I think silver queen is a hybrid sweet corn and as such, you will not get 7 foot tall plants. You will probably get one good ear per plant and possibly a second but smaller ear. Don't count on the second smaller ear but if it happens, don't count on the super fresh home grown taste you will get from the first.

My Grandfather grew the 7 foot tall stuff but he called it "field corn" and it was primarily raised for live stock feed. If you caught this field corn at just the right time, it was great as boiled corn, if you caught it a little later, it was great as "parched corn" orrr, catch it a litte later, grind it up and now we have cornb.....

Hi , I tried to grow sweet corn (hybrid) last spring and I only got about 3 foot tall plants. Had a huge problem with ear worms. From what you decribe above:

"i went out today, and it looks like it's blooming (sending out inflorescences)."

I think you may be at the silk stage (that's the hairy stuff growing out of the ends of the ears)

The moths of ear worms lay their eggs in the silk and the little worms work their way into the ear to munch away. You might want to look into using BT dust at this time to try and keep the ear worms at bay.

BTW - I ran across an interesting little bit of info while running google searches a while back. Florida has more sweet corn prduction then any other state. Most people think of corn growing states as Iowa, North Dakota Ect. but the sweet corn is right here in our back yard. The other thing I remember is most of it is grown in peat soil and not sand.

Please let us know how the corn does.

Take care, DC

here's the corn...

some bug damage, but not much. i'm growing it mixed in with melon and beans from summer. i knew corn grew fast, but i'm still amazed at how quickly this grew... like grass!

Hello, I grow silver queen every year, but ONLY in the spring. Here' my 2 cents. I certainly am no expert and what I'm going to say is just my opinion.

Corn tassels at a certain time regardless of the stalk's height. The secret is to grow the corn as quickly as possible without burning it up. Corn is a HEAVY feeder and requires frequent feedings with nitrogen. You can buy potassium nitrate (or other types of nitrogen) at garden stores. My silver queen does routinely get over my head and I'm almost 6 foot tall. Also, I believe that corn is grass!

The worms can be a problem. If you have a small patch, just pick them by hand.

I've never grown corn in the late summer/fall so I don't know if that has any bearing on your situation.

down in zellwood (not far from me), they grow two corn crops, one in spring, one in fall. they get it in earlier than i did this fall -- they plant it mid-august, then blast it with every insecticide known to man. still, zellwood corn is some darn tasty stuff.

my corn is growing like mad, so i don't think nitrogen is an issue (the ground was very well prepared with lots of ground organic material, cow manure, mushroom compost, and leguminous cover cropping). i think i'm ok here, just got a little freaked out when i went out to find tassles a full three weeks before i expected them...