For plants that size I'd like to see them darker green and have broader leaves coming from the sworl. Otherwise you seem to be doing everything right. I do hope you get a harvest, but unless you are high on a mountain or down in a really cold valley, I'd suggest direct seeding next time. Corn is such a fast grower that transplanting over direct seeding doesn't usually gain you anything.

I agree that they look anemic. Corn is a very heavy nitrogen feeder and requires high dose supplements at the so-called "knee high" stage of growth - like now - and again at tasseling.

Bone meal is phosphorus, not nitrogen. Blood meal is a good nitrogen source but there are much better sources to use as blood meal can burn/damage the plants if used too close to them so side dress with it carefully. A better organic alternative is fish meal or soybean meal. You can make fish emulsion work but it will require a great deal of it and every few days application.

Dave

Thanks guys. Sorry, I mean "Blood Meal", I get those mixed up. :)

I wouldn't say that they are knee height. Then again, I'm 6'4. They are 12" at the highest point.

Should I still side dress them now with the blood meal? Isn't it too early? Attached are some more photos that I just took after watering. The photos I took above were JUST after watering. The ones below are 4 hours after watering. Looks to me that they were just a little thirsty as they definitely turned a bit more green. :)

These things need to be watered just about daily...very thirsty plants.

I also do have some more fish stuff that I can spray on if it is too early to side dress to give them a quick jolt until they the blood meal. But from the looks of the leaves after the last water, I would say that they were just thirsty and the nitrogen is fine at this point.

Let me know guys and thanks for the awesome expertise!

I am certainly no expert but I did grow some transplants (my own) some years back and had corn long before anyone else in my area.

They say knee high by 4th of July - and I think you may have corn by then the way it looks. Corn are certainly fast growers and heavy feeders, esp after silking you will want to make sure they have all the nitrogen and water they want.

Before they silk you will want to hill around the stalks so the wind won't blow them over. Not a good feeling to see them all bent over.

Once they silk you will see the pollen they need to produce the corn, which is why they need to be planted in blocks, Incomplete pollination results in missing kernels.

There are some new varieties that only grow to about 4ft or so.

Did you know that each silk strand goes down to a kernel, fwiw?

Since they do look a bit distressed, probably a good idea to side dress with the blood meal now, but on the light side. Apply again when its knee high, and ideally again when the tassels start to appear.

I agree also that they look a bit chlorotic. It's not too early to sidedress with some nitrogen. I wouldn;t recommend leaf feeding with corn either. I like to split my nitrogen into 3 apps with the first one round 10-12in tall and the last just when I can see the tassles appearing inside the whorl. Corn really needs to take up all nitrogen by tasseling stage.

Yep! I agree that there's nothing wrong with using corn seedlings. It's a great way to jump start to getting corn faster, though next year I may grow from seed. Most of my plants are seedlings actually, and I produce faster than everyone else (without a greenhouse)...so there certainly is a benefit!

I will definitely hill around the stalks. Wind can be horrible to them.

This is my second attempt growing corn. My first attempt was god awful and it was 100% my fault as I wasn't even trying. I threw 24 of them in a very small tub (horrible spacing). I also didn't really amend or water the soil much. The 24 corn were of different ages, so there wasn't enough plants at the maturing stage to pollenate. I tried hand pollination but it only marginally worked. I think I got only one corn that go around, and it was too chewy. It was a huge fail.

This time I'm growing by the book. No excuses. Here is my corn/edamame garden. My other garden has all variety stuff though. :)

Sounds like even though they greened up after watering, you guys are saying it's time to side dress with the blood meal (but maybe 1/2 or 1/3 of the regular application)?

The corn area is 50 square feet. One bag treats about 100 square feet. So basically, I need to use about 1/4 of the bag right away and then follow the recommendations above for the next feedings.

Thanks guys, you rock!

Your grass looks nice n green. Be careful with the blood meal but yea it does need some nitrogen. Just confused why the grass is so green but not the corn?

Sounds like you're really thinking this out, which is great. You're guaranteed to have a much better outcome this year. Another suggestion is, as the corn gets taller, water less frequently but longer duration. Especially since you have a good amount of clay. Maybe see how long you need to run your water to moisten the soil down to 6 or 8 inch and then water that long just a couple times a week. You'll have less weed growth that way too. I would stop the nitrogen applications at tasseling, but keep that soil moist all the way through harvest.

When would you guys like my to post back with results? In other words, how long does it take for the nitrogen to go into effect?

Yes, I'm pretty fast. :) It's all watered in now.

You'll just have to wait and see. Will you be able to walk down your 'rows' later in the season??

Since the blood meal will take weeks to break down into the soil, do you guys recommend me putting some 5-1-1 fish fertilizer on for the time being?

I would say you need more nitrogen -- depends on the form on nitrogen how readily available of a form it is.

I say that the patch is planted too thickly.

Here's after a week.

The color appears somewhat better than the previous photo although still somewhat yellowish. And they don't appear to have grown much. Are you sure you aren't over-watering them?

Dave

Watering was cut back. They've grown a few inches in just a weeks time. Already developed two extra leaves...

2 leaves/collars per week sounds about right now. You may want to think about allowing a little more space between your rows next time instead of planting on a grid. It'll be difficult walking though in a few more weeks.

Thanks all. I planted them that way because I wanted to maximize the crop and my long-arms will certainly help pick the cobs. :)

They are definitely taking off and greening up.

I'm finding that the gardens need water every 4 days. So dave, that's correct in that I was watering too much, but my crops do indeed more water than just once a week. It's about 1.5 times a week right now, so I just round up to 2. :)

How I determined this was basically cutting off the water and letting it dry out. On the 4th day without water, my finger (6") was pretty dry after sticking it down into the dirt.

So 2 times a week is much better than 4 times a week, so it was good for me to check.

You have 6 inch long fingers?? : ) Former NBA player? I think we're all glad that you decided to wait longer between waterings.

So did you do anything else or just wait for the magic to work? I think you are on your way.

Nope, just waiting for the magic to work. Is there going to be another time where I need to add blood meal again?

My sweet corn gets 46-0-0 each year prior to planting. My sweet corn usually reaches heights of 7 to 8 feet. If sweet corn doesn't get the nitrogen it needs at the appropriate time of development, you may get sweet corn that struggles to get hip high.

Corn is still growing very well. It's above knee height now.

When should I apply another 12-0-0 of side dressing? hip high?

I would say when you see the tassles forming but don't take my word for it - I haven't grown corn in years. When you see the ears forming be sure they are watered regularly.

Notice that one stalk is starting to produce tassels. Let me know when I should side dress again guys!

I've lost track of how long its been since you last side dressed, but I normally do my last one at the point the tassels first appear in the sworls, and you are past that point.

That happened overnight, seriously! I go out and look at them every day and didn't notice it until this morning.

I side dressed with 12-0-0 on May 30th. That was 16 days ago. On that day, I also put some Fish Emulation down as well.

-Nash

3 days ago I sprinkled some blood meal on the sides of each row (I did not trench it as I didn't have time). So the corn should have plenty of nutrients. They are about 4.5 feet tall. I was hoping they would be a little taller when developing the tassels, but I read that this is nothing to be concerned about as they will still grow in height (which they are doing). Any comments?

I don't plan to help the corn with pollination and to let nature do it's thing. There's always a nice breeze here in Boise, ID it seems.

Looking good. One thing that seems unusual to me is how low the ear set is. But that could be normal for Sugar Buns; I've never grown it. Even Early Sunglow, a 4.5-5' high variety which I've often grown, still sets its ears at about knee height.

Now is the time to increase watering to 3 days a week from 2, correct?

Perhaps if its been dry. If you poke your finger in the ground and it feels moist, you don't need to water.

I'm surprised that they only grew about 5 feet or so. But that didn't seem to halt much progress. They're looking good. Average 2 ears per stalk which is healthy.

My girlfriend keeps wanting to hand pollinate but I keep telling her to let nature run its course! Plenty of corn for natural pollination I think.

Let us know how many ears are actually harvested. Corn usually has 2 starting ears, but unless there is very good vigor, the second may not develop.

How did it go?