Sweet Corn Tips to Help you Have the Best Yield Yet

Selecting the Sweet Corn

Planting corn can be very intimidating to a beginner gardener, but with these few sweet corn tips, your garden will be popping up in rows in no time! Well, in no time, we mean at least 80 days. As always, the first step in planting anything is choosing which variety you want to work. There are many seeds out there, and Hoss Tools offers many different varieties that meet the wants of every sweet corn eater. Some of the top three here are the Silver Queen, Ambrosia, and this year even the Honey Select Sweet Corn. The Honey Select is a triple sweet variety and is an All-American winner. The ears grow to be around eight inches, which is a giant ear. Honey Select Sweet Corn is a triple sweet hybrid that contains the perfect combination of 75% sugary-enhanced and 25% super sweet kernels. Many people enjoy this variety because of its big window, for when you have to harvest it, this is due to its field holding ability. It also stores very well in the freezer, giving you many options when it comes time to cook it. Some of our favorite ways to cook it are eating it off the cob, making cream corn, and as always sharing it with our friends. Sweet corn does best when planted in the spring after the last frost date. Sweet corn can be grown throughout all of the warmer months as long as you have time to harvest it before the first frost. Hoss Tools recommends succession planting with sweet corn, and what that means is after you gather it, you go in and plant you some more rows where you just had it. Most small scale farmers do at least two plantings first in the early spring, then in the late summer.

Garden Seeder Tips

When it comes time to planting the sweet corn and getting your plots ready, it is essential to remember to plant in blocks and not long rows. We suggest planting corn in a square plot with rows on 30-36″ spacing. Planting a few long rows will result in poor germination and the absence of kernels on the cobs. The reason behind this is because unlike most plants, corn pollinates by the wind and not by the bees. After you have your plots ready, we suggest you go in with a walk-behind planter like the Hoss Garden Seeder using the number 4 seed plate so that your seeds are 4 inches apart and you want to plant one inch deep. Another beneficial tip when planting corn is doing it on drip tape. The drip tape helps get the water throughout the roots avoiding diseases on the foliage. If you do decide to lay drip tape, then you are going to want to plant right on the lines of the tape to make sure the water reaches it. Doing the seeder at a one-inch depth will make sure it doesn't puncture the drip tape. Once your seeds are all planted, you want to go in and give it a good watering immediately. If you are on drip tape, leave it turned on for about an hour. This water will help the seed to lock in good. Now that you are all set with your plant, keep a good eye on them for the next 80 days, and soon you will start to have some groceries out in the field. If you found this blog helpful, tune in to the video below to see these tips on growing Honey Select Sweet Corn in action on Gardening with Greg!