Wind Damaged Your Corn? Get Creative!

So my dent corn has really taken off and I couldn't be more proud. It grows so fast that I can come home each day after work and there is always new growth for me to see:

This is my corn on September 3rd:

You can see my beans also starting in the background, they are huge now!

September 17th:

Knight/Scarecrow only tricked the birds for about 2 weeks

September 24th:

All this fast growth sounds great but there is a downside...

Most plants can be placed in either of two categories: Slow growing but vigorous(for example a Mango tree) or fast growing but fragile ( for example CORN!!!)

So when I got home yesterday I found my beautiful corn plants looking like this:

NOOOOOOoooooooOOOOOOOooOOOOO!!!  =(

Turns out we had a lot of rain and wind that day, The rain water collected on the corn plants makes them heavy. It only took a few minutes of a moderately strong wind to topple my beautiful plants.

But eventually I had to dry my manly tears and get to work!

I couldn't find much information online on protecting corn from wind. At least none that was useful to me. Since most corn is grown commercially the methods used by that industry don't really translate to my small backyard operation.

So I got creative:

Yes that is weed-eater line

A string tied from one fence to the opposite fence now holds my corn in place.

Notice that I have to rows of corn. Each row was fitted with two strings. One string to support the base of the plant and one to support the top portion:

In each row, the upper string travels behind the plants while the lower string runs through the front. This method gives the plants added stability.

I suppose support stakes could be used too. I didn't have any stakes that were tall enough so I went with my string method instead. If you do use stakes make sure to bury them on the ground early; corn doesn't respond well to root disturbance. 

The point is to be creative and use what we already have whenever possible.

I have some cool projects to show you very soon, but until then...

Keep on learning!

Planting Corn this Season? You Should Try Dent Corn

September is here and you still have time to start your corn plants.

I've noticed however that most folks in South Florida grow the sweet corn variety.

This post is my plead to get you to try dent corn, also known as field corn, or yellow dent corn.

But first I think it's important to give you a brief background:

While dent corn makes up about 90% of all the corn grown in the US, it is mostly used for animal feed. For this reason many people know the variety as "cow corn". It has many other uses, like making tortilla chips, or even making ethanol fuel.

Because of it's importance in animal feed production, this type of corn has been labeled as "animal corn", while sweet corn is dotted with "people corn".

That makes me mad. I actually prefer the taste of dent corn!

Dent corn also has more nutritional value that the sweet kind. Besides tasting great, each dent corn kernel is completely "meaty" and not filled with the sugary liquid like the sweet type. No more spraying the person in front of you with corn juice!

So how can you tell them apart? Well as the name implies dent corn has a dent in each kernel while sweet corn doesn't. I took a pic of both for comparison, you can see the dent corn on the left:

I  picked the biggest seed I could find from each pack, the dent corn kernel looks way more impressive!

On the pictures below you can see the difference in corn ears, notice how sweet corn is more pale:

Dent Corn

Sweet Corn

So now that you are convinced, how do you plant it? Easy!

Plant the kernels about 1" deep in good loose soil. Space them 8 to 12 inches part, and space each row 24 to 36 inches.

I usually put two kernels per hole to increase my odds. If any don't come up you cant always go back and replant.

Provide plenty of water for your corn. After all, corn is part of the grass family!

 In about 5-7 days your rows will pop up and your corn will grow very fast from there.

When the plants reach about 6 to 8 inches it is a good idea to mound some soil around the base of the plants to keep them from bending during strong winds.

When corn is planted in large fields the outer plants provide wind protection for the rest of the field. In small beds however it is a good idea to mound soil around their base for extra support.

Corn ears will be ready to harvest about 100 days from time of sowing.

Have you tried dent corn? Let me know what you think, 

 Keep on learning!