Our own experience in growing corn was more entertaining than productive.
Q. Can I grow corn in my backyard garden, or is it more trouble than it’s worth?
Growing corn in a home garden can be an adventure, to say the least. I can give you some standard advice on growing corn, but I’ll also share some stories of our own experience for your amusement.
If you, for some reason, want to grow corn you’ll need to decide what kind of corn to grow. For fresh eating, there are quite a few options to choose from. There are sweet and super-sweet corn varieties in an assortment of colors as well as popcorn or ornamental corn. So many choices, and you can only grow one at a time.
For most vegetables and fruit, cross-pollination doesn’t affect the edible portion of the plant because we don’t generally eat the seeds. When we eat corn, we’re eating the seeds, so cross-pollination makes a difference. If you want to plant more than one type of corn, plant one variety early in the season and the second variety late enough to avoid the possibility of cross-pollination, which can result in starchy sweet corn and gummy popcorn.
Corn is wind pollinated (as opposed to insect-pollinated), so it needs to be planted in blocks rather than rows. Plant as many as possible (the more, the merrier) to maximize pollination. Inadequate pollination will result in ears with shriveled or absent kernels.
An overnight soak in water will result in quicker germination but is not necessary. Plant 8 inches apart in fertile soil and, once stalks emerge, fertilize regularly with a high-nitrogen fertilizer. Corn needs regular heavy watering, so if you’re under watering restrictions you will want to take this into consideration.
Corn, like most edible plants, is subject to pest damage. Earworms, in my opinion, are probably the worst pest. Imagine harvesting your corn and peeling back the husk, only to find a bunch of nasty worms feasting on the kernels. I’ve been told that they make good fishing bait, so if you garden and fish you can get some revenge on the earworms. Dripping mineral oil, about 20 drops per ear, into the ear tip (do this between 3-7 days after the silks appear) can control earworms safely.
Our own experience in growing corn was more entertaining than productive. We had a little patch of corn growing in our backyard and everything seemed to be going well. We didn’t have any insect pest problems and the stalks had grown to an impressive 7 feet. The ears were developing nicely and looked like they had adequate pollination. Things were looking good!
One night at about 11 p.m., my daughter (who was 13 at the time) came into my room and said, “Mom, I hear something in the backyard.”
Being the coward that I am, I stayed upstairs, grabbed our big flashlight, and aimed it toward the garden. To my (not complete) surprise, seven little masked faces looked up at me. That was the end of our adventure in growing corn.
Looking for more gardening tips? Here’s how to contact the Master Gardener program in your area.
Los Angeles County
mglosangeleshelpline@ucdavis.edu; 626-586-1988; http://celosangeles.ucanr.edu/UC_Master_Gardener_Program/
Orange County
ucceocmghotline@ucanr.edu; 949-809-9760; http://mgorange.ucanr.edu/
Riverside County
anrmgriverside@ucanr.edu; 951-683-6491 ext. 231; https://ucanr.edu/sites/RiversideMG/
San Bernardino County
mgsanbern@ucanr.edu; 909-387-2182; http://mgsb.ucanr.edu/
