Corn in Phoenix

[Joronimo]

Hi, I am new to the forum. I recently planted some corn (I think sweet) in a planter I had. I wasn’t expecting it to grow since it’s pretty late in the season but I think I have 5 plants growing. I’m not sure what to do now. How does corn do over the winter in Phoenix? They are in a whiskey barrel planter. I believe the seed pack said 70ish days to maturity so that put me into January and thru our coldest time. Will corn handle overnight lows in the 30’s ( if we get it)?

Thanks for the info!! Happy to join the forum!

 

[Meadowlark]

Sorry to say it isn't going to do well in all likelihood.

First, it does not grow well in planters nor as a transplant. It likes its space in a full sun garden.

Second, it can handle a few lows in the thirties but many will certainly limit grow and any possible production.

Third, corn needs lots of surrounding plants which came up at the same time in order to pollinate....5 isn't enough generally and would require hand pollination to have any chance at all.

So, it may be possible but in my estimation it is very unlikely. With your great sunshine you should do really well on spring garden planted corn.

 

[Joronimo]

Thanks for the reply. I’ll see how they do. When it gets cold I guess I’ll try to cover them and see what happens.

 

[DrMike27]

I started my corn late, too—planted around the first week in October. Just wanted to try to see what I could get since we didn’t break 100 degrees until the end of September. I’ll keep you posted on how mine does, but here’s what I have right now:

 

[Meadowlark]

DrMike27, one observation FWIW.... From the picture it appears that the stalks are pretty much all different sizes...indicating possibly slightly different germination times for each seed. This will result in different times for peak pollen production...just a few days can be critical to production because the plants may not have optimum pollination at the same time.

Ok, this may be "down in the weeds" so to speak, but one thing I do is try to plant the seeds all in the same direction and same depth to achieve germination at the same time as much as possible. You want all of them to germinate at the same time...and a seed with the tip planted down will germinate at a different time than a seed planted with the tip up, all other things being equal.

For small crops, this can be critical to production due to the pollination requirements of the corn. Of course, different depths same thing...a seed planted just covered will germinate at a different time than a seed planted one inch deep or two inches deep. Different germination times means poor pollination which in turn means poor production.

In my corn crop, I discard any/all undersized plants...they are just taking up space and nutrients and will not pollinate at the same time as others and will under produce if at all.