CORN sweet vs field, seed spacing, row spacing, NPK ?

[gary350]

WHAT do you feed your sweet corn plants? What is your seed spacing? What is your row spacing?

There is too much BS fake scam information online what is true? I finally found some FFA video with a small amount of good information but no details. Root details are interesting watch the video.

FFA high school class and college biology class, we learn corn is a grass it only needs nitrogen. Online info use to say corn needs nitrogen but now it claims corn needs equal amounts of NPK. There are many videos that only say, this is what we planted and this is what we harvested with NO details.

1 have 2 cousin in central Illinois that both plant 2000 acres of field corn every year, they both do, 32" row spacing, 5" speed spacing, N fertilizer the day seeds are planted, N fertilizer when plants are 3 ft tall, N fertilizer the day ears grow silks. Corn plants get hilled up same as potato plants stalks have several layers of roots. THIS is how I plant my garden G90 sweet corn is a 3 month crop. Sweet corn is 100% ripe for 1 day so test it every day when harvest time is near. Break open a few kernels if juice is clean its not ripe, when juice is white as milk corn is ready to harvest.

I assume everyone knows there is a different between sweet corn and super sweet corn. Sweet corn is a 90 day crop, super sweet is a 65 - 75 day crop. I live in TN harvest for 300 sweet corn will = 600 super sweet corn. 90 day corn is more productive than 65 day corn.

 

[yardiron]

Back in my early teens, in the mid 70's or so, my dad used to drop me off at a friends farm. In a way it was forced labor but to me it was fun back then.
They grew both sweet corn and green beans then and were just starting to get into soy beans.
The field was plowed and disked and sprayed with liquid mix of manure and I believe lime.

The corn went in as soon as the last frost was past. They'd drill the rows 2" deep 30" wide with about 8" spacing. (depended on the type too I think). The rows each got covered in clear plastic until night temps remained about 50°F. At that point the plastic would come off, and most plants then were over a foot tall. They'd stand up in about 5 days or so. At that point they brought it a liquid nitrogen truck and drill in the first shot of nitrogen.

Soon after, if the weather was warm enough they'd take off fast. As the growth spirt started they'd dust for bugs, and soon after they'd feed the plants with a row crop tractor distributing a granular 10-10-10 At that point they still low enough to drive over, but already starting to show signs of sprouting ears.
Then the first week in June, they got another shot of nitrogen but selectively to boost any underperforming areas. They got dusted again for bugs as the ears were developing.

They did well with corn for years but in later years they switched to solely corn for ethanol.. That was allowed to see more aggressive fertilizer and pesticide treatments and it got hit three times with nitrogen.

No one grows sweet corn here now, they all switched to 'fuel corn' and soy beans. Those that didn't sold out to developers who build McMansions.

The guy that I worked for back then passed away about six years ago, he farmed till the end in his 90's.
I'm pretty sure he sold off the development rights to the state so it should keep the place a farm but his kids have not farmed since the old man passed. They had several thousand acres on several properties. I can understand his kids not wanting to continue, they're all older than me, well into their 60's themselves and none were really involved in the farm for very long. The sad truth is that the land, if protected, won't even lease for enough to pay the taxes on the house these days. Chances are it'll get sold for next to nothing for that reason.


Sadly its what's happened to many farms around this area. I suppose they'd rather have million dollar cracker jack mansions than farms with tax breaks on all that land.