Sweet Corn Patch

SLE

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So, I'm looking for some help from you guys that have had success with food plots and specifically sweet corn. I have 300' x 30' across the back of my property that I've used on and off to plant sweet corn. The family picks what we want, then I let whoever wants to come pick, have at it; and the deer and wildlife get the rest. I've had spotty success on and off doing this. Some years it's been great, others it's been terrible.

For planting, I use a 2 row John Deer 71 Flex corn planter and prep the area with a 3-point tiller behind the tractor. I've also prepped it with the cultivator and harrow but after buying the tiller which sure leaves a nice seed bed, the cultivator hasn't been used as much.

So to start, I seem to run into two issues, first is the seed. It hasn't been about taste as much as germination. I've probably tried 5 different varieties over the years and they've all been good. I bought two different varieties in 5lb bags from a local supplier (peaches & cream and bodacious) thinking I would give both varieties a try (2-years ago). It was absolutely terrible as far as what germinated and came up. Because I had bought an abundance of seed, I vacuum sealed the left over and kept in a drawer in the garage refrigerator to be used the next year. Well after such a poor experience on the first go around, the following year I ran a little house test and planted a couple egg cartons full and put them in the green house to see if the see if the seed was any good. I literally had only had a handful that germinated. Don't know if it was from trying to save the seed until the next year or if it was just that bad since the year before it was poor also? Also, I've found when I try to buy seed, when you look for the amount I need, most places just have it for the ordinary gardener, and to get enough to run through the planter about breaks the bank. So with that said, I'll take any seed recommendations you guys have, I'm in the Minot area if that matters.

Secondly is the weeds. I now know why farmers are putting down the chemical they do, holy shit, it's been eye opening trying to control noxious weeds and grass. I've tried a few various sprays early in the season just after sprout to knock down the weeds and get the corn up and above it which worked OK until 2-years ago when we had a massive infestation of some type of wild grass. I have no idea where it came from but it grew as tall as the corn and the broad leaf spray I had used did nothing to it, as expected. The grass got so bad that I couldn't hardly get through it with a rear tine 18" cub cadet tiller that we use on the main garden In order to get things under control, last year we didn't plant anything. I tilled it several times through the summer and hit it with round-up a couple of times also. Going into this year, I figure it'll get a treatment of round-up a few days before planting but once sprouted, not sure what to use if I have a lot of competing weeds/grass. Can't say I've found any round up ready sweet corn but I'm sure it's out there and maybe I don't know where to look for it. Of course, the less chemical the better but I'm not completely anti-herbiside either. Keep in mind, there's no chemical license here, so I'm a little limited what I can use. suggesting atrazine isn't going to help unless you want to come apply it, lol.

This rookie will take any advise he can get, let'r rip.

Thanks
 


LBrandt

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Check your farm seed dealers, they should have the answers to your questions. As for germination check your seeds before you plant. You can lay out some seeds on wet paper towels on a cookie sheet to see whats up.
 

Ruttin

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SLE,
I hear you on the weed situation it is not fun at all. I bought some round up ready sweet corn for my patch from Agassiz Seed and i am going to give that a try this year. Cant remember what i paid but i believe it is a bit more spendy than the regular stuff. I am hoping it will work out being able to spray instead of constantly picking and hoeing weeds!!
 

SLE

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SLE,
I hear you on the weed situation it is not fun at all. I bought some round up ready sweet corn for my patch from Agassiz Seed and i am going to give that a try this year. Cant remember what i paid but i believe it is a bit more spendy than the regular stuff. I am hoping it will work out being able to spray instead of constantly picking and hoeing weeds!!

Yeh, I'd never get finished if I tried to pick weeds on a 1/4 acre plot. By the time I finished, new ones would be growing, lol.
 

db-2

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As ruttin said round up ready sweet corn
Is seed treated to keep all the bugs in the soil from eating the seed?
Found that to be a problem and when i planted treated seed good but i like the white corn and in those small packages it is not treated. db
 


SLE

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The 5-10lb bags have all been treated seed, forgot to mention that........
 

LBrandt

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As ruttin said round up ready sweet corn
Is seed treated to keep all the bugs in the soil from eating the seed?
Found that to be a problem and when i planted treated seed good but i like the white corn and in those small packages it is not treated. db
DB-2 I buy my white ( silver queen) sweet corn from Gurneys and it is treated. I think all of Gurneys sweet corn seed is treated.
 

KDM

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SLE, I don't know what to say about the germination issue besides get different seed. The weed control problem might be the water you are using. Iron and Calcium ions as well as a couple others will bind to the active ingredients of roundup and render it useless. Here is a list of them from a scientific paper: It is a potent chelator that easily binds divalent cations (e.g., Ca, Mg, Mn, Fe) and forms stable complexes (Toy and Uhing 1964; Cakmak et al. 2009). So if you aren't using "soft water" and you have high levels of iron and calcium in your water, you may be shooting yourself in the foot so to speak. The other option is to use a different class of chemical for your weed control. Good Luck!!
 

Meelosh

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Anytime you disturb ground, you invite weeds. When do you apply your glyphosate specifically? Once it hits the ground, it’s chemically bound to the soil (at normal application rates) and it’s no more use to you.
 

SLE

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I typically try to wait for the first good weed sprout, normally around the 1st of June, then spray, wait a few days for the weeds to start dying off, then till and seed. I've also tilled, sprayed, and then seeded. Can't say I noticed a lot of difference between those two different practices. Water wise, I'm on rural water and the spray works fine, just haven't had round-up ready sweet corn, so once it's planted, my spray applications are typically broad leaf agents that don't affect corn and normally those only are only need once around the 3-4 leaf stage if I remember correctly. the corn usually get a good enough head start that it doesn't matter after that. The year I had all the grass, the corn was up before the grass showed up so I was kinda SOL and i didn't know what to use on the grass that wouldn't kill the corn.
 


Kentucky Windage

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Here’s my 2 cents:

1. Using a tiller tills the soil nicely, but fluffs It up too much tampering with your seed bed. You might be planting too deep running your gauge wheels through fluffy soil. 1.5-1.75” should be your target planting depth. You mentioned poor overall germination. Testing germ in ideal conditions will tell you if you have a problem with bad seed or not.

2. I don’t know what grass problem you had previously, but not having Glyphosate tolerant seed complicated things. It could be yellow nutsedge too.

3. I buy glyphosate tolerant seed for the convenience option of spraying if needed. Its not a unicorn. You just need to look for it.

4. Post emergence, an HPPD inhibitor will be your muscle for broadleaves. Glyphosate obviously if you have roundup ready corn and you don’t have a resistant weed problem.
 

3Roosters

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Any neighbors that can sell/give you the corn you want for your family? Asking for a friend.:cool:
 

SLE

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Its more about doing it than what we actually harvest. I'd be way money ahead to just buy the few cobs we need, lol.
 


Auggie

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Here's the NDSU Corn Production Guide. Sweet corn is a little different than field corn, but they're still the same plant.
Check the depth and seed-to-soil contact of your planter. As well as your population. Is the planter busting seeds? Not having the planter set right can cause germination issues. It's not a bad idea to do an at home germination test with some of the seed you have.
 
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SLE

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The last try was definitely a seed issue, I’ve had some decent stands also. Seed wise, I’m just looking for recommendations of what people have had good luck using. Brand, species, and where you bought it. Would like roundup ready stuff that is treated that won’t cost a small fortune.....

if I get variety that is round up tolerant, that’ll probably take care of the weed issue.
 

tikkalover

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We sell RR sweet corn at work. I will check how big a bag, what varieties we have and the cost and get back to you.

Oh, and I've been working around Roundup for 20 years and as far as I know, I don't have cancer.
 
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WormWiggler

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We sell RR sweet corn at work. I will check how big a bag, what varieties we have and the cost and get back to you.

Oh, and I've been working around Roundup for 20 years and as far as I know, I don't have cancer.

is that 3rd nipple purely decorative then?
 

tikkalover

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SLE, how many pounds do you usually use to seed your corn patch?
 


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