Growing Corn in a No-Till Garden Area

What is No-Till?

The meaning behind no-till gardening is the process of turning over around 6 to 10 inches of soil that will loosen and remove any plant matter for planting new crops in the area. While tilling sounds ideal it can actually harm the soil by striping the rich organic matter and insects that form healthy soil biology. Therefore, by using the no-till technique we are able to leave the garden soil intact and improve the soil using better practices such as cover crops and silage tarping the area.

Growing Corn in the Garden

Currently, in the garden, we have a silage tarp that has been on our future fall corn plot for about six weeks and is ready to be removed for planting. Once the tarp is removed we are able to see the nice soil that is ready to be worked and prepared for fall planting. To begin preparing the garden for growing corn we need to start with the Double Wheel Hoe and plow set attachment to help us make furrows for laying drip tape in the garden. We recommend using the drip tape layer attachment to easily bury and effectively lay drip tape in straight rows. Now that we have seven rows ready to plant fall corn we will start with the Peaches and Cream variety. This sweet corn variety is a hybrid bicolor that is known for being a sugary extender which means it can store longer than standard varieties once harvested. By using a cover crop and silage tarp to increase the nutrients the overall cultivation is minimal. Another factor of planting corn is the crop is wind-pollinated which means you always want to plant in a square plot for better pollination. Therefore, wind pollination allows the tassels to start forming on the tops of the male flowers where the pollen will begin to pollinate the female flowers on the ears or silks of the corn. Another major factor of growing corn is it needs plenty of irrigation to grow in the garden. We recommend using drip tape because it ensures all the water is going directly to the plant roots where they need it the most to grow in the vegetable garden. Also, since corn is a heavy feeder it needs plenty of fertilizer to grow healthy plants. Some fertilization products like 20-20-20 or Chilean Nitrate are great for feeding the plants. While using Spinosad Insect Spray is great for controlling worm pressure which is important when corn starts tasseling in the garden. When growing the best sweet corn these three important factors such as pollination, irrigation, and fertilization can all ensure that you produce the most productive and healthiest sweet corn in the vegetable garden all throughout the growing season.