrids that combine 3 or more of the traits.
su - This is the oldest type on the market. Golden Bantam, Silver Queen, and Merit are some examples of varieties that have been developed over the years. Golden Bantam is an open pollinated variety, the other 2 are hybrids.
se - This starts with the su gene and adds another gene that boosts sugar levels to about double what you get with su alone. There are no commercially available open pollinated se varieties. Some good se corns include Breeders Choice (was Mesa Maize, now Harris), Silver King (Seminis), and an abundance of other similar hybrids. They are commonly listed as "se+" corn.
su/se cross - this is an F1 with a standard su corn crossed with a se. The corn self-pollinates with a 1:2:1 ration of 1 - su/su kernel, 2 - su/se kernels, and 1 - se+ kernel. This increases sweetness by about 30 or 40 percent above standard su corn. Many people prefer this type hybrid because it has the flavor found only in su corn but adds the sweetness of se.
sh2 - this is a different gene entirely which interrupts the starch conversion process much earlier. I personally can't stand corn with this gene, but many people like the high level of sweetness. There is serious genetic drag from using this gene which causes germination difficulty. The various ways to overcome it include incorporation highly vigorous breeding lines and combining one or more of the other sweet corn genes.
Synergistic - This combines 2 or more of the above genes usually starting with an sh2 line and adding in either su or se or both. Synergistics can be incredibly sweet but in my opinion are utterly bland.
There are a few other genes such as du that are often included in sweet corn breeding. If you want to read about some of them, there are a few threads here that would be helpful.
DarJones
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Post by 12540dumont on Oct 12, 2012 16:14:16 GMT -5
But Dar, what do you like? For my customers I plant Kandy Korn, Sugar & Pearl, or Luscious. I believe all of these are SE. All of them hold well in the field, which is a top priority for me. I sometimes have a week between when the corn is ready and when I can deliver. I wish Joseph would send me his AD corn. And Dar would send me his flour corn and then I could go back to work.
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Post by homegrower on Oct 12, 2012 16:37:32 GMT -5
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Post by nathan125 on Oct 12, 2012 19:00:24 GMT -5
i had great results this year with kandy king, it's an early version of kandy korn. still gives ya red stalks, same ear length, better yield and early.
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Post by DarJones on Oct 13, 2012 21:35:57 GMT -5
Most anything bred by Mesa Maize is pretty good. Breeders Choice sold by Burpee is very good. Silver King has excellent flavor. While I don't grow it for myself, many gardeners in this area love Merit.
If you go looking for mesa maize, you will find that Harris Moran bought it about 2 years ago.
DarJones
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Post by RpR on Oct 13, 2012 23:31:31 GMT -5
Country Gentleman and Precocious are two types than I have never regretted growing as far as taste and texture.
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Post by homegrower on Oct 16, 2012 7:05:42 GMT -5
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Post by RpR on Oct 16, 2012 10:57:58 GMT -5
The good thing is, kinda-sorta, these genetically modified types are not available to homeowners to grow but I may have bought my last corn from road side stand.
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Post by homegrower on Oct 16, 2012 17:57:56 GMT -5
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Post by RpR on Oct 16, 2012 20:19:31 GMT -5
Not the one in the link above thank God.
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Post by homegrower on Oct 17, 2012 3:37:48 GMT -5
I sure hope they're not bred in the same laboratory.
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