The main issue with growing any kind of corn on a community garden plot is cross pollination. Unlike just about any other vegetable, the characteristics of seeds (kernels) from the current year's crop are influenced by whatever pollen lands on their silk. And your corn can be pollenated by other peoples' corn from quite some distance away because the pollen is carried by wind. For example, if your sweet corn is pollenated by someone else's popcorn, the resulting corn will not be good sweet corn. And the other gardener won't like the popcorn which gets pollinated by your sweet corn.

There are ways to isolate different corn plantings by distance or by time, but it is difficult to accomplish in a community garden if several gardeners decide to grow corn.

Jim

As long as you know that if there are other corn growers in this community plot you will get crossing so - depending on the varieties used - what you get on the cob will be affected by that cross pollination.

If that is ok with you then I'd go 4 rows wide to leave 2 picking paths (5 rows if you are skinny ;) and side dressing the plants. 6" apart down the rows.

JMO

Dave

Jim types faster. ;)

Dave

The only other problem I see ( and its from personal exp) is others helping themselfs to your corn. I got a plot 1 year for that same reason as you. Devoted alot of time to nuture it got a great stand of corn (better then i could at home) only to find someone else harvested it stalks and all. Sorry to sound so negitive but that was my exp and that was the last time i would do it. On a brighter note space the plants 12"apart in rows 12" apart and you should have no problems as long as you dont plan on saving seed you should do just fine.

Hope this Helps
& Happy Gardening
Mark

Space them 10 inches apart after thinning in 30 inch rows. With 30 inch rows you don't need harvest isles. If it were me I'd call Harris Seeds and see what they say about the cross pollination issue. By choosing the right type, I think you will be OK on pollination. I know the supersweets will have issues. Others should be OK.

I had a horrible time with corn, been reading up on it, so I did find what needed to be corrected. I can say I planted popcorn next to sweet corn about 30 inches apart, and only a few sweet corn plants grew popcorn out of 150 stalks. I knew by the red silk it had mixed. My corn was terrible for many reasons, but they did not pollinate very well, so add should have hand pollinated. If you do this, shake the stalk every day, you maybe able to keep two different types of corn very closely.

"If that is ok with you then I'd go 4 rows wide to leave 2 picking paths (5 rows if you are skinny ;) and side dressing the plants. 6" apart down the rows. "

I have *no* *idea* what this means.

So it sounds like one of my biggest issues will be cross pollination. I can ask at my local garden center to see if they have advice, otherwise I will try to call that seed company.

If I take a walk thru the commuunity garden - and I see other people planting corn - how far away should it be for me not to worry?

There is always the issue of theft. No matter what I choose to grow.

Lastly - I know that corn likes Nitrogen. Around here, I know I can't plant my corn until mid/late May. Would it be worth my while to head over to my plot and plant some pea or bean seeds right now - and then just hoe the plants into the soil before I plant the corn? For the sole purpose of adding nitrogen to the soil?

Thanks for all the advice.

~pixie

"If that is ok with you then I'd go 4 rows wide to leave 2 picking paths (5 rows if you are skinny ;) and side dressing the plants. 6" apart down the rows. "

I have *no* *idea* what this means.

Sorry. It just means that since your bed is 20 feet wide and 30 feet long you could plant 4 or 5 rows across the bed with each running 30 feet long with space in between each row for a walking path. OR plant 2 30' long rows 6" on center, then leave a narrow path, then another 2 30" long rows, leave a path, etc. across the width of the bed.

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If I take a walk thru the commuunity garden - and I see other people planting corn - how far away should it be for me not to worry?

Not possible because the pollen can be carried for miles on the wind. Commercial growers leave 1/2 mile minimum. The stalks in the center of the plot will be the most true, the ones at the edges will be crossed. And this is regardless of the variety you plant UNLESS everyone in the community plot is growing the same variety. This is assuming, of course, it will be sweet corn you want to grow rather than popcorn or one of the older more stabilized field corn varieties. What variety do you plan to use?

You may discover that very few community plot users will be growing corn there unless they have no choice because they understand the problems that crossing can cause so they grow it elsewhere. In some community plots, corn is prohibited because of the location of the plot and the problems with crossing and the varmints it attracts so you may need to double check on any rules in your plot.

Would it be worth my while to head over to my plot and plant some pea or bean seeds right now

No, it doesn't work that way. The nitrogen nodules the beans form still have to decompose into the soil so wouldn't be available to the corn till next year. Plus it wouldn't be enough. Corn has to be side dressed with a high nitrogen fertilizer at approx. the 1 1/2 to 2 foot tall stage.

Dave

Pixie,
I don't know how much space is between your plot and the one next to it, but you might consider the shade your corn will cast on someone else's plants. If you can plant so that your corn rows won't cast a large area of shade, I'm sure it would be appreciated. (North-south rows cast less shade)

Pixie, thank you for posting this question! I rented a community garden plot last year, but by the time I found out about it, I was too last for getting much of a harvest. Anyway, I had thought about adding some corn this year, just a small area, but now I'm wondering if it's worth the effort. Maybe I'll stick with things like squash and melons, since those are the things I don't have the space for at home.

I did not see any theft issues at our community garden, but maybe it's because I live in a small town. Actually, my experience was just the opposite. Every time I ran into one of the other gardeners, they were always offering extras, "pick as much beans as you like, I have more than I can use", "can you use a couple of zucchini?" "I've some lettuce that's ready to be picked, if you'd like some" It could have been because everyone felt sorry for me, since I planted my plot so late in the season, but I never heard of anyone taking anything that wasn't offered. The guidelines you sign when you rent the plot, state that you will lose your plot, if you take food from other folks plots without permission. It surprises me to hear of gardener's stealing each other's harvest, but maybe it's not someone from the garden, but people in the general community?

Bonnie

As others here mention, corn is trickier than other vegetables in a community garden due to cross pollination problems. If you can talk to others in the community garden and find out if anyone else is growing corn and if so what type, that will be very helpful.

In the absence of other information, I'd stick with normal sweet (su) or sugary enhanced (se) varieties. (For an explanation of these sweetness types, see the attached link.) If height of the corn (casting shade on your neighbors) is a concern, stick with short varieties (usually the earlier ones).

Varieties like Early Sunglow (su) and Seneca Arrowhead (se) are 5' high or so.

Here is a link that might be useful: List of sweetcorn varieties

Would it be possible to switch -- corn at home and other veggies in the community garden?

I'm going to try a 3 sister's garden in my yard this year. I found this report which includes diagrams for different arrangements of the 3 plants. The differences between the plans appear to be related to water retention of the soil and maybe wind factors.

My thought was, even if I don't get a lot of good, edible corn, it still provides a good environment for my beans and squashes.

Here is a link that might be useful: 3 sisters garden link

Thanks for the additional input/comments. I knew there would be more to this than just buying my plot and sticking some corn seeds in the ground. I have decent success at home with my veggies and flowers, but I've also had my share of abysmal failures. I've never tried growing so much of one thing before.

But I have just had the brilliant realization - I don't have to plant the whole plot. With or without corn. So I will continue to do my research and figure it out.

Dave - thanks for the little x diagram. As they say, a picture is worth 1000 words.

I grow my corn in a similar sized lot, at home, not a community garden. I space my rows 3' apart, so I can walk between any two rows, and the corn does use lots of space, with a large root system. I generally seed all varieties I use 10" apart in the rows. I feel I need access to both sides of each row, for "hilling" and weeding.

My preferred method for your space would be to have seven rows, three feet apart, 30 feet long. You could plant three different varieties, with differing maturities, and have little cross pollination, among your own plants. A neighbor could, however mess up this plan if he also grew corn.

I do this. The three varieties I have been planting the last few years are: Early Sunglow, Peaches and Cream, and Silver Queen. Their maturities are about 60, 70, and 90 days, respectively. I usually plant the Early Sunglow at one end in all rows, wait a week or ten days, plant the Peaches and Cream at the other end, wait another week or ten days, and then plant the Silver Queen in the middle.

Harvest is spread out over a long time, with almost no cross pollination, and what there is only causes a coloration problem, as the corn is all SU or SE type, as n2xjk mentioned, above.

I eat Early Sunglow until Peaches and Cream starts ripening, then freeze the rest of the Sunglow and start eating Peaches and Cream. When Silver Queen starts ripening, I freeze the rest of the Peaches and Cream, and start eating Silver Queen. After the last of that ripens, I freeze it. Then it is fall, and I have to start eating that frozen corn. Not too bad!

I made my first planting of corn 2 weeks ago. Shortly after I was assigned my plot, I went over to put up my fencing and met my "neighbor". He's an old timer who has rented his plots for 20+ years. He's quite the character, but in a great, helpful way - I really like him and I think I will learn a lot from him.

When I said I was going to plant corn, we strategized together since he also grows some corn. We planted Peaches and Cream 2 weeks ago. And he just called me today to tell me that we need to plant the Silver Queen tomorrow. So I'm ending up similar to what tdscpa recommended, but with only 2 varieties.

So far this has been a great experience - mainly because of my old timer neighbor. I'm already thinking of going with multiple annual plots next year.

Again - thank you for all of the advice. It's been a lot of work, but I'm hoping to end up with a great harvest.

~pixie

I'm glad that is working out so well for you and your neighbor.

Next challenge will be how to deal with ear worms. Do you have a plan. Maybe the old timer knows what to do about that.

Jim

Like sconnielill, I'm companion planting my corn, although mine is with bush beans and radishes. It is in a 4'x20' raised bed, and so far they're growing like crazy. I planted pretty close together, three rows about 8" apart with each stalk 8" from the next, but the book which talked about French Intensive and companion planting (the name of which currently escapes me) suggested that I should be fine. I'm in a community garden too (yay college!) but it doesn't sound like anyone nearby has any popcorn. There is some feed corn within walking distance though, hopefully that doesn't become a problem...

Since you have already met an old timer I think you are all set. He will know what it takes to grow corn at your site. Let me mention that for me the biggest problem is raccoons. There is no way I would ever grow corn outside a two-wire electric fence, and it has to be ON every night. Somehow they test it nightly after tasseling. If they can get in, they will eat it all until it is all gone.