Up here I plant some in April, May, June, and the last in early July. What your neighbors do doesn't make total sense to me either.

Anyway, Unless you have very fertile soil and such, that spacing could be kind of thick. If it turns out too thick, oftentimes some of the stalks don't produce a viable ear. Anyway again, you might plant half of it thick and half of it with more room.

Variety is very important. Some varieties will germinate in cool soils, other won't. I agrre with Wayne, at that spacing maybe one of the very small varieties will work, but it is awfully crowded.

Planting early is typically a means to lessen insect damage. I recall my wife's step-grandfather planting his su corn in late Fenruary some years. He would watch the weather for proper timing . I had asked if he was concerned about frost. He said if it germinated the frost would do minimal damage and it would recover.

I plant the supersweets (sh2) I find the sh2 corn to have germination problems if planting during cold weather. I've had to replant when I plant early and get caught by a cold spell. The su and se corn typically fare better.

I am a bit south of you so warm up a bit sooner. My 2014 notes show that I planted Honey & Pearl (sh2) April 8 and harvested around June 16; planted again on April 29 and harvested around July 6; and planted again on June 10 and harvested around Aug 6. So the DTM would be approximately 69, 68, and 57 days respectively. The DTM numbers do change from year to year for H&P plantings but are reasonably close to the above.

Cutworms, corn rootworms and corn ear worms are the insects to do battle with....moreso with the late plantings. So I typically plant a much smaller crop for the third planting.

The sh2 can take a 6 inch spacing if you have enough nutrients, water and sunshine but ear size would be smaller than with a wider spacing. I typically thin to about an 8 inch spacing. However, I'm not sure they will do well with a matrix spacing. My plants are typically in 32 to 34 inch wide rows. I've tried closer rows and a closer row spacing will make proportionatly smaller ears.

This post was edited by grandad on Sat, Feb 7, 15 at 8:34

I'm going to echo what the other members have said already and suggest a wider spacing, 8" minimum, unless you know the soil is very nutrient rich. I tried to space my corn 6" apart in a large rectangle last year, and a lot of the plants on the inside of the block were tiny and didn't bear any ears at all.

I've only planted it twice. Once in ground, they all got ripe at the same time and I don't have much luck with freezing, and last year I had a spare raised bed and I planted about what you are thinking, space wise and ended up with stunted ears.
With only 2 of us, I would rather pick some up at the farmers market or steal some from the neighbor ;) ! Nancy

Ok. This is very helpful. I would really like to plant in a block. So what spacing would you recommend? The variety I plan to try is Ambrosia, if that helps.
I am going to ask lots of corny questions at church tomorrow!

I'd go with at least 9 or 10in unless you have a very fertile spot and plan to water thoroughly whenever needed. I've grown Ambrosia at that spacing its and its ears tend to tip blank meaning the kernels don't fill all the way to the tip. Sometimes 2 or 3 inches of no kernels. Any corn will do that when stressed or if pollination is poor but Ambrosia has the worst tip fill for me. Not a variety I'd recommend for tight spacing. Maybe others have had a different experience. I'd like to hear if so.

Concur. Ambrosia is a large midseason corn with large plants. For tight spacing I would reccommend a small plant like Quickie.

Or you could space them further apart. Ambrosia is a nice corn. I have raised it for many years.

Or you could space them further apart. Ambrosia is a nice corn. I have raised it for many years.

I've always had good fill with ambrosia, and the ears are nice and large, especially the first plantings. In the second and later run, even those with less than perfect pollination were nice, large ears which gave plenty of corn per ear. It would be an issue if you market-grow, however. Incredible is another one of my favs. Both are tender, sweet and excellent and the stalks themselves are quite strong.

Thanks to you all! Knowledge is power! I don't have a problem with 12" spacing between plants. Should I expect one ear or two per plant?

Depends on the variety, but usually 1-2 ears per plant. Sometimes you can get 3 ears off one plant if you're lucky. :)

donna, At that spacing with a good corn like Ambrosia, do not count on more than 1 ear and be glad to get that.

I live in a residential area but plant corn in my garden, partially for the privacy. If you happen to have squirrels, they'll steel it. I'm going to try netting this year; last year, the squirrels took all by one ear, and I had a rather odd stand off with an angry squirrel for it (Apparently, a squirrel will puff up its chest and thump its tail at you in challenge. Who knew?) Anyway, you'll need fencing to keep the rabbits out until the stock is large enough, too.

I'm just west of St. Louis and I grow Kandy Corn it's a tall variety I space it at 10-12" and plant in late April to Early May and harvest end of June to early July and then replant and always get a second crop my plot isn't big enough to start several plots with staggered plantings. The closer you plant it the middle of plot may not produce any ears so weigh that with planting it a little father apart. good luck

oldgardenguy60, Say, I planted Kandy Corn back in the early 80s. It grew so tall that is blew over too much for me...pretty good in its day.

oldgardenguy60

I have tried and trialed a slew of varieties. After Kandy Corn my favorite was Burpee's Breeder's Choice yellow for many years. Then I perceived that Breeder's Choice was getting larger grained and starchier than before, so I moved on. Bodacious yellow was a very healthy corn and perhaps good for freezing.

Then I discovered bi-colored Ambrosia. It is still my flagship corn, but I like a change-up [I grow 7 plantings] and love Incredible yellow if left to maturity. I keep trying synergistic varieties and Montauk is good. This year I am trialing Obsession bi-color.

Are y'all able to go back for the second planting in the same plot as the first?

I also would interested to know this, projectdiy. Not sure if my season is long enough in 6b.

projectdiy and tripleone the answer to you question is no, you shouldn't and no it is not long enough.

projectdiy : I do every year but have to make sure soil is ready because corn is a heavy feeder. I have a large lawn and bag when I mow (I call it harvesting ) I mulch the first crop heavily with this as it grows helps with moisture and it decomposes fast also have a large compost pile and a free supply of horse and cow manure ( dried or fresh ) I also process the green corn stalks by running the through my chipper I spread this over the plot along with everything else tilling each in this takes a few days I water the area thoroughly and wait for it to dry another 2-3 days and then I plant. Wish I had enough space to do plantings every few weeks but It has worked for me , I do rotate corn to different spot year to year but once I have it in I have to reuse same spot for 2nd crop a lot of work but I enjoy it. After harvest of 2nd crop I always plant a cover crop for winter .

I have plenty of space for 7 plantings and I chop up the stalks, rotten manure the space with lots of hay in it, till it all in a bit and plant daikon [tillage] radishes.

I like turnips so I always mix a few in with other cover crops. It's a good day to think of these things just came back in from filling the bird feeders Brrrrrrr!!! windy and 12 above probably colder where you are.

Found the Ambrosia Bicolor in my last Jung seed catalog I'm putting it on my order list it will be my 2nd crop . I have three generations (wife kids and grandkids ) who always make sure I'm ordering that Kandy Korn. can't wait to try it , I won't tell them it's something different see if they notice.