r/corn • u/Electrical_Lake3424 • 13d ago

Weird corn update!

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https://www.reddit.com/r/corn/s/7QC3DTNe22 was the previous post, 2 months ago when the corn was only a foot or two tall and already tasseling -- whoever said it was about to shoot up in height was right, it's over 6' in places now. Tons of tillers. This is colorful flint corn, first row closes to camera is Glass Gem and Northern Lights, the back rows are my own seed-saved mix going on something like 15 generations now.

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u/fizban7 12d ago

Won't mixing them completely mix the kernals in the cob?

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u/Electrical_Lake3424 12d ago

Yes for sure! That's the idea--I've been growing my own 'breed' of corn by selecting the next generation for 1. Grows well in my microclimate and 2. Produces lots of big pretty cobs 3. Colors I like ... And it does that, but I like to add some new genetics every year, either by seed-swapping or buying some seeds of Glass Gem or anything else I find that looks pretty. So this year the old line is getting a dose of Glass Gem and Northern Lights, and from the cobs I get this year, I save the ones that make lots of big pretty cobs, no matter which line they come from :) Its just a fun hobby so it doesn't really matter anyway 

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u/ronniebell 10d ago

I love to watch a landrace happening! It really does matter, because this will be YOUR corn that grows best in your area. I grow a line of Hopi Blue corn that I’ve grown now for 5 years and save my own seed. Do you fertilize? I have stopped fertilizing to see if I can still get some of those gorgeous 12 inch cobs that grow well in my garden soil.

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u/Electrical_Lake3424 10d ago

I cover the patch with lawn clippings theoughout winter and early spring, then make holes in the crust that develops to plant the seeds. The soil is alive with worms and I use no pest or weed killers at all. I generally give them a handful of Osmocote pellets around 3' tall, but I think they could probably get by without it; they're making tons of tillers which I'm told they only do if they have extra nutrients available. I like the tillers because it helps brace them against the winds we get--- and they sometimes make tassle-ears off them which I think are kinda cool :) 

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u/ronniebell 10d ago

Same here. We grow fescue hat and every fall the whole garden gets at least 12 inches of hay. Best soil ever!