Maybe you were confusing that with the fact that for every silk there is a kernel of corn?

Cheryl

I've got a question... If sweet corn tends to produce more ears per stalk, why is field corn even grown?

I would think, because of the sugar content, animals would rather eat sweet corn and you could get more ethanol from sweet corn...
So why grow field corn if it looks more economical to grow sweet corn? What makes field corn so special that it seems to be the primary type grown?

Field corn usually has much bigger ears with bigger kernels and some varieties have two or three ears per stalk. What we grew on a farm when I was a kid growing up did. Just being extremely sweet is not the only desirable attribute to corn, especially that which is grown for all the other many reasons beyond fresh home consumption. Making ethanol does seems to have become a big thing now, however.
Bill P.

I wonder if some of the multiple ear reports are "hot air". By this I mean the the second or third ear is really a mummy at harvest time. I have a few second ears on sweet corn, but they are usually small or undeveloped. Oh yeah, many have a second silk at pollination. If corn is very widely spaced, they will produce a decent second ear.

I wonder if some of the multiple ear reports are "hot air". By this I mean the the second or third ear is really a mummy at harvest time.

It's not hot air. It depends on multiple factors.... variety, soil quality, temps, water, hours of daylight, spacing in inches, etc. Basically you should expect one ear per plant (then you won't be disappointed). Any other secondary ears are bonus. But you can get one to three ears per stalk.

The two and three ears that I referred to definitely was NOT hot air Wayne. Variety is the most important factor, and our field corn used to be spaced a small step apart, probably 18 to 24 inches, in rows about 36 inches apart. We had no way to irrigate, but grew some excellent crops in good years. There was not a lot of difference in the size of the ears on each stalk either.

I don't think that they could afford to advertise corn varieties like these (scroll down) if it were just "hot air".

Going up through the pan handle of Texas on the way to vacation in Colorado, the Rockies and Yellowstone, I have been amazed by those DeKalb corn fields that run many, many miles between Dalhart and Texline that have corn higher than you can reach, thick as hair on a dog's back with two and three BIG ears on most stalks. It is irrigated and I am sure probably heavily fertilized.
Bill P.

Good field corn around here is spaced about 7 inches apart with 30 inches between rows. The only time they make 2 ears here is when there is a skip and a plant has a lot of room. Good corn here might make 200 bushels per acre in a good year. That is with one ear per stalk. Goodness, 2 or 3 like you describe would make 400 bushels per acre or more....never heard of that kind of yields......maybe 240 bushels per acre.

We're newbie gardeners, and planted a packet of Early Sunglow corn in our itty bitty garden along with a bunch of other melons and veggies, and the corn has done amazingly well.

We probably have 30-ish stalks, with at least half having two ears. Those with two ears don't seem to look or behave any differently than those with one, and the ears are all around the same size and fullness. We haven't done anything special to the corn, and just bought the seed packets in our local garden store.

We're not experts by any means (in fact, we're about as dumb as they come with regards to gardening!), but we can definitely vouch for the fact that more than one ear per stalk is possible, and at least in our extremely limited experience, not uncommon!

I'm no corn expert and have had good years and bad years. In 2004 and 2005 I had some really good years (didn't plant corn last year). I'm spacing at 30 inch centers and planting 3 24 foot rows.

In 2004 I ended up with 2 ears on every and I mean every plant. I grew Argent (a silver queen hybrid), golden jubilee (standard yellow corn) and Fleet (early bi-color). I had 3 blocks of about 8-10 plants per row. I took some care to hand-pollenate. There were no plants with a third ear, although some of the side-shoots did produce a weird ear/tassle combo that never resulted in a harvestable ear.

In 2005 I decided to plant six varieties in the same space. That didn't work out as well, but most did produce 2 ears. I planted the varieties above as well as Country Gentleman, Stowell's Evergreen and another that I forget.

This year I'm just planting one block of 10x3 plants (8 feet long) and another block of 20x3 plants (16 feet long). I just planted a couple of weeks ago, and am quite late; hoping for a good harvest.

I have 5/8" soaker hoses running along my rows and these come on for 10 minutes at a time, 4 times a day.

Wayne

Wayne,

200 bushels per acre can't be right. Where's the profit?? I'm saying this based on price. On Friday, December corn closed at $3.33/bushel, and that's up 5.75 cents!

Let's see $3.33 * 200 = $666 per acre farmed. Sure seems like a waste of time and energy to make less then a grand on an acre of land.

This clipping regards Illinois' 2006 season.

CORN: Just over 1.8 billion bushels harvested, with an average yield of 163 bushels per acre. Total production was second only to the record of more than 2 billion bushels harvested in 2004. The average yield trailed only the record 180 bushels per acre in 2004 and 164 bushels in 2003. Nationally, corn growers averaged just over 149 bushels per acre.

ILLINOIS' RANK: The state was second only to neighboring Iowa among U.S. corn and soybean producers. Iowa farmers produced just over 2 billion bushels of corn, averaging 166 bushels per acre, and about 510 million bushels of soybeans, with yields of 50.5 bushels per acre.