I see you live in Canada. Any good soil with some organic matter. A lot of sand is not good. Corn needs high nitrogen and reasonable amounts of water or rainfall. Soil temp needs to be at least 60 degrees and full sun. No advantage to starting indoors. Check your growing season - last frost date and first frost date for your area. Pick a variety to fit this time frame.

will corn still grow with only 3-4 hours of sun a day?? or does it need sun all day??

thanks

No, sorry, you need full sun all day, mimimum of probably 10 hours, I'd say. It won't do anything in shade. Corn is what is called a "C-4" or "superplant" in terms of the way it manufacture's sugars -- this is going back to the Kreb's cycle and photosynthesis from basis biology. They are definitely "solar" factories that need full sun.

I disagree with the above poster about "no advantage to starting indoors" In my Michigan climate, there is a big advantage -- most corn won't germinate well in cold soils, and by the time the soil here is really good and warm, it's getting almost too late for some corn varieties. I start most of my corn in flats in my greenhouse. Other advantages, too -- you can ensure a nice, solid stand the first time, no replants which are off schedule with the main crop, and when you plant it out at 6" or so tall, it's too big to attract the interest of crows, who just LOVE to pull up and eat germinating sweet corn.

I wouldn't try corn with less than full sun.

I have started it indoors, but felt as though it was more work than it was worth. When I did this, I used the square peat pots so I could just set them right out. However, after using peat posts for a number of years in a number of crops, I feel they actually retard growth outside because the peat retains it's integrity to a fair extent. So if I was going to, I'd use regular plastic pots.

FWIW, I find corn to be a lot of work and take up a lot of garden space for the amount of crop. Love the stuff, but some years I just buy it at the stands which are plentiful around here. Just MHO.

Ken

Since you are up in Mississauga, try a short season bi-color, like Fleet. You are in good shape for rain where you are -- I used to live in Toronto and Niagara falls. Make sure you space the rows 30 inches apart and the corn plants 10" apart in the rows.

Wayne

If you have good soil then planting 10" is a waste of space. Bunch it up to 4 - 6".

It's also about the amount of sun the plants get.

As Wayne said, you should try an early or short-season corn.

I have never tried Fleet. I have grown early Sunglow for the last four years, and will plant it again this year.

It is a yellow corn that can be planted in cool soil, is supposed to mature in 60-63 days. Last year, it was very hot here, and it matured in 50 days. Good taste, freezes well.

I planted early Sunglow last year for the first time. Our county fair is in mid july and I won first prize. They moved our fair up 2 weeks from when I in 4-H and it's really hard to get any crops mature by the 15th. Not the best corn but still good flavor and size.