Corn plant with three ears growing

I've read somewhere that one ear of corn per plant is what is to be expected. I have found that corn loves alot of sun, likes a lot of heat, and really does well in direct sunlight and does not like any kind of shade.

What's the most ears of corn grown off of one plant (seed) ?

I've found that in direct sunlight, a seed planted two weeks after seeds planted in half-sun/half-shade will fruit earlier than the earlier planted seeds. Furthermore, I've found that seeds should be placed at least two feet from another seed. I am actually leaning towards three feet between the seeds but I'm reading that wind can damage the corn. 15mph winds seem to have an effect on under than one foot and corn of two feet is much stronger. And it gets stronger as it grows.

After the corn is harvested, can the stalk be expected to bear more corn ?

Reply to
Jim Carlock
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  1. Yes corn demands sunlight and one ear per stalk is average for many cultivars, There is a cultivar named "Six Shooter" which is famous for multiple ears but not much else. Many cultivars given adequate spacing will give two usable ears per stalk.
  1. Don't know the record but I'll bet its held by "Six Shooter".
  1. In the olden days field corn was check planted at 42 inches by 42 inches. Todays hybrids and copious fertization allows drill planting at 12 inch spacing in 42 inch rows. A lot depends on the cultivar and soil fertility and water.

No, corn is a one shot plant.

Reply to
FarmerDill

I live in Nebraska, corn capitol of the midwest. The farmers here plant each seed approximately 9 inches apart. Each stalk of corn appears to have

2 cobs. After the corn is harvested, the plant is done. It doesn't produce more corn.

With all the rain we've had this year, the fields look better than they have in many years. The farmers here will have a bumper crop. They deserve it, too. The last several years have not been so kind to them.

Brigitte

Reply to
Brigitte J.

To FarmerDill and Brigitte, Thanks! I was hoping that the stalk would be able to make more corn. :-(

Guess I'll have to leave one stalk up to see what happens over the course of time. :-)

Reply to
Jim Carlock

You can *harvest* the stalks and sell for decorative purposes in the fall.

Reply to
LFR

Something to consider... Square Foot gardening deals with this balance. While giving more ground space to each plant might produce a second or third cob more consistently you have to measure that against the total crop when plant closer. The early corn I planted requires 8 inches between plants. In a 4'x4' plot I can fit 6x6 corn or 36 plants. At least 50-75% of my stalks have two cobs. So a 4'x4' at

8inch spacing will give me about 54 cobs(assuming 50% will have 2, 50% will have 1). If I planted them in 12" squares I would have 16 plants and to get the same crop of 54 cobs each plant would need to produce 3.375 cobs per plant-just not realistic.

The only speculation would be the size of the cob varying with the amount of ground--which I would think would also be deteremined by cultivar planted.

One thing I will have to try next year is deep planting the corn in little cup-pits. Eight of my stalks were blown over in this weeks rough weather. Cubed-Foot Gardening suggests planting corn in bottomless styrofoam cups embedded in the ground. Once the stalk is taller, remove the cup and fill the dirt in. THe deeper planted stalks should hold up better in wind. I am concerned about deeper watering with that method.

DiGiTAL ViNYL (no email) Zone 6b/7, Westchester Co, NY,

Reply to
DigitalVinyl

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