help finding right organic sweet Corn seeds in Canada

3 years ago

I am in zone 5, Toronto, Canada, and am looking for organic non GMO sweet corn seeds for corn that has ca 8" long ears, grows at least 6' tall, and from which I can collect seeds for planting in the following year. Last year I planted "Early Sunglow" sweet corn which produced short stalks and short (max 6") cobs which my husband did not enjoy. Further, I had planted beans to climb up the stalks ( the 3 sisters method), and the beans did not appreciate the short stalks at all, had to supplement with stakes. .. Searching for organic non GMO sweet corn seeds online seems to bring up varieties for short growing seasons with short stalks and short ears. I did find 2 Canadian suppliers selling organic non GMO Peaches and Cream Corn and Serendipity corn seeds, both regular size, but these are hybrid seeds. Has anyone collected seeds from these and planted successfully?

I read that if collecting seeds from hybrid corn, the new plants grown from these seeds will not be true, may revert back to original plant. I wonder, do people keep buying corn seeds, or are there non hybrid varieties available suitable for seed collecting ?

Many US suppliers wont ship to Canada.

Featured Answer

daninthedirt (USDA 9a, HZ9, CentTX, Sunset z30, Cfa)

3 years ago

last modified: 3 years ago

Very simply, hybrids that produce desirable plants may come from crossed plants that are individually not so desirable. Those undesirable genes are there in the hybrid, but they don't dominate there. If you breed plants from hybrid seeds, you're just allowing those undesirable genes to reassert themselves. Breeders keep breeding using different varieties. Some come out better, but some come out worse. So yes, if you breed plants from hybrid seeds, you may get something better. But you may also get something worse. You'll certainly get something that the original breeder didn't intend for you to have.

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Comments (10)

robert567
3 years ago
Open pollinated sweet corn is mostly a novelty market, hybrids dominate. If you save seeds from hybrids, the next generation will not be the same. Open pollinated corn available tends to be small or ornamental, but you can search heirloom varieties.

Buhl Sweet Corn from Baker Creek rareseeds.,com sounds good, and they ship to Canada
doriswk thanked robert567
war garden
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
first, the traditional three sisters was not meant

to be used with sweet corn. so that is why you failed.

second, giving your zone is meaningless since it only tells you the

coldest average winter temperature

third,no gmo sweet corn varieties are on sale to public.

As for a corn variety .

you will need to provide more

information such as your:

1. frost dates and season length. .

2. do you want a yellow , white or bi color variety,

3.how many plants and what spacing

method will you be using..

4. what is you day length range during the summer

5. do you want single ear or double ears of per corn plant.
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ken_adrian Adrian MI cold Z5
3 years ago
am looking for organic non GMO sweet corn seeds for corn that has ca 8" long ears, grows at least 6' tall, and from which I can collect seeds for planting in the following year. Last year I planted "Early Sunglow" sweet corn which produced short stalks and short (max 6") cobs which my husband did not enjoy.

-====>

based on those specifications.. it might be easier to replace the husband.. rather than find this unicorn .. lol ...

in my county.. of which corn vies with soybean for near total domination.. less the couple thousand house we have.. i would suggest the hybrid corn sales are in the tens of millions ... it is HUGE business ,... and its all based on thh fact.. that you cant grow high quality stock.. open pollinated ...

and its apparently huge in CA according to the first link here:

https://duckduckgo.com/?q=corn+in+canada&t=ffab&ia=web

if you were in the states i would suggest you contact your county agricultural office.. or the county extension office... YOU HAVE TO HAVE CANADIAN EQUIVALENTS ... google up the nearest seed/feed store.. and they can tell you who to contact.. and probably sell yo the seed ..

and i cant believe you would have to ship them in from another country .. crikey ...

and i would contact them now.. in the off season.. the canadian beer drinking season... not when the farmers are planting ...

ken

ps: whats the foreign country south of detroit ... but not south of the rest of the US ...
sah_upstate4 (zone 5b - NY)
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
Hudson Valley Seed ships to Canada and has a couple of OP and organic sweet corn varieties:

https://hudsonvalleyseed.com/products/ashworth-sweet-corn

https://hudsonvalleyseed.com/products/top-hat-sweet-corn

"Double Standard" is another OP option that was developed by Johnny's, but is now widely available from multiple seed companies (not sure which ones ship to Canada though).
doriswk thanked sah_upstate4 (zone 5b - NY)
farmerdill
3 years ago
If you are going to try the three sisters method, you will need a variety just a step above field corn. Antiques available include Stowell's Evergreen, Country Gentleman, Howling Mob, Trucker's Favorite. This Canadian vendor has a couple of them. Shop for Corn at The Incredible Seed Company Ltd.: Heirloom Untreated NON-GMO From Canada (incredibleseeds.ca) I am sure there are other vendors in Canada. If not there are lots of vendors just south of the border.
doriswk thanked farmerdill
Gargamel
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
I’m curious about why it’s so bad if the plants don't come true from seed (from a hybrid). I was under the impression that breeders just keep breeding new plants to highlight some ”better” attribute- which may be that it lasts longer, maybe more pest resistant, transports easier - nothing really to do with taste anymore. Am I missing something?
John D Zn6a PIT Pa
3 years ago
off topic:

Why is you can ship food across the border either way, but you can't ship the seeds. Grains are shipped in trucks, rail cars and ship holds. Unprocessed. But if you put a few of the grains in a paper envelope and call them seeds.... Can't have that. Can't ship the same grains from the same source.

Fruit is shipped all over the world, but scions or rootstocks aren't shipable. Even bare root; without soil.
doriswk
Original Author
3 years ago
Thanks for all the comments. I am rather new to growing corn, only grew corn once before, without understanding the bigger picture. I have now come to accept that if I want organic corn, and want it to have the size and flavor I want, it is going to be a hybrid. And I'll have to buy new seeds every year.

I am curious though about the process by which commercial breeders manage to keep selling the same hybrid corn variety year after year with exactly the same attributes. Is this a specialty too complicated or cumbersome to be accomplished by a novice?
farmerdill
3 years ago
It can be done, done but quite labor and time intensive. Most modern hybrids use inbred lines which are not available to amateur developers. In the case of corn, it is relatively easy to create the older single cross hybrids like Bantam Evergreen. You simply remove the tassels from one variety so that the parent only gets pure pollen from the donor plant. The effort is multiplied when breeding lines must first be developed.