Can you recall if they two varieties were in silk at the same time? If they were, then you will likely have some crossing.

George
Tahlequah, OK

Only open polinated corn will grow true. Hybrids will produce most anything. It's not worth trying.

The Rainbow Inca may or may not be a hybrid. If it is open pollinated it might be OK but only if the other two varieties were not producing pollen at the same time. If Silver Queen crossed with Rainbow Inca what you'd get could be anything or nothing. If you want to save seed, it's best to stick to ne open pollinated variety.

Get hold of the Seed to Seed book, Susan Ashworth (?), and check out the section on corn. You place a bag over the top of the plant to collect pollen and one over the immature ear before silk to keep it from being pollinized until you do it. It's not all that complicated. Tom

Rainbow Inca is an open pollinated corn. I thought they had already tassled for you. If not, skagit_goat_man's recommendation is an excellent one. I would recommend that book to any serious gardener.

However, if they corns do not tassle at the same time, and if you have no other corn tassling nearby, then bagging would not be necessary. There are two kinds of isolation. one is by space and the other is by time.

I believe that the strictest isolation distance called for with corn is 1 mile. Sweet corn pollin travels farther than other kinds. But, if I were growing it, where I live, I believe I'd have that isolation distance.

Thanks everyone.

IÂm not exactly sure what "tassling" means, but I planted the varieties 2 weeks apart so they so they wouldnÂt cross this year. At least thatÂs what I thought I was doing. I assumed that would put their tassling far enough apart so the plants would only pollinate their own type. Is that correct?

If I were to save the seeds, is that simply a matter of letting a couple of cobs dry out and then collecting the seeds?

All of this may be moot though as I tasted the Rainbow Inca last night and couldnÂt get past the second bite. Is this a good tasting corn, or is it an awful tasting corn that looks cool?

Thanks again,
Bart

Tassling is when the tops (tassles/tassels) form and shed pollen.

Here's Rainbow Inca, from Seeds of Change:

Rainbow Inca is a fascinating blend of large, white, flat-seeded chokelo (flour) type from Peru, several colorful Southwestern flour varieties, and a few heirloom sweet corns. At 75Â80 days it is sweet and flavorful when steamed, at 80Â95 days it becomes more starchy and is delicious roasted, and after 120 days it reaches its full "rainbow" stage and can be dried and milled for flour.

I found, to me--personally, the best tasting sweet corn is hybrid. Your results could mean that it was too old, or that fancy colored OP corn varieties are best for decoration/ornamental uses, or as flour.

Golden Bantam is a popular OP sweetcorn (yes, one word not 2--to me it's not a sweet corn but it is a sweetcorn) and I'd never grow it myself, nor eat it, nor most other OP varieties. To me, OP corns are prehistoric, especially with all the advances made in corn breeding in the last 40+ years. And all the latest hyrids like the TripleSweets and synergystics, you can usually buy for just a couple cents per seed anyway.

I personally love Golden Bantam and Country Gentleman, both OP corns. I find the new sweet corns too sweet, with not enough corn taste.

Bart, open pollinated corns, if they are sweet to begin with, are usually only good for sweet corn for a brief window of time, before they get too starchy. Though I do not share Korney's tastes on corn, he is correct about the modern hybrids, in that, they are much easier to grow for sweet corn and to get longer lasting, tasty sweet corn (I prefer two words ;) .

Personally, I like all corn, non-sweet as roasting ears, sweet or super sweet. It's all good. But, our family spent over 14 years in Mexico, where they didn't have sweet corn and sold roasting ears (non-sweet) in the market. We learned to enjoy them so much that I now only grow a non-sweet heirloom, which we use for roasting ears, meal and grits. The non sweet corns often have much sturdier stalks. They are rarely bothered by coon and make great support for beans and cowpeas. But hey, that's me. If you really want sweet, then you either have to learn to pick your chosen variety right on time and use it promptly (for a non-hybrid) or else I'd recommend a hybrid like Korney writes about.

We grow Mesquakie Indian Corn, from Sandhill Preservation Center. I posted two pictures with it on the thread "Getting more from your garden with landraces and local varietes." If interested see the link below.

To use this variety for corn on the cob we pick the ears when the silks are just turning brown. The kernels are in the milk stage and tender. It's tasty, but not sweet. We often serve this corn on the cob with mayonnaise, salt and red chili powder, a la Mexicana. But it's good with butter and salt.

Here is a link that might be useful: Getting more from your garden...