I think they share common pests, that's why. Plus corn should be planted in blocks of 4 rows minimum usually. Are you saying your garden is only 2 rows wide? how wide are the rows and how much space between them?

Hey Korney!

Pest issues noted...

I have a terraced garden with 6 rows. each row is about 20'x4' with about 18" walking space between the rows (the bottom of one terrace or the very front of the lower terrace) the 2 penultimate terraces will have the corn on one side and tomatos on the other. I am planting the corn in "hills" about 18" apart on the two terraces. for a total block of 4 planted rows with 6 or 7 hills per row.

I do have a question for ya - I am succession planting to maximize harvest time, by sowing 60% of the lower terrace (did that 10 days ago, i see lots of sprouts!) I plan on sowing the remaining 40% of the bottom terrace and 40% of the higher terrace this weekend, and the balance in 2 weeks. Does that make sense? My question is will it work? when the bottom 2 rows need pollinating, the row above will be 2 and 4 weeks behind. also, the last sowing ... will that get any help?
Should I just plant the rest of the spots this weekend and deal with it?
whew....

I'm trying to visualize... any pics?

Each terrace is a row 4ft wide? And you're planting 2 "hills" wide in each row? or just 6-7 hills long? How many total 4ft wide rows have corn, regardless of 10ft long or 20ft long?

Also, which direction does the plot sit? Are the rows East-West, North-South, or ?? And which end did you already plant? All the same variety & type of corn?

Are you saying you have (or will have in the end) this:

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CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC
CCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCC

OTHERSTUFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
OTHERSTUFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

OTHERSTUFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
OTHERSTUFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

OTHERSTUFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
OTHERSTUFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

OTHERSTUFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF
OTHERSTUFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

----OR----

CCCCCCCCCCCCTTTTTTTTTTTT

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OTHERSTUFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

OTHERSTUFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

OTHERSTUFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

OTHERSTUFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

And which direction do the rows run? And how much difference in height between the terracing?

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it doesnt look exactly like this now as I made some changes, but it gives you the idea. I will post new pic tonight. beds run east west on a north facing slope. north is the bottom of the hill. gets about 8 hrs of solid sun

beds run like this from top to bottom

OTHERSTUFFFFFFFFFFFFF

OTHERSTUFFFFFFFFFFFFF

OTHERSTUFFFFFFFFFFFFF

CCCCCCCCC TTTTTTTTTTT

CCCCCCCCC TTTTTTTTTTT

CUKECHERRYPEASBEANS

oh - about 1 foot height difference in beds.
each bed will get 2 rows of hills spaced 18" apart on center with maybe 3 plants per hill.
i started with the eastern end of row#5 planted 4 hills in 2 rows

______________________________________________________

..X.........X..........X..........X.........0.........0

..X..........X..........X...........X.........0..........0

___________________________________________________________

x

I plant two rows of sweet corn on the south side of my tomato rows here for a wind break and a little shade also. It really helps. Learned this from some Amish. I plant the rows around 20" apart. Then the first tomato row 24" north of it. I run the rows west to east as we have strong SW winds. I have good production on the corn. I know many say to plant at least four rows but have never had any problems with pollination. And the tomatoes do a lot better. Then the corn is gone as the summer ends and the weather cools and our winds let up. So yes it should work and I've never had any bad pest problems. I space my double corn rows 6-8' apart and plant tomatoes and other flowering crops in between. JMO. Jay

ECB or european corn borer can or will cross over into tomatoes and will be known as tomato fruitworm.

no big deal, I plant then next to each other all the time.

Ok, looks like you got a lot of room. My yard is really weird shaped, hard to draw it up but I have strawberries & giant pumpkins at the south, then corn, then peppers separate the corn from tomatoes, and most of my tomato beds run N-S instead of E-W. Kinda like a capital "J" with the top east-west. Top of pic is South.

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Also on the driveway the last few years not in the pic but about where the park bench is & below it, are 2 more rows of tomatoes, running N-S.

Corn earworm/tomato fruitworm can be a problem but I've never had either here, maybe 1 in a tomato about 6 years ago. where are you abouts in NY? If you already planted everything, then there's no changing it now.

What type of corn are you growing? Different colors or types (su, se, ss/sh2) should be separated or started a few weeks apart or use widely different maturity dates.

Last year I started my corn on the driveway in 3 different increments, one was an extra early, the next was an sh2/ss, and the last was a triplesweet. I grew the varieties in blocks--3 rows/columns of 5 north-south, the next was I think 5 N-S columns of 5, and the last was 4 E-W rows of 7. This year I'm growing strawberries in the corn bed on the driveway and will start Honey Select to the west of the bed, then harvest the June strawberries, then plant How Sweet It Is, a white supersweet. Winds are predominantly from the W-SW so the yellow pollen will be dead by the time the white plants silk. The white corn is later and taller so will be no problems.

You must also take into account sunlight, shade/shadows, height, wind direction, etc. As long as your older plants are farther North you shouldn't have a problem--the sun is always south of overhead except later in the day it's more westerly. You may get less sun later in the day on the corn if the tomatoes are tall.

Sorry, I always mix up ECB/earworm/fruitworm... one's like a 12-spotted cuke beetle...

If you're not organic, look for a farmer or internet for Scimitar CS or Warrior-T if possible, will take care of your tomato & corn pests plus cucurbit family pests including SVB, but hard to find... next best for home gardeners may be Bug-B-Gon, but it must be the concentrate, the other versions use a different ingredient not as effective.

2 varietys of SE+ from Johnnys seeds. lucious (75 days) and trinity (68 days) both treated. i alternated between the varietys in each hill.

I am trying to be organic but we will have to see about that.

toms are west of corn. should be ok, i guess.

thanks for all your input.

I am in Putnam cty - downstate from you. By the way, I went to UB....

Steve

I'd be most worried about fertilizer washout if they're too close together, considering that near the end, the corn is going to need a lot of nitrogen, while the tomatoes really need to hold off on the nitrogen lest they become bushy and not productive.

fair enough. I mixed osmocote when preparing the beds and I was planning on fish emuls for anyone that looked like they needed a boost.... and def for the corn....also planting beans with the corn and was thinking the N would get fixed in the soil with that nodules thing the beans do...

hoping for the best