I put chicken manure on my garden this year for the first time. The sweet corn has done well so far. The stalks are taller than in the past and it has grown fairly fast. It is starting to form ears now and most stalks are showing 3 and 4 ears of corn. In the past before I fertilized I would usually get one nice ear and maybe a nubbin off each stalk. Never have seen 3 or 4 ears per stalk like this year.

My question is should I pull the 3rd and 4th ears off so all the energy goes to the 2 remaining ears or should I leave them alone so the coon will have plenty? I'm thinking I should pull them off because they probably won't amount to anything but I thought maybe someone on here might know.

I wouldn't. I'd worry more about stopping the raccoons.

Chicken manure is number one for nitrogen, rabbits number 2 I think, I have rabbits
I installed electric fence, so far no coons

They might not go full but they might and they shouldn't bother your other ears, if leave them alone, when the silk just starts turning brown corn really needs some water so the milk will come on in, so if it's real dry up there like it is here id water a little, other than that yeah coon patrol is in order that's what I'm up too right know!
Colt

There will always be one dominant ear, but you may get a couple other smaller ears that pollinate and or partial ears. Depending upon variety and you want to plant this same one next year you may plant the corn thicker in the row as long as you have good fertilizer. Many varieties have what is called some flex in their genetics and they put out more ears with lower density than higher density. If your variety responds to thicker planting I would plant thicker you will get more edible corn by having more stalks with 1 to 2 ears than fewer with 3 to 4 ears.

Bryce

I agree with Bryce. My experience exactly. Better yield with one major ear and one minor rather than 3-4 minor ears.

If you are going to sell it, you need the major ears. Sell the minor ears as seconds. I used to grow a few acres of sweet corn. The money was in the major ears. I made enough money to break even which was good because I really needed the money!

Check out Incredible, Bodacious, and Kandy Korn. They are the super sweet SH2 types.

.

Why you see in field corn that they only ever see one ear on each stalk.

If you get the rain it will be ok. Don't think I have ever heard a farmer / gardener say "My corn has too many ears on it ". You northerners crack me up ....!!!!

Variety, many have been "bred" that way. Though two ears is common on most varieties around here.

But really one BIG thing that determines the number of ears is how close the plants are to each other. Next is how tall the plants get before the corn starts to silk out.

Around here if a farmer only had 1 ear per stalk they would go under !!!! 2 is normal , 3 is common. Field corn has the height to produce the more ears.

After a couple trial years, I moved up in the world and I planted the sweet corn with a really nice precise 2 row transport planter that had fertilizer boxes. It applied a thin strip of fertilizer just outside the seed so when the roots grew they would reach the fertilizer and really take off. I used seed plates for standard spacing in the row and 40” between the rows. I always had great results with that setup.

Geese pulled out some of the young plants. Blackbirds and crows were frequently after the corn.

It was essential to put electric fence around the field. Starting from the ground, a wire at 3”, 6”, and 9”. Then one higher up for deer. I used a 50 mile fence charger for that 2 acres. I put small dabs of peanut butter on the wire. The wires were so hot that they would sometimes kill raccoons and opossums.

Some years the sweet corn was not so good - either too little or too much rain. Actually, a couple years the sweet corn was fairly good to me - I broke even or made about $3.00. In the really good years, 2 acres of sweet corn bought me a new house, a vacation home, a new truck, an around the world vacation, and a hair transplant.

You must plant different field corn varieties in the south than in the corn belt. The disadvantage with multiple ears on corn is incomplete pollination, more fines, and higher moisture as they typically mature later if at all and all those contribute to dockage in price and higher costs in drying. The main area of the corn belt that averages 225-260 bushels per acre plant higher density varieties that give them more kernels per ear and hopefully fewer ears per stalk.
As to sweet corn here the commercial varieties try to eliminate the smaller lesser ears as they don't go through the machines well and wind up as waste.

Bryce

Up here if your FIRST with sweet corn it can start as hi as 4.50 per dozen . Soon the Amish corn comes in at 2.00. I quit growing corn for the market. More $ in radishes. Don’t laugh!

I'm not laughing best we can get hear is
3.50 more money in green beans and black berrys hear, my wife's grand parents live about 2hrs from us and they get up too 7 dollers a dz. I can't figure it out but I've seen I'm sell its crazy, if I could get that I could make a little on it.
Colt

The race was to have the earliest sweet corn. But the early varieties are not nearly as good as the full season corn. If you grow your own, the variety that I liked best was called Bodacious. My wife’s favorite was called Incredible. It really is worth the work.

20 years ago, I sold mine for $3.00 per dozen. It is much more expensive now to grow the same corn. When I stopped selling it people asked me for a few years to grow it again.

Using 5 varieties, i planted all of my corn at the same time. When it started maturing, I was picking fresh corn daily for almost 5 weeks. It was really fun and everybody loved the corn. I used to take it to work in the back of my truck in the parking deck. People would take corn and put the money in an envelope.

.

was in a ripoff store today 4.99 a dz
we sell for 3

I grow Ambrosia, It's a bi-colored variety. I use urea as a side dressing, 46% N. I have a very small gardening and plant corn in the same place year after year so i have to pour the nitrogen to it. Also have to spray for ear worms, I use a BT spray.

You must have a reading comprehension problem. I never said my corn has too many ears on it. Read it slower the next time.

I just commented that the corn has 3 and 4 ears on it and I have never seen that before. I credit the chicken manure. I have never fertilized this garden until this year. I'm not selling the corn. It is for us and the family. I am growing Incredible this year. In the past I have grown it, as well as Bodacious and Miracle. I think I will pull the smaller ears off of about 10 stalks and see if the remaining 2 ears on those stalks do better than the stalks that I leave the 3 and 4 ears on.

Aix
Cow horse eny herbivore manure is good for nitrogen some are higher some lower all good, fish carcasses are great I mean incredible. Bury um in your garden even use to side dress with exalent!
Colt

Urine is always a good nitrogen source.

I've had no trouble selling corn for 5$ a dzn for a couple of years now. Never have trouble getting rid of it.

not me

That corn is beautiful. I would buy that for $5 a dozen. I used to grow a variety of the biracial corn that was good - can’t remember the name.

For all the land, equipment, tools, time, sweat, and work involved, good fresh sweet corn should sell for at least $6 a dozen. For freshly picked Bodacious, I would happily pay $12 a dozen. Somebody please tell me when to put the water on to boil.

With the development of the super sweet varieties that are designated SH2, many old standard varieties are no longer planted. Has anyone planted any of the old varieties? I had an old friend who was a dairy farmer. He would only plant Silver Queen.

“Due to technical difficulties” my entire garden consists of two tomato plants in planters on the porch. Well, all the food plots get planted on August 15.

I am looking forward to having a nice garden again next year.

The new super sweets make Bodacious taste like field corn, imo lol
The local stand here sells the SS at 50 cents an ear straight up til Labor Day,
and they sell about 30 bushels a day. For what the SS seed costs, fertilizer,
and loss to animals (both 4 and 2 legged lol) you don't really make a whole lot at that price even.
But if you haven't tried one of the super sweets , you should.

When i was growing it, Bodacious was still considered a SS variety. I like the deep kernels, but still tender. My wife said it tasted like field corn, Ha. Wife liked Incredible because the kernels were smaller, very tender, and delicate, even though the ears were large,

I like that 50 cent per ear.

What are some of the newer super sweet varieties? Next year, I will plant just enough for me and wife plus some to freeze. So I will plant of course bodacious and incredible. Plus I would like to plant a new biracial variety and a new yellow. Any suggestions? Thanks.

Gotta have it from Gurney's is the best I ever ate, 12+ years now

this is called honey and cream,,but theres many names

butter and sugar like.should just be-yellow,white,bi-color,now that there is over 5,471 kinds of sweetcorn anymor.i stick to butter and sugar for early and silver queen for late.mornin.

ok,,one smoked pike(large) per 2 dz?

Last few years we've raised honey select its good corn handles drought well and stays in the milk longer, we use to raise a couple acres but people around here won't pay what its worth so we could never do better than breaks even, so know we just raise for us!
Colt

thats bcoz youre selling in ky....is it in eastern?

Stokes seed co. Gourmet 274a for early, handles the cold ,
277a (best) for main crop,$13 dollars for 250 seeds, it better be good, it is.
Gotta have it is very good also.

Have a customer that buys 2 bu. every year
to next day air to her son in Alaska,
says he sells one bushel at 5 dollars an ear and that pays for it all,
don't know if it's true, but she gets corn regular and gets those 2 bu. every year.

Oh I read it correct you are wanting to know if others thought it had TOO many ears on the stalk to produce quality corn. YOU ask should you remove all but one in order for it to produce

Example I have 3 kittens. I think that is TOO MANY kittens . I gave little Johnny 2 of my kittens. Now I have 1 kitten. It will grow up to be big and strong !!!

Read it slow may help you to do the math.....


But what do I know I just live in a state you buckeyes dream about living in or you wouldn't come down here to Lake Cumberland every weekend... LOL

West river no its central my in-laws live 2.5 hrs east and they can get up to 7 dollers a dz. There about 25 mins from West Virginia them people spend a lot on sweet corn! Most of are work around here was farming till about 10yrs ago! Plenty of working poor here!
Colt

I don't think you understood his question if you read it right.

Using your example, if you fed those 3 cats enough to keep one alive, if you gave two away the one you keep and feed the same amount would grow better. Yes, it will grow up stronger.

Same as his question.....Can there be too many ears feeding off one stock. Valid question.

That is why I said if you get plenty of rain the ears will do fine and fill in .....


And you missed my point , and proved it . ONLY that type of question would come from somewhere north of the Ohio river.

Seems like we need at least a light rain during tassle-pollenation time

so, if we don't get alot of rain, he needs to prune an ear or two?

I worked at a fruit farm while i was in school, and we thinned the peach trees pretty hard some years.

Computer Hater, I think you'll like that variety. Pick it early in the morning.

jbyrd,

You are a moron. You can't comprehend anything. Pull your head out of your (This word is unacceptable on Trapperman) and get some air. My original post mentioned leaving 2 ears but you somehow come up with leaving one now. I know it isn't a Kentucky thing because I have friends there and they aren't stupid like you. You graduate from the third grade yet or are you still attending?

I have never been to Lake Cumberland. Lots of nice lakes up here to fish and recreate at.


Thanks for the comments from the rest of you. I am pretty well educated in most varieties and types of corn. I managed a seed company many years ago. The owner recommended Miracle, Incredible, Bodacious, and Illini Extra Sweet for yellow varieties. I've had a garden and grown corn for years. As I explained (but not well enough for the Kentucky moron), I have never seen that many ears on corn stalks in the past. Thought maybe there might be some commercial growers on here that would know if pulling the extra ears and leaving TWO would be beneficial for the other ears. I would rather have 2 good ears than 1 good ear and 2 or 3 nubbins that don't form properly.

Computer Hater I see your point with jbyrd..
But I wonder if you would talk to him like that in person?

Ooffda!!

Gladly


I will even edit my one word response.

I just had a good friend die. It's hot but not too hot. Maybe on another day it wouldn't have bothered me. I asked a simple question that isn't too hard to understand. How my words got twisted is beyond me. I have gotten PM's saying the same thing you just did-that you see my point.

It is easy to see why people stop posting on this site. I always treat people with respect and expect the same in return. I like to joke around on here with people I know, but I always add smiley faces so they know I'm joking, just in case. I usually just ignore certain people and or comments but today I didn't.

no apology is due from you,or no explanation c.h.

I also use Chicken manure, just started picking corn here, most stalks have 2 or 3 good ears. Corn here sells for $6.00 doz. Chicken manure does well with my multi flower sunflowers too. Picture is 2 stalks from last year.

Am I the only one growing Round Up Ready sweet corn with the Bt gene.
Plant it, fertilize it, spray it.
No bugs, no weeds, no work.
Taste better than any sweet corn Ive ever eat and Ive grown a lot over the years.
Give me my SV9010Sa sweet corn from Seminis.