hs
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Posts: 6 
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Post by hs on Sept 16, 2013 6:36:11 GMT -6
We would like to plant both Grain and Sweet corn in our garden next year. However, our garden size does not allow us to separate the different varieties by more than 40 feet. To avoid cross pollination, could we stagger the planting time of each variety or does anyone know of two varieties that tassel at different times? Your thoughts or advice will be appreciated.
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Post by macmex on Sept 16, 2013 19:29:03 GMT -6
I'd suggest an early sweet corn and a mid to late season "field" corn. Plant them at the very same time. This way it should be pretty certain that they do not tassle and silk at the same time. Days to maturity (DTM) are really pretty relative, being affected by temperature and other factors. Still, the DTM does give an idea of how long till these corns tassle and mature. If you s start them at the same time, then whatever factors which might affect the actual days it takes to reach maturity will be the same for both corns.
Hope this helps. There are some awesome corns our there which are suitable for corn meal, flour or hominy. I grow Mesquakie Indian and Cherokee Squaw. A friend recently gave me a couple ears of White Hickory King, which are huge. He also successfully grew Roy's Calais, which is a super early flint corn, great for cornmeal. It produced well for him in Wagner.
George
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hs
New Member
Posts: 6
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Post by hs on Sept 17, 2013 10:40:10 GMT -6
Thanks for the tip George.
Most of the Sweet Corns in the 60-75 DTM Range are recommended for cooler climates with shorter growing seasons. Do you recommend a minimum DTM difference, or should I just maximize the days as much as possible.
Picking your brain kinda feels like cheating since trial and error is half the fun of gardening.
Harold
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Post by macmex on Sept 27, 2013 13:33:36 GMT -6
I did respond to this, once before, but apparently it didn't post. Ummm... Actually,there are several ways to tackle this. But I prefer getting varieties with distinctly different days to maturity and planting them either at the same time, or else, planting the earlier variety first. This assures, in spite of whatever variables occur in the climate, that they come into silk at different times.
Things planted early in the season tend to take more actual days to mature, since the temperatures are cooler. During mid summer, one "day" might actually count for two days from spring.
George
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