first garden, corn question

[Lucy]

Hi everyone, lurked a bit here, since we did our first garden this year. (Dallas, TX), and i saw some small ants on the ground near one of the stalks of corn, lil tiny ones.. will they eat the corn? I hope that isn't a stupid question.. We only have five stalks of corn, three tomato plants, and some cantaloupe that is looking good so far, and watermelon that isn't doing so great.. right after we planted that, it rained hard a couple days and I suspect the seeds got water logged. It's just the two of us, and we decided to do a small one the first time, and see how things go.. we planted more than 5 tho, we planted two rows, of corn, 10x10 bed Appreciate any help on the corn question.. love the group lucy :)

[Puckdropper]

"Lucy" wrote in news:AvEtg.64767$ [e-mail]:

Watermelon likes water. It also likes sunlight. Give it plenty of water and plenty of sunlight, and you'll have plenty of watermelon. I need to clear out the weeds around mine (vacation let them grow up, and it rained pretty good the last few days) so they'll be happy.

When that watermelon starts to branch out, good luck finding room for it. It's been known to have vines as long as 20 feet, and they extend from several directions from the seed.

Um, yeah, corn. Never grown it. Wonder if a local farmer would want to trade sweet corn for a few of my melons?

Puckdropper

[TQ]

Not to worry about the ants, although you might want to check your plants for aphids. Ants **loves** that aphid honeydew.

Five stalks t'ain't many, so you might could tap the stalks lightly when the green silk is a few inches long. Best done first thing in the monring before the slightest wind comes up. Tapping the stalks causes pollen from the tassles to fall on the silk and the pollenate the ears. Each pollenated strand of silk will turn into a kernel of corn.

Once the silk appears, the corn will be ready to pick in ~21 days. At this point, make sure the plants get 1-2" water / wk to ensure plump ears. When the silk is mostly brown, it/s time to pick.

[Lucy]

TQ, thank you SO much! I know it's not much, but we planted two rows, dunno what happened. Thanks again, I'm learning so much here.. lucy :)

[TQ]

Might have planted too deep or the ground was too wet.

Was your seed treated with fungicide? If so, it probably had pink dust in it. If not, it may have rotted.

[Sue]

A couple of years ago I lost an entire corn crop to ants. I had no idea how to get rid of them. They just swarmed all over the ears. It was gross. I've not grown any corn since. Now, my gentleman friend grows wonderful corn in his backyard. Sue

[AndyS]

hi Lucy,

I'm 70 miles south of you and did my first garden this year also.

I put out several varieties of tomato. The "Celebrity" bought from Home Depot as plants did VERY well. I am awash in tomatoes. The other types grew bushy but didn't give many tomatoes.

Cantalope are prolific. I am tired of eating cantalop, tho I love the things. I will eat the last dozen or so, and swear off till next spring. My neighbors are tired of me handing them out.. :>)))))

The only "greens" that did well were turnips. I tried spinach, turnips, collards, and cabbage....

Cucumbers were prolific also. They have stopped now, and I will miss them. Perhaps I'll go out this morning, clear off some vines, and stick in some seeds to try for a second crop. It might work... ?? Quien sabe??

Carrots are about two inches long and stopped. The are pretty to look at on top, but didn't do well below.....

I realize that the soil, minerals, etc could all be modified, but I find that my favorite things grow in the stuff I already have. I tried lots and lots of things to see what would do well..

This group has given me a lot of help. In the final analysis, tho, there is a fair amount of trial and error.... Maybe next year I'll try corn, too. It didn't occur to me this year... Good luck on you harvest.

Andy in Eureka, Texas

( If your neighbors resemble the cast on "My Name is Earl", you might live in Eureka, Texas )