Corn - side stalks

I weeded my sweet corn yesterday. I've got six rows of Kandy Korn planted, and it's about knee-high. While I was at it, I removed the side stalks that branch off at ground level - some plants had one, some had two.

I grew the same variety last year without removing the side stalks. At harvest time those side stalks were almost as tall as the main stalk, but they had very few usable ears of corn on them. A few of the side stalks grew ears of corn, but those were stunted.

It seems to me that the main corn stalk will get more energy and maybe grow bigger ears with those side stalks removed. Is that right?

ozark,

I used to pull them off, but don't anymore. There is no clear advantage for removing them in most situations. One advantage of leaving them on is that they provide extra pollen for the slow growers. Usually these side shoot suckers do not ear up much.

Agree with Indy, as a kid I had to sucker corn. But in later years with better cultivars and growing conditions, I have found that it doesn't make enough difference to justify the labor.

Farmerdill - I thinned my Kandy Corn this year according to the comment you made about the variety in PlantFiles. The plants are 18" apart, and 42" between rows. It sure looks thin that way, but past years have shown that if I plant that variety closer I get a lot of stunted ears or stalks with no ears at all.

As thin as it's planted, I'm planning on walking the rows and shaking a bunch of pollen from the tassels onto the silks. I'm afraid it won't pollinate right otherwise.

We love the flavor of Kandy Corn, but do you know of another variety that's as sweet and can be planted closer? I'm just getting about half the corn for the area this way.

No, Most cultivars can be planted at much closer spacings IF You can apply copius amounts of nitrate and water. If you apply the nitrate without the water, the stalks turn blue and dry up. We had a farmer here growing silage, applied ammonia, but no irrigation, burned to a crisp when it did not rain. Just experiment to see whats right for you. 12-18 inche drill with 36 inch rows is the maximum plant density I can stand. but I am growing the traditional way. rain only. Even in the olden days when we check planted ( 42 X 42 inch) pollination was never a problem. By the way 42 inch rows became standard because of the width of a horse when we used horses or mules to cultivate.

ozark,
Ambrosia is a very scrumptious bi-color that I thin to about15 inches apart in the row and 28-30 inch apart rows.

I raised Kandy Korn back in the early '80s but between its long maturity time and its bad habit of getting blown nearly flat, I moved on to some other yellows and also bi-colors.

Bodacious (yellow), Ambrosia( bi-color), and Argent(white) are three popular Crookham hybrids. All grow decent, but I don't care much for any of them in either production or taste. I grow mostly whites as they are in demand here. Silver Princess, Silver King and Silver Queen are the best for me. I personaly like bi-colors and there are some good ones but Sugar Dots has been the best for me. I don't grow it, but Merit is about the only yellow grown in this area.

Ozark, I've grown Kandy Korn for years now, spacing around 12 inches within the row, rows about 36" wide ( wide enuff to run a Troybilt tiller down for quick easy cultivation). I've had excellent results.

And by the way, walking down the rows shaking the stalks to release pollen should only be done in the morning hours or late afternoon, otherwise you are simply knocking off the un-opened pollen "pods". If you continue to knock them off you're reducing the amount of pollen needed.

This pic may give you an idea of the spacing, size of stalks, and a bit of the harvest being wheeled out!

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