5 Tips How to Grow a Ton of Sweetcorn in One Raised Garden Bed or Container

Warning, you may find the following video a little cheesy. Good morning, I am self-sufficient. I bring you another video on how to

grow

a ton. In this video I want to give you my top five

tips

on how to

grow

a ton of sweet corn, let's get right to the point, this corn growing in the bed behind me is our second crop in the same place, we already grew a ton of corn and then we use the seed to grow another crop just before winter arrives. Corn originated in Mexico, but you probably already knew that. However, there are many different types of corn or sometimes called corn, such as popcorn corn, flint-meal corn, and old-fashioned corn.

Many of these types of corn taste horrible in their normal form and are grown for all kinds of purposes, such as livestock feed, making popcorn, making flour, but the main type of corn that most of us are used to is to eat fresh and want to grow is the number one sweet corn tip, when to grow it, the reason I have made this a top tip is that corn will not do if grown outside of its comfort range. Corn grows best when days are consistently between 20 and 30 degrees Celsius or 68 and 86 degrees Fahrenheit. We live in a warm subtropical climate, so what I have done is experimented over the years trying to grow corn during our winter.

Look at how it was going and now I can tell you it was really bad. I have produced poor results, so the bottom line is that corn likes it hot, baby, so if you're going to grow. corn, no matter what climate you live in, grow it in the warmest time of the year, if you live in the tropics you can grow corn all year round, but I would plant it during the dry season for best results and for the rest Of us grow corn when the weather warms and allows 10 to 12 weeks of growing time during the hottest part of the year in cold climates, don't plant it too late for the ears to try to ripen when winter comes or too early for that the seedlings suffer the attempt. establish yourself in soil that is less than 10 degrees celsius or 50 degrees fahrenheit tip number two prepare the soil and fertilize a soil that is light draining and full of organic matter is what corn really loves because it warms up early after the winter and also allows the roots of the corn to get a good foothold and grow and stabilize the plant better, corn has a shallow root system and this is bad for two reasons: it makes the plant inherently unstable or easy to fall and b has difficulty in dry conditions when watered.

Also try to locate your corn plot in a protected position where possible from strong winds, otherwise your plants will have difficulty staying upright and pollination will not be as good. Now you can see that it is quite windy today and we often have big storms in the subtropics, so I placed my corn in the middle of our vegetable

garden

, it is surrounded by higher vegetable beds and also a vegetable

garden

on the other side, but still So sometimes we still have a hard time keeping our corn plants upright because of the strong winds, but that's part of growing corn unfortunately now we need to fertilize with corn.

I have found that fertilizing the soil several weeks or even months in advance and then bed resting it before planting or sowing produces better results than fertilizing at the time of planting, which is why I believe fertilizing early works with corn. This is because corn is a species of grass, and like grass, if you put a lot of nitrogen fertilizer on your own lawn, it will respond well and grow very lush and long, but you don't want the corn on it does grow very fast and thin and leggy because a it doesn't support itself and b it just doesn't grow those nice thick delicious ears that it should because it shoots up too quickly tip number three sowing I often sow seeds directly into the garden bed and also sew more than I normally expect or need in case pests get them like rodents, mice and rats will dig up the seed or they just won't sprout due to seed viability or whatever.

That way I can then thin the seedlings if necessary instead of Try to sew later, most people, especially in colder climates, so plant in

container

s first and then plant corn when conditions are right. This is an effective way to get started with corn and get superior results. Corn doesn't care at all about sowing it. First, place baskets and then plant them. That's actually a really good way to do it because then you can plant the corn a little deeper and that way it will grow extra roots and it will be a little safer in windproof soil like this block.

Compared to roe, you may have heard people say that they prefer to grow corn in blocks rather than rows because this helps with pollination. What happens is that the male flowers at the top of the stem shed wind-blown pollen onto the silk growing outside the stem. Cob containing female flowers growing in blocks gives this pollination process a better chance, so if you don't have enough room for a large block of corn and only have enough for a single row in your garden, that's okay, give it a try. . Another reason could be that you are growing in

container

s and that's fine too, corn grows well in containers and you may only be able to season those containers in a row, but if you later discover that the cobs, when you peel the husks, you find .

If the grains did not form correctly or did not develop well, it is probably because it has not been pollinated correctly. The best spacing for corn is about 30 centimeters or a foot apart, don't bother trying to grow corn too close together because they all rub together with light nutrients and water and you get smaller plants and, so smaller ears of corn so yeah I've tried it so you don't have to and the last point of planting is to plant in succession now if you want. to a succession plant where corn is grown a few weeks apart so it doesn't mature all at once and you have a huge excess of produce, but then you can harvest as the plants mature, that's fine as long as you're in a area with a long growing season that you can stagger without the corn going into winter and also when you are planting those successive crops of corn, make sure you plant them on the side that gets more sun and they won't get shade. out for those big, long, tall plants that have already started to grow and are way ahead growing tip number four always grow more corn than you need because even if everything develops and you end up with an excess you can always keep it or give it away.

Family and friends will love them for watering, as I said before, corn has a shallow root system so making sure it has regular water and is not stressed is vital to producing good ears and avoiding early ripening which causes damage to underdeveloped fruits. of pests and diseases, one little insect in particular is the fall armyworm caterpillar that bores from the top of the ear, through the silk, and what it then does is it rots from the top because it obviously starts to rot. feed on the kernels, so keep an eye out for Simply look and see if there is frass around the top of the silk and if so, harvest that cob early or kill it organically by crushing it, maybe a little protherm if you like, but I tend to just harvest the cut cob.

It's bad and you know, because I find it early and then we can eat a nice corn pup, that's no problem, but if you leave it too late, that type of pest can really cause a lot of damage to the whole ear. Look here and probably because I'm growing it late in the season, this corn has a little rust on it now, that's fine as long as it doesn't get out of control and kill the plants, but often you'll see a little rust on the corn leaves. I would tend to let it run organically and let the corn fight through it and then get the late harvest.

Usually these types of diseases come from growing corn, you know, near the end of the season and it pushes the boundaries a little bit, if you grow corn at the right time and give it the right fertilizer, the excellent growing medium, you will discover that you will have many fewer pests and diseases in your crop, which guarantees that the birds will also be able to protect themselves. a little problem in some areas of our crop, one or two ears may be damaged or eaten by birds or crows, that's not enough to make me want to try to harvest our entire crop and frankly that's why I grow a ton so that when we lose some or some they don't grow at all it's not a big deal if you are going to fertilize extra or give it a boost during the season only do it if the plants look pale green and dull otherwise leave them because insufficient fertilization It is better than excessive fertilization for the corn crop.

Tip number five. Sometimes it can be quite difficult to know when the corn is ready. The best way to tell is to first check if the silk has browned as soon as you see it. This sign tests an ear by removing some of the husk on the top to reveal the kernels. They should be swollen and plump. If you are still unsure of ripeness, break one or two of the kernels with a fingernail and if the juice is a milky color, they are ready. to harvest, if the juice is clear they are not ripe yet, if you are going to eat the corn fresh I would recommend that you only harvest the amount you need at a time and leave the other ears on the plants as long as this is only for a period two weeks because if you leave the cobs on the plants for too long, they will begin to become starchier and less flavorful.

Corn will eventually dry out on the plants as well and it can be good to experiment with this if you want to save excess corn to make your own cornmeal even if it is the wrong variety of corn or a raw polenta which I have made quite successfully from of sweet corn or even as good quality feed for animals such as chickens and ducks if you intend to save your own seed, try heirloom varieties and after harvesting, use the leftover stalks as mulch in the garden bed because they will decompose and they will form wonderful, enriched soil for another crop of corn or some other crop, well, that's all. were my top five

tips

on how to grow a ton of corn, when to grow, prepare the soil, plant, grow and harvest, do all those things right and you'll grow a ton of corn, as far as I can see, that wasn't so cheesy after all.

If you liked the video, give it a big thumbs up and don't forget to subscribe if you haven't already and share the video too, that helps a lot, another thing is my patreon, go there and support me on patreon, you will find different ones. levels where with your support you will have access to different things or additional content like my podcast and other information separate from this YouTube channel if you have any questions or have some additional tips for growing corn. I'd love to see you take them down in the comments section below. Thank you very much for watching, bye for now.