Texas Sweet Corn Issues

[madscientist]

I've only been gardening in Texas for a couple years so I still haven't figured out how to grow sweet corn.  All the farmers around have lovely field corn, but my sweet corn, last year and this year doesn't get above 18" before it tassels out.  Last year I got a few puny ears and that was all.  Expect the same this year.  Have fertilized twice with 10-10-10 but that didn't seem to help.  Everything else in the garden in doing great.
Have heard others say that they have no luck with sweet corn here either.
Have tried 6 varieties so far.
Anyone willing to share the secret to growing sweet corn in the south? (I never had this problem in NY).

[qa33010]

   Have you sent a soil sample through your County Extension Office?  Also contact them or drop in and see if they have any flyers and/or talk to them in person.

[Jerrymac]

Where in Texas are you?

My friend had a great idea. He wanted to plant corn and sell it and make a bunch of money. He had our soil tested and they said it was ideal for growing corn. So he bought a bunch of this really sweet sweet corn. We planted a good 4 acres of it. The biggest problem was getting water to it but even the corn that got water didn't get very high before the tassels popped out. Then we were covered up with worms. I never seen so many worms on corn in my life.

We didn't get much corn from it and what we did get wasn't worth selling. So his little dream of making money back fired.

[dhood]

I'm not in Texas, but around here in SC I've seen alot of that this year. And I'm no expert, but if your soil was good than most likely you didn't have enough rain or irrigation. I have a little garden every year, mostly sweet corn, about half an acre, and were the irrigation dosn't reach my corn always looks like that. I do have a problem with worms though, I dont use any pesticides, just cut out the bad spots. I would like to know how to keep the bugs out so that I could sell some locally if anyone knows of something that would not affect the bees, and yes I know that corn is air pollinated but the bees always try to help out.

[qa33010]

    It's amazing that I read this today.  I was just going through some phone training today at the county extension office and that was one of the training questions I was given.  There was some chemicals for prevention and said once you have them you're stuck.  But two 'nonname brand' treatments was either a clothes pin on the end of the husk or half a dropper (three or four drops) of mineral oil down the silk channel.  I thought that was pretty cool.  It was found in the extension office Master Gardeners help book, since they, as a govt. agency, can not favor one chemical brand over another, they can suggest workable alternative options. 


It's even more amazing I remembered this!

[dhood]

qa33010 , Thats interesting, I may try the mineral oil next year. I would like to mention that until this year I always used sevin dust, this year I didn't and I saw many other benifical insects like various wasp on the corn. The crop had a little damage at the end of the ears, but no more than in past years. But I was supprised that without the sevin, I even had a crop. :)

[Kathyp]

i'd guess that water is the main problem with your corn.  corn is shallow rooted and needs to be watered more often than some other plants.  i had to relearn how to plant stuff here in oregon.  in s. ca i always planted in ditches so that i could deep water.  you might try that in tx.   here in oregon, if you plant in ditches the stuff floats out or rots  :-)

[randydrivesabus]

i agree with kp. corn needs a lot of water.

[Wes Sapp]

Lots of water and nitrogen. Side dress it about three times while it's growing with the nitrogen. My grandaddy always said to plant corn as early as you can to beat the worms. My silver queen is about 9-10 foot tall this year and full of worms, extra protein!