short corn

[Joe]

happy spring everyone, every year i attempt at growing corn here in florida, but it never fails that i have some issue with it. the most common one has been midget corn stalks. i may just be ignorant and impatient but it just seems WAY to early for my 4 foot stalks to be attempting to shoot up the flowers already. i haven't over fertilized (blood meal, bone meal and a little 10-10-10 here and there) that i know of. do any of you know of a reason why i am getting this "issue"? i may be just ignorant to the behavior of corn but it just doesn't seem right to me.

thanks!

[Katra]

I have the same problem here... I suspect it is a soil issue. We are going to try tilling in more sand this year and see if that helps.

[farmerdill]

happy spring everyone, every year i attempt at growing corn here in florida, but it never fails that i have some issue with it. the most common one has been midget corn stalks. i may just be ignorant and impatient but it just seems WAY to early for my 4 foot stalks to be attempting to shoot up the flowers already. i haven't over fertilized (blood meal, bone meal and a little 10-10-10 here and there) that i know of. do any of you know of a reason why i am getting this "issue"? i may be just ignorant to the behavior of corn but it just doesn't seem right to me.

What cultivar are you planting. There are a lot of sweet corn cultivars that are 4 ft at Maturity. Even largers ones like Silver Queen will start the shooting and tasseling process at 4 -5 ft. Corn is a grass and needs more nitrogen than most vegetables, so if the stalks seem yellowish side drees with a high nitogen fertilizer like chicken manure or 10-10-10.

[Joe]

I planted Silver Queen, so that helps some, thank you very much!!

I prepped the bed with tons of chicken manure before planting and use blood meal as my nitrogen boost

Thank you VERY much for the info!!!

[Joe]

also, the leaves are VERY green, so i don't think nitrogen is the issue...thanks again!