Ive been doing corn in small plots for awhile now and I'd say my best tips is to tap the tassles into a jar as they become fertile. Wind pollination is great if you have acres of corn but if you want consistent full ears on a small plot then take the tassles, slide a jar overtop and shake vigourously, you will see the pollen collect in the bottom. use a paintbrush to apply the pollen to the silks. companion planting with nitrogen fixers is monumental. especially if they also provide live mulch. I use three sisters method because respect to the OG's and my kids love pumpkins but there are plenty of ground cover nitrogen fixers that will throw your organic corn game into overdrive. also... I love your videos but please, please PLEASE, don't husk your corn. throw it on an open fire or BBQ to steam in the husk. so much better than paper towel (minus the nostalgia factor obviously)
I grew a ton of veggies today, it cost me a total of $30 for everything and my cucumbers are huge and delicious, my corn is doing amazing, lots of tomatoes and jalapeños. A lot of RUclips videos actually discouraged me from gardening bc I couldn’t afford all the extra stuff. So anyone reading this feeling discouraged by the cost- you can do it cheap! It will grow!
Jahlen, I have horses, goats and chickens. All the fertilizer I could ever need is absolutely free! Also, my library here in north Sacramento (California) has little packets of seeds for free that others donate. Awesome!
@@joybeum7177 Is that a common thing for libraries? Guess I could call around lol. I have a lot of seeds I could donate but also always looking for more.
Remember our grand parents had beautiful gardens and they didn't add all the amenities that they do today.They put the seeds in the group,a little cow manure or vegetable scraps and things grew.They were very cost effective ,so don't get discouraged.
i randomly planted sweet corn this year to fill a plot i had built up mostly with compost last year, didn't expect anything at all and ended up with the best corn i've ever eaten. going to do it again next year.
A note on corn silk: you can dry it (just leave it in a mesh basket for a few days to a week, preferably in a sunny window) and you can keep it for a long time (1-2 yrs in airtight bag/container in a cool, dark place). You can use it to brew corn silk tea anytime! Corn silk tea is a diuretic, and can help with ppl who have water retention issues due to kidney or heart issues, or just have swelling. It's used to help with swelling issues in Korean traditional/natural health practices. (Source of info: my mom, who is an OMD and an older Korean ajumma.)
I gotta say man, I’ve been watching a ton of videos on gardening and growing vegetables, I watched your brassica video when my broccoli started to bolt and was able to save my cauliflower. After discovering your channel I’ve been learning so much new things and now my garden is absolutely thriving. In my opinion you are the most informative gardening channel on RUclips!! Keep up the great videos man you’re helping so many people feed themselves!!
Thank you so much for all your tips! This is our first year growing corn, and it is flourishing! I can’t wait to harvest it and enjoy it with my family. 🖤🌽
Love growing corn- my Cherokee Grandmother was Awesome at growing it. She would go fishing first and use fish guts, heads and bones. She also planted squash to help naturally mulch under the corn and tomatoes all together. She used the corn stalks to steady the tomato plants.
Was hoping to see that. My grandfather was a farmer in Mexico and he had similar ways of growing corn. I can vaguely remember his plot of land as a child. It felt like what the garden of Eden was supposed to look like with corn, tomatoes, chilies, beans and squash (we eat the flowers in quesadillas). And he also grew avocado, cactus, guavas and pomegranates! 👨🏽🌾
@@chibigirl8545 That combo is often referred to as a "Three Sisters Garden". The corn provides a structure for beans to climb, the beans provide nitrogen, and the squash protects the soil from drying out.
I have a tiny urban garden and have grown corn a few times over the years. Almost every time there’s a stalk or two putting out those ‘Siamese’ cobs as I call them; I’ve never heard the term “MESS” in reference to them before. Occasionally some of the twin cobs are nicely formed and developed and make great eating or for seed saving. To help pollination along I was told to give the plants a shaky shaky a few times as the silks and tassels are developing. Btw, all I do is peel back the husk only enough to pull out the silk and check for worms 🐛, pull the husk back up to cover then microwave 5-7 minutes depending on size and maturity of the cob. I used to boil them but haven’t bothered since I discovered the microwave method!!
The biggest mistake I ever made with corn was growing in my bed that has a lot of shading from both directions because of trees, garages, etc and it did TERRIBLE. Also apparently ants will attach and eat your corn. Didn't know that. A lot got destroyed.
I learn so much watching this channel. I did not know that hybridization would only happen in the seeds of plants. I thought your fruits would be affected.
When I was a child in the early 60's there were small field corn patches that my sisters and I would walk through on our way to Sunday School. We would pick the corn off the stalks, peel them and eat them fresh... Great memories. Something later generations have missed out on. Hopefully it will become more popular now that people are working at gardening.
My neighbors corn was planted before mine... so when I had silks before tassels, I used some of their tassels to fertilize my crop! (We are growing the same varieties)
This is my first year growing corn so I'll take all the advice I can get! Growing Glass Gem for popping and decoration. We buy FRESH sweetcorn from a nearby farm, you wait while they harvest. Due to covid they bag it in 6 packs so random people aren't touching all the corn. We leave it in the husks, soak in cool water for 15 minutes, then on the BBQ for 10 minutes. They steam in the husks. We have different flavoured butters, like garlic and chili-lime. Canada....maple is mandatory, so even maple butter. Salted Herb butter is really good too. Anyhow, the stalks are 5-6 feet tall but no tassels/silks yet. I've never heard of your '90s method for cooking corn! We either BBQ (few different methods) or dip husked corn in boiling water for 2 minutes. Put it in, turn off the heat, cover....2 minutes and done. It's fun to watch you eating what you grow. I can't get those 'smashed potatoes' out of my head!
If you invest in a mill to grind flint or dent corn you can certainly eat it as cornmeal or use the flour to make tortillas. You just have to nixtamalize it first which is completely possible for the home grower. The corn kernels are soaked in an alkaline solution of edible lime, rinsed and then they are ground wet to make dough (masa harina) for pressing into tortillas, or they are dried into hominy which you can resoak similar to cooking dry beans, or the hominy can also be ground into grits.
I've had very good luck with corn except for little tornadoes knocking them down in circles or other wind storms here in Connecticut. Lol this year was a different kind of a problem. 2 days ago I was outside in the garden with my husband and the painted Hill corn I grew this year one of them was ready so I picked an ear and the two of us stood in the yard eating it raw. OMG it was so good. The next day it seems we had someone spying on us. Somebody got the idea that it was really good corn and the little thief, (you know those gray bushy-tailed things that like to eat nuts)?The little shit ran out of the garden when he saw us and up the tree he went dragging an ear of corn with him. Now I have to net my corn too. It's not bad enough that the blueberries are in danger of bird attacks. Had an argument with some arrogant bird the other day. He was mad the following day when the net was on the blueberries and he couldn't get to them. This guy was very vocal. You could tell he was mad. Somebody's pecking at the zucchini as well and a few other crops. SMH I love the animals but they really need to stay away from my shit. LOL I'm going to have to wrap my entire garden with one big giant net. LOL
My mother had a old recipe for rabbit stew. It said you could substitute 2 - 3 grey squirrels for 1 rabbit. Oh, to prevent 'protein poisoning/starvation' from rabbit meat you need to add a fat. Saute the meat in lard. If you don't have a 'fat' to add to the meat/stew, you must add the brains which are a fat source. No wonder I turned vegetarian.
I live in New Mexico at 7,800 ft. Wind blows all the time. I plant everything at 3 inches. Otherwise, they blow over or heavy rain knocks them over. My dogs are banned from the planting areas by goat fence. They love to dig dig and more dig. I use a rain collector tank and gutters for dry times, and there are many. Also, a pellet gun for squirrels and other vermin does nicely. I leave the dead bodies in the garden and they seem to get the message, helps fertilize too! Corn worms don't live up here. I had that problem in San Diego but millions of tarantula wasps here take care of any other pests as tarantulas migrate like locusts through the property every year around Sept-Oct. I use the corn to feed my chickens, which eat pests too! Let nature do the work.
Love the seed to harvest videos, thank you! Having horrible earwigs in Portland, too. A few commenters have mentioned cooking husks on, that's my fav: they grow naturally with built-in moist paper towels! Works on the grill, too. And you can just pull it back for a built-in handle.
that 90s cooking style is totally a Cali thing. lol. In the midwest we never made corn like that. Always grilled or boiled. Pro tip. Don't shuck the corn. All the flavor is in the ear and the silks. Leave that intact on the grill, microwave, or pot. No paper towel required.
Can we talk about after harvesting? After you harvest does more corn grow? When you have to remove the patch do you amend the soil as any other bed? Thanks for your time.
@@closetcleaner rabbits and smaller livestock love the fresh stalks and leaves. A friend turns his cows and sheep out in the cornfields after he harvests, they eat the dry stalks and put down fresh fertilizer for the next crop.
@@missteach9853 the chickens can benefit from fresh cornstalks and leaves, especially if you chop it up into pieces they can "play" with. Use green plants chopped up in compost piles for the chickens to scratch in.
I knew someone whose parents would fill a big jug with hot water and melt butter and pour it in. The butter would float, and you dipped your corn in. I couldn’t believe my eyes, we always rolled our cobs on top of a stick of butter and you’d have a leftover deformed butter stick 😆
Very interesting. I was too small to really take in or care when my dad would grow corn. (I was 7 give me a break.) Packing buckets of water was no fun. Anyway my dad grew indian corn and we even have some still. Blue type and a darker purple red type. Also what I assume is regular corn too.
San Diego growing zone 10b here 👋🌱😎 The earwigs in my garden absolutely DEVISTATED my corn crop 😱😖🤬 I was DEVISTATED too 🥺 Heartbroken, 💔 I ripped ALL the earwig infested corn stalks out of the ground and put them in the trash can... far away from my garden! (for a few days I considered giving up growing corn altogether 😞) Ultimately, I chose to replant seeds in another location and start my corn completely over. This time, I tried using DIATOMACEOUS EARTH🤞I sprinkled it generously on the soil around the new corn. I also put the D🌎E on the stalks (leaves) themselves... especially down inside where the earwigs live and lay their eggs. It's been about a month since re-planting and I am grateful to find my new corn is earwig free!! 😍🌽 🙌 I am attributing the new corns success to the DIATOMACEOUS EARTH... try it... you have nothing to lose that the earwigs didn't already take!!👍🤗🌽🏆🙏
Laura on Garden Answer also recommends bug and slug killer, like the one from bonide. It’s organic (primary ingredients are iron phosphate and Spinosad)
Tried growing corn a few months ago and well didn't do so good but also somewhat neglected them 🥴 this video motivated me to try again! What was the name of the seeds that you bought? That corn looks so cool 😎🤙 thanks for the video!
Great video Kevin! I actually just recently grew a small patch of Glass Gem Corn for the first time and one thing that may be worth mentioning (in a future video) is hand pollinating. In your case, you didn't seem to have a problem with your corn kernels being pollinated completely. However, if you want to try growing corn without designating a large space, you can grow a couple plants and then hand pollinate to make sure each kernel forms on the cob. I didn't have a large block, so I just took a couple of the tassels and brushed them on the silks below, nothing too precise. Some people use a small brush, but I found using the tassel like a brush was effective. Hope this helps anyone who wants to try growing corn for the first time but is concerned about depending on natural wind pollination for good harvests and doesn't want to designate a large space for it.
Great idea! This method works, generally, across the board. Our cucamelons were slow to take off last year. We took a paint brush from flower to flower and pollinated that way. Once the bees found them, nature took over. Tomatoes are self pollinating. If you jiggle/flick the developed flowers, it will help move the pollen to where it needs to be, increasing fertilization rate. This can actually cause an overload of tomatoes on one branch, affecting size. You may or may not have to thin out some of the fruit to increase the size of those remaining. Thank you Kevin, for all of your content.
That's a brilliant idea Jake! I have had problems with my ears being sparsely kerneled... I will definitely try this method. Just shaking the plants hasn't been very effective.
Did you even watch the video? @0:55 He told you to grow sweet corn not Glass Gem, because " your not going to get the results you want " sounds to me like you had great results with your glass gem and learned hand pollination, lucky you didn't give up and grow sweet corn after he told you a 2nd time " The result you probably want in your garden is going to come from sweet corn " kinda wild yall praising him after he told you he recommends you grow sweet corn based on false claims of you wont get the result's you wanted if you don't sweet corn...
Corn buttering tip: grab the heel of a loaf of bread, speed butter on the bread, fold the bread as you would a substitute hot dog bun and lay the corn inside. Roll the corn cob around in the butter and there ya have it! Buttered corn without the mess!!
You should have emphasized that corn needs a lot of nitrogen & water. Your corn ears seem about half the size of the sweet corn that I've grown. It might be that you didn't apply enough N or that you didn't water sufficient (or it may be that your corn variety doesn't grow very large :-)... but, I know here in Houston, TX, we definitely need to grow sweet corn early & ensure sufficient N & watering or we don't get good sized corn at harvest time. Personally, I prefer Silver Queen sweet corn. Your environment is rather dry compared to Houston, so you can probably get multiple harvests. Here, we have a smut problem when the humidity & heat get too high after late June. Good vid. Thanks for sharing.
Yeah I could have watered a bit more, but also this is a landrace variety that doesn't have the massive hybrid sweetcorn ears like some of the more common supermakret types like Silver Queen, etc.
@@epicgardening One way to determine if it is a N or H2O situation is to raise both varieties at the same time & give them both the same N & H2O during your next batch of plants. If the Sliver Queen ears turn out normal & you get the same results with your landrace variety as this time, then it's most likely the variety doesn't grow very big. The soil that you used looked pretty black--I"m guessing it isn't your native soil. What type of mix did you use?
It’s so encouraging to see your corn harvest from seed. I’m growing them first time in my backyard. I just got silk on 2 out of 12- does it matter if silk is produced before the tassels come out?
You can easily still grow beans and pumpkins with the corn. All three plants support each other perfectly. The pumpkin leaves keep the soil cool, the bean can tendril the corn upwards and also from the nutrients the plants benefit from each other.
Planted corn 🌽 for the first time this year. I planted 3 different varieties in the same bed. I was fighting with the chickens 🐔 cause they ate two of them. I think I have to apologize to them 🤪 cause they actually did me a favor. I had to plant more corn and now because of the time frame they won't cross pollinate. Great video. Thank you
@@byLizee no cross pollination cause I planted them in three weeks intervals. They each went through the pollination process at different times. I had a 100% on my dent corn, 85% on my popcorn and 90% on my sweet corn
Best way to cook it is just leave it in the husk and microwave it for 5 minutes. Take it out with an oven mitt and cut the bottom end off with a sharp knife. The ear will slide right out, without the silk, perfectly steamed.
Corn soup... Favourite in Trinidad. That same thing happened to me also but two corn was like growing out of one like they were siamese triples , you would not believe that all the corn came out the same way, it was really weird lol. I was like, I am not eating that... What the Hell! lol.
Hi Kevin. Could you please do a corn video for container gardening. I’m in southwest Florida, zone 10b, and stagger planting between 3 twenty gallon tubs. I know I need to hand pollinate, but my bigger problem is knowing when/how to spray sevin on the corn to kill the bugs that are decimating the ears AND tassels and not mess up the pollenating. I just planted my 3rd tub with 25 seeds os Early Sunglow.
Corn is like that elusive garden plant that I can't seem to perfect. 5 years running, different climates, different growing methods, different amounts of water and even trying to pollinate by hand..just not getting full kernel development. Really frustrating. Last year was our best year yet...we had about 40 plants right next to each other for better pollination (similar in size to the plot you used in this video)...we ended up with 8 relatively full ears - out of 40 plants. Most were only half full of kernels. Some didn't develop at all. I'm not giving up though. Thank you for great content like this!
I cook my corn in the microwave in the husk. Cut the srem end of the husk off then cook 2-3 minutes on high. Once its done you can squeeze the cob out of the cut end and the silk will come off. Love all your information.
Hi, I'm not a gardener but I am gardener curious. Anyways, three questions: can corn kernels be planted directly into the soil to start a new crop? Second question: if you cut the ears off the chute when it's time to harvest, will the chute grow new ears the following season, or do you have to cut down the chute and start over from a seed again? Third question, has Monsanto's GMO corn cross pollination had any impact on independent grower's corn crops, and if so, what has the impact been? Edit, please like this comment if you have a reply so I get notified by RUclips.
Hey, this is super helpful actually! I was looking foreward to planting some corn next week because it's in season where I live, and maybe some green beans next to it in early Sept. once the stalks start to grow tall. Thanks for the amazing gardening advice, as always!
Yummy!! I live in Quebec and we also eat with butter and salt ;) try adding dill next time! My question: how do you actually collect the seeds afterwards?
I dried some corn right on the cobs with the husks off and then after they were very dry rolled the kernels off with gloved hands . Then I like to put them in paper envelopes dated and type of seed written on outside of envelope then store those in a tote in temperature controlled dry storage
M.E.S.S. - I think they chose the words to match the acronym!! And the dwarf corn, THEN the baby corn in the MESS!! I keep thinking you're going to show us where that baby corn comes from in my Chinese Food!!
If you make a compound butter for the corn it is So Good. I use 1 stick of butter, one minced clove of garlic, juice from half a lime, salt and minced cilantro. I keep a lb of butter made like this going in my fridge all summer long. It is great to smear on roasted or grilled meats and veg.
Growing corn for first time this year. Surprised myself that it actually grew! Now shooting myself in the foot because I only grew three thinking they wouldn’t survive 😂 I was totally wrong! I guess come next spring it’s gonna be a whole corn patch 😝
The first time we grew sweet corn and my friend had extra, we added it to our bed. BIG mistake. All the corn tasted bland. They turned out beautiful but I tried theirs and it was sweet. Going to try again this year but only one brand of sweet corn. No clue what brand of sweet corn they had, LOL. Trial and error. They stalks stayed up till after halloween, easy decoration!
What I love about gardening is that the food tastes so delicious! I think store bought vegetables do not have the same great taste and that is why people tend to add sugar or cream sauce to food. I never thought you could eat corn straight from the plant until I ate sweet corn on an organic farm. Wow, it was awesome and so sweet. Now, I don't think I would do that with corn from a store. Eating fresh organic food is my motivation to garden.
Hi Kevin, thank you for the seed to harvest complete guide. This type of videos are so helpful. Those are the coolest looking sweet corn ever! Would you mind sharing from where you got those seeds? Thank you!
THANK YOU! I planted six in one row and at maturity in filled and proper soil, they seem stunted. I'm guessing its a pollination issue based upon this video. I need a block not a line. Thanks again!
A-maize-ing video. So many kernels of truth. What will you pop up with next? . . . I'll see myself out.
LOL get out!
👏🏻. 👏🏻. 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 that deserves a slow clap 😆
Brilliant! 😄😂😁
This comment is corny 🤣 (JK, I couldnt resist)
@@plants4thewin well... you get out too i guess 🤣🤣🤣
Ive been doing corn in small plots for awhile now and I'd say my best tips is to tap the tassles into a jar as they become fertile. Wind pollination is great if you have acres of corn but if you want consistent full ears on a small plot then take the tassles, slide a jar overtop and shake vigourously, you will see the pollen collect in the bottom. use a paintbrush to apply the pollen to the silks.
companion planting with nitrogen fixers is monumental. especially if they also provide live mulch. I use three sisters method because respect to the OG's and my kids love pumpkins but there are plenty of ground cover nitrogen fixers that will throw your organic corn game into overdrive.
also... I love your videos but please, please PLEASE, don't husk your corn. throw it on an open fire or BBQ to steam in the husk. so much better than paper towel (minus the nostalgia factor obviously)
I grew a ton of veggies today, it cost me a total of $30 for everything and my cucumbers are huge and delicious, my corn is doing amazing, lots of tomatoes and jalapeños. A lot of RUclips videos actually discouraged me from gardening bc I couldn’t afford all the extra stuff. So anyone reading this feeling discouraged by the cost- you can do it cheap! It will grow!
Jahlen, I have horses, goats and chickens. All the fertilizer I could ever need is absolutely free!
Also, my library here in north Sacramento (California) has little packets of seeds for free that others donate. Awesome!
@@joybeum7177 Is that a common thing for libraries? Guess I could call around lol. I have a lot of seeds I could donate but also always looking for more.
Remember our grand parents had beautiful gardens and they didn't add all the amenities that they do today.They put the seeds in the group,a little cow manure or vegetable scraps and things grew.They were very cost effective ,so don't get discouraged.
This is a very corny comment
How do I do it cheap?
The starter plant aficionado in me loves that you did corn starters.....I literally thought I was the only one!
I'm doing the same, germinate from pellets, transfer to peat pot, and then watch the cartoonish like growth rate.
Oh my goodness! Perfect timing! I just told my husband I want to plant some this weekend!
Perfect!
I find him to be perfect timing alot
Weird. I was planning to plant corn tomorrow, and this video appeared in my feed?
Great timing!
Strange, I bought corn on impulse and had no idea what to do with it and BAM 💥
i randomly planted sweet corn this year to fill a plot i had built up mostly with compost last year, didn't expect anything at all and ended up with the best corn i've ever eaten. going to do it again next year.
Must've been excess nitrogren in your compost. Corn loves nitrogen!
When to plant in California 🤷🏿♂️
Hi, your corn is
A note on corn silk: you can dry it (just leave it in a mesh basket for a few days to a week, preferably in a sunny window) and you can keep it for a long time (1-2 yrs in airtight bag/container in a cool, dark place). You can use it to brew corn silk tea anytime!
Corn silk tea is a diuretic, and can help with ppl who have water retention issues due to kidney or heart issues, or just have swelling. It's used to help with swelling issues in Korean traditional/natural health practices. (Source of info: my mom, who is an OMD and an older Korean ajumma.)
Thank you for this💞
Corn Silk tea is AMAZING for UTI's (Urinary Tract Infection)
جيد ان تقدم النصيحة هذا من صفاء قلبك
Thanks for this info. Hopefully I'll be able to try this this fall when I harvest my corn.
Does it need to be brown or golden silks to start?
I gotta say man, I’ve been watching a ton of videos on gardening and growing vegetables, I watched your brassica video when my broccoli started to bolt and was able to save my cauliflower. After discovering your channel I’ve been learning so much new things and now my garden is absolutely thriving. In my opinion you are the most informative gardening channel on RUclips!! Keep up the great videos man you’re helping so many people feed themselves!!
What's funny is, our chickens didn't pick up some corn we gave them, now we have corn accidentally growing.
Thank you so much for all your tips! This is our first year growing corn, and it is flourishing! I can’t wait to harvest it and enjoy it with my family. 🖤🌽
Love growing corn- my Cherokee Grandmother was Awesome at growing it. She would go fishing first and use fish guts, heads and bones. She also planted squash to help naturally mulch under the corn and tomatoes all together. She used the corn stalks to steady the tomato plants.
I've heard pole beans are good for it too since they add nitrogen back into the soil. I need more companion planting videos.
Was hoping to see that. My grandfather was a farmer in Mexico and he had similar ways of growing corn. I can vaguely remember his plot of land as a child. It felt like what the garden of Eden was supposed to look like with corn, tomatoes, chilies, beans and squash (we eat the flowers in quesadillas). And he also grew avocado, cactus, guavas and pomegranates! 👨🏽🌾
@@Alusnovalotus That sounds Amazing. I want to buy some land so I can farm like that again.
@@gwynvyd that’s the beauty of this channel! They can teach you how to grow things in limited space!
@@chibigirl8545 That combo is often referred to as a "Three Sisters Garden". The corn provides a structure for beans to climb, the beans provide nitrogen, and the squash protects the soil from drying out.
I love watching "seed to harvest " it's so exciting,entertaining and encouraging to see everything from start to finish. Thanks so much for that.💞
Encouraging for sure! Thanks @Kevin! 🙏🌱🤗
Seed to harvest number one
I have a tiny urban garden and have grown corn a few times over the years. Almost every time there’s a stalk or two putting out those ‘Siamese’ cobs as I call them; I’ve never heard the term “MESS” in reference to them before. Occasionally some of the twin cobs are nicely formed and developed and make great eating or for seed saving. To help pollination along I was told to give the plants a shaky shaky a few times as the silks and tassels are developing. Btw, all I do is peel back the husk only enough to pull out the silk and check for worms 🐛, pull the husk back up to cover then microwave 5-7 minutes depending on size and maturity of the cob. I used to boil them but haven’t bothered since I discovered the microwave method!!
Good tip!
I was literally looking for this video yesterday! Kevin always knows!
👀
Awesome as usual!! May your gardens produce more than you can ask for and bless everyone you know!!
Very nice sentiment @DKUJ 🤗🙏🌱
Ditto! 😊
I love the idea of the seasonings . we cook our corn on the bbq with the husk on and it steams itself
We grew different crops of corn together and what we harvested turned into a hybrid
At my home, we actually microwave our corn, too! Instead of using a damp paper towel though, we keep it right in its husk!😄
The biggest mistake I ever made with corn was growing in my bed that has a lot of shading from both directions because of trees, garages, etc and it did TERRIBLE. Also apparently ants will attach and eat your corn. Didn't know that. A lot got destroyed.
Corn and butter prefect partnership.
Love the longer videos like this one (as opposed to Shorts). Planting to harvest to stomach demo! Awesome. Keep up the good work.
My corn turned out horrible this year.. but my tomatoes and cucumbers are truly epic this year👍
You got something!
not the microwave, omg put it in the BBQ with tinfoil and add butter salt and pepper to it before wrapping it in foil.
Thanks for the tip!
I learn so much watching this channel. I did not know that hybridization would only happen in the seeds of plants. I thought your fruits would be affected.
Tell me why, after seeing the thumbnail, I thought this was a tutorial on how to glue corn kernels together to make a cob
Uh oh 😂
Back ha ha
When I was a child in the early 60's there were small field corn patches that my sisters and I would walk through on our way to Sunday School. We would pick the corn off the stalks, peel them and eat them fresh... Great memories. Something later generations have missed out on. Hopefully it will become more popular now that people are working at gardening.
Raw corn fresh out of the garden is the best!!
My neighbors corn was planted before mine... so when I had silks before tassels, I used some of their tassels to fertilize my crop! (We are growing the same varieties)
This is my first year growing corn so I'll take all the advice I can get! Growing Glass Gem for popping and decoration. We buy FRESH sweetcorn from a nearby farm, you wait while they harvest. Due to covid they bag it in 6 packs so random people aren't touching all the corn. We leave it in the husks, soak in cool water for 15 minutes, then on the BBQ for 10 minutes. They steam in the husks. We have different flavoured butters, like garlic and chili-lime.
Canada....maple is mandatory, so even maple butter. Salted Herb butter is really good too. Anyhow, the stalks are 5-6 feet tall but no tassels/silks yet. I've never heard of your '90s method for cooking corn! We either BBQ (few different methods) or dip husked corn in boiling water for 2 minutes. Put it in, turn off the heat, cover....2 minutes and done. It's fun to watch you eating what you grow. I can't get those 'smashed potatoes' out of my head!
Ooooooh that sounds fantastic!
If you invest in a mill to grind flint or dent corn you can certainly eat it as cornmeal or use the flour to make tortillas. You just have to nixtamalize it first which is completely possible for the home grower. The corn kernels are soaked in an alkaline solution of edible lime, rinsed and then they are ground wet to make dough (masa harina) for pressing into tortillas, or they are dried into hominy which you can resoak similar to cooking dry beans, or the hominy can also be ground into grits.
I've had very good luck with corn except for little tornadoes knocking them down in circles or other wind storms here in Connecticut. Lol this year was a different kind of a problem. 2 days ago I was outside in the garden with my husband and the painted Hill corn I grew this year one of them was ready so I picked an ear and the two of us stood in the yard eating it raw. OMG it was so good. The next day it seems we had someone spying on us. Somebody got the idea that it was really good corn and the little thief, (you know those gray bushy-tailed things that like to eat nuts)?The little shit ran out of the garden when he saw us and up the tree he went dragging an ear of corn with him. Now I have to net my corn too. It's not bad enough that the blueberries are in danger of bird attacks. Had an argument with some arrogant bird the other day. He was mad the following day when the net was on the blueberries and he couldn't get to them. This guy was very vocal. You could tell he was mad. Somebody's pecking at the zucchini as well and a few other crops. SMH I love the animals but they really need to stay away from my shit. LOL I'm going to have to wrap my entire garden with one big giant net. LOL
My mother had a old recipe for rabbit stew. It said you could substitute 2 - 3 grey squirrels for 1 rabbit. Oh, to prevent 'protein poisoning/starvation' from rabbit meat you need to add a fat. Saute the meat in lard. If you don't have a 'fat' to add to the meat/stew, you must add the brains which are a fat source. No wonder I turned vegetarian.
I feel you on the animals!
@@icouldjustscream yeah I think I'll pass on eating squirrel. I don't care how much of my corn he has in his belly.
I live in New Mexico at 7,800 ft. Wind blows all the time. I plant everything at 3 inches. Otherwise, they blow over or heavy rain knocks them over. My dogs are banned from the planting areas by goat fence. They love to dig dig and more dig. I use a rain collector tank and gutters for dry times, and there are many. Also, a pellet gun for squirrels and other vermin does nicely. I leave the dead bodies in the garden and they seem to get the message, helps fertilize too! Corn worms don't live up here. I had that problem in San Diego but millions of tarantula wasps here take care of any other pests as tarantulas migrate like locusts through the property every year around Sept-Oct. I use the corn to feed my chickens, which eat pests too! Let nature do the work.
Love the seed to harvest videos, thank you! Having horrible earwigs in Portland, too. A few commenters have mentioned cooking husks on, that's my fav: they grow naturally with built-in moist paper towels! Works on the grill, too. And you can just pull it back for a built-in handle.
that 90s cooking style is totally a Cali thing. lol. In the midwest we never made corn like that. Always grilled or boiled.
Pro tip. Don't shuck the corn. All the flavor is in the ear and the silks. Leave that intact on the grill, microwave, or pot. No paper towel required.
Can we talk about after harvesting? After you harvest does more corn grow? When you have to remove the patch do you amend the soil as any other bed? Thanks for your time.
The plants will not produce more corn after the harvest simply pull them out.
@@closetcleaner rabbits and smaller livestock love the fresh stalks and leaves. A friend turns his cows and sheep out in the cornfields after he harvests, they eat the dry stalks and put down fresh fertilizer for the next crop.
@@closetcleaner This is really helpful, thank you so much!
@@terrywereb7639 That is super cool, I wonder if my chickens will love them too! This is my first year growing corn, im stoked to see the bounty! :)
@@missteach9853 the chickens can benefit from fresh cornstalks and leaves, especially if you chop it up into pieces they can "play" with. Use green plants chopped up in compost piles for the chickens to scratch in.
Great timing, my popcorn just started producing silks and tassels~ it's weird tho, i have like 10%/90% silk to tassel development.
They typically will end up synchronizing!
Growing up, also in the 90’s, we used a piece of buttered bread to butter our corn. A nice even application with ease 🌽 🍞 🧈
Oh damn! I'll be doing that from now on thank you 😀🌽💛
I knew someone whose parents would fill a big jug with hot water and melt butter and pour it in. The butter would float, and you dipped your corn in. I couldn’t believe my eyes, we always rolled our cobs on top of a stick of butter and you’d have a leftover deformed butter stick 😆
We did the buttered bread, too, then always had the jam out.
I totally had the same family tradition, lol. @@laurafedora5385
People just don't eat buttered bread they way they used to.
Very interesting. I was too small to really take in or care when my dad would grow corn. (I was 7 give me a break.) Packing buckets of water was no fun.
Anyway my dad grew indian corn and we even have some still. Blue type and a darker purple red type. Also what I assume is regular corn too.
Please do the earwig video. I am over run by them here in SoCal as well.
I have one up!
San Diego growing zone 10b here 👋🌱😎
The earwigs in my garden absolutely DEVISTATED my corn crop 😱😖🤬 I was DEVISTATED too 🥺 Heartbroken, 💔 I ripped ALL the earwig infested corn stalks out of the ground and put them in the trash can... far away from my garden! (for a few days I considered giving up growing corn altogether 😞) Ultimately, I chose to replant seeds in another location and start my corn completely over. This time, I tried using DIATOMACEOUS EARTH🤞I sprinkled it generously on the soil around the new corn.
I also put the D🌎E on the stalks (leaves) themselves... especially down inside where the earwigs live and lay their eggs. It's been about a month since re-planting and I am grateful to find my new corn is earwig free!! 😍🌽 🙌 I am attributing the new corns success to the DIATOMACEOUS EARTH... try it... you have nothing to lose that the earwigs didn't already take!!👍🤗🌽🏆🙏
Laura on Garden Answer also recommends bug and slug killer, like the one from bonide. It’s organic (primary ingredients are iron phosphate and Spinosad)
i miss my family farm
Tried growing corn a few months ago and well didn't do so good but also somewhat neglected them 🥴 this video motivated me to try again! What was the name of the seeds that you bought? That corn looks so cool 😎🤙 thanks for the video!
Astronomy Domine
My new favorite channel. You make great videos, are funny, and I'm learning so much. Thank you for sharing!
Great video Kevin! I actually just recently grew a small patch of Glass Gem Corn for the first time and one thing that may be worth mentioning (in a future video) is hand pollinating. In your case, you didn't seem to have a problem with your corn kernels being pollinated completely. However, if you want to try growing corn without designating a large space, you can grow a couple plants and then hand pollinate to make sure each kernel forms on the cob. I didn't have a large block, so I just took a couple of the tassels and brushed them on the silks below, nothing too precise. Some people use a small brush, but I found using the tassel like a brush was effective.
Hope this helps anyone who wants to try growing corn for the first time but is concerned about depending on natural wind pollination for good harvests and doesn't want to designate a large space for it.
Great idea! This method works, generally, across the board. Our cucamelons were slow to take off last year. We took a paint brush from flower to flower and pollinated that way. Once the bees found them, nature took over.
Tomatoes are self pollinating. If you jiggle/flick the developed flowers, it will help move the pollen to where it needs to be, increasing fertilization rate. This can actually cause an overload of tomatoes on one branch, affecting size. You may or may not have to thin out some of the fruit to increase the size of those remaining.
Thank you Kevin, for all of your content.
You can also shake the tassels which I did and had great germination!
That's a brilliant idea Jake! I have had problems with my ears being sparsely kerneled... I will definitely try this method.
Just shaking the plants hasn't been very effective.
Did you even watch the video? @0:55 He told you to grow sweet corn not Glass Gem, because " your not going to get the results you want " sounds to me like you had great results with your glass gem and learned hand pollination, lucky you didn't give up and grow sweet corn after he told you a 2nd time " The result you probably want in your garden is going to come from sweet corn " kinda wild yall praising him after he told you he recommends you grow sweet corn based on false claims of you wont get the result's you wanted if you don't sweet corn...
Sun, water, and LOTS of nitrogen equal good corn. I grow Silver King. My personal favorite
I love your videos, but this one was really corny to be honest.
HAAHA!
I should try putting corn in the Martian Tower Garden to see what happens. Cool video as always.
In VA, gardening zone 7a, also dealing with terrible earwig issues on my back patio
Is there a 2021 version of eating corn????
Lmbo 🤣🤣🤣🤣
You do it wearing a face mask 😂
And few people outside the south know this, but you can also make alcohol from corn. You just the enzyme amylase to break down the starch.
Corn buttering tip: grab the heel of a loaf of bread, speed butter on the bread, fold the bread as you would a substitute hot dog bun and lay the corn inside. Roll the corn cob around in the butter and there ya have it! Buttered corn without the mess!!
I use that one then eat the butter-soaked, corn flavored bread ... So delicious! 😋
That is beautiful corn!
You should have emphasized that corn needs a lot of nitrogen & water. Your corn ears seem about half the size of the sweet corn that I've grown. It might be that you didn't apply enough N or that you didn't water sufficient (or it may be that your corn variety doesn't grow very large :-)... but, I know here in Houston, TX, we definitely need to grow sweet corn early & ensure sufficient N & watering or we don't get good sized corn at harvest time. Personally, I prefer Silver Queen sweet corn.
Your environment is rather dry compared to Houston, so you can probably get multiple harvests. Here, we have a smut problem when the humidity & heat get too high after late June.
Good vid. Thanks for sharing.
Yes, watering is key.
Yeah I could have watered a bit more, but also this is a landrace variety that doesn't have the massive hybrid sweetcorn ears like some of the more common supermakret types like Silver Queen, etc.
@@epicgardening One way to determine if it is a N or H2O situation is to raise both varieties at the same time & give them both the same N & H2O during your next batch of plants. If the Sliver Queen ears turn out normal & you get the same results with your landrace variety as this time, then it's most likely the variety doesn't grow very big.
The soil that you used looked pretty black--I"m guessing it isn't your native soil. What type of mix did you use?
I grown corn and I always do 2-3 seeds per whole and we don’t thin them
Out, they usually work out fine
It’s so encouraging to see your corn harvest from seed. I’m growing them first time in my backyard. I just got silk on 2 out of 12- does it matter if silk is produced before the tassels come out?
They generally end up syncing!
Great video !! My roomate here grew some corn and it’s starting to form now and there will be a harvest really soon 😊
You can easily still grow beans and pumpkins with the corn. All three plants support each other perfectly. The pumpkin leaves keep the soil cool, the bean can tendril the corn upwards and also from the nutrients the plants benefit from each other.
3 Sisters
Cook in the husk. Removing silk optional
Planted corn 🌽 for the first time this year. I planted 3 different varieties in the same bed. I was fighting with the chickens 🐔 cause they ate two of them. I think I have to apologize to them 🤪 cause they actually did me a favor. I had to plant more corn and now because of the time frame they won't cross pollinate. Great video. Thank you
did you have cross pollination and what was your harvest?
@@byLizee no cross pollination cause I planted them in three weeks intervals. They each went through the pollination process at different times. I had a 100% on my dent corn, 85% on my popcorn and 90% on my sweet corn
Thank you for the helpful tips!
Best way to cook it is just leave it in the husk and microwave it for 5 minutes. Take it out with an oven mitt and cut the bottom end off with a sharp knife. The ear will slide right out, without the silk, perfectly steamed.
Corn soup... Favourite in Trinidad. That same thing happened to me also but two corn was like growing out of one like they were siamese triples , you would not believe that all the corn came out the same way, it was really weird lol. I was like, I am not eating that... What the Hell! lol.
By the way, I would like to get some seeds please... thank you. Just post it.
This is Micah's mom though. Email me.
Thank you.
I was waiting for this one! Thank youuu and hi from Germany 🌽
Hi Lena :)
Hi Kevin. Could you please do a corn video for container gardening. I’m in southwest Florida, zone 10b, and stagger planting between 3 twenty gallon tubs. I know I need to hand pollinate, but my bigger problem is knowing when/how to spray sevin on the corn to kill the bugs that are decimating the ears AND tassels and not mess up the pollenating. I just planted my 3rd tub with 25 seeds os Early Sunglow.
I just plant mine right into the space I want it to grow...no need for transplanting
I suggest soaking the seeds only bc I have a 50% success rate without soaking but with soaking it’s like 80-90
Thank you first time planning corn just love it
I love corn! I’m looking forward for mine😁😁😁
Corn is like that elusive garden plant that I can't seem to perfect.
5 years running, different climates, different growing methods, different amounts of water and even trying to pollinate by hand..just not getting full kernel development. Really frustrating.
Last year was our best year yet...we had about 40 plants right next to each other for better pollination (similar in size to the plot you used in this video)...we ended up with 8 relatively full ears - out of 40 plants.
Most were only half full of kernels. Some didn't develop at all.
I'm not giving up though.
Thank you for great content like this!
You can hand pollinate. Snip the tassel off and then rub on the silks to make sure each gets pollinated. Works great.
Hi from Nebraska! 👋🏼 land of the corn 🌽. Just here to say good job on your corn “field”!
I harvested my first pattypan squash today. It was the best feeling, growing something all my own. Great video. I love seeing the progression.
I’ve never seen corn grown from seedlings but, they look good.
I cook my corn in the microwave in the husk. Cut the srem end of the husk off then cook 2-3 minutes on high. Once its done you can squeeze the cob out of the cut end and the silk will come off. Love all your information.
Corn loves watered down coffee ;)
I'm about to become an atomic orange corn daddy! Lmao
Corn daddies unite
Dent corn is used to make tortillas and other corn foods in mexico
Wait you have a "Garden Manager"? I need one of those!
Hi, I'm not a gardener but I am gardener curious. Anyways, three questions: can corn kernels be planted directly into the soil to start a new crop? Second question: if you cut the ears off the chute when it's time to harvest, will the chute grow new ears the following season, or do you have to cut down the chute and start over from a seed again? Third question, has Monsanto's GMO corn cross pollination had any impact on independent grower's corn crops, and if so, what has the impact been?
Edit, please like this comment if you have a reply so I get notified by RUclips.
Hey, this is super helpful actually! I was looking foreward to planting some corn next week because it's in season where I live, and maybe some green beans next to it in early Sept. once the stalks start to grow tall. Thanks for the amazing gardening advice, as always!
Some fancy people decided😄👍
Yummy!! I live in Quebec and we also eat with butter and salt ;) try adding dill next time!
My question: how do you actually collect the seeds afterwards?
I typically don't save corn seeds
I dried some corn right on the cobs with the husks off and then after they were very dry rolled the kernels off with gloved hands . Then I like to put them in paper envelopes dated and type of seed written on outside of envelope then store those in a tote in temperature controlled dry storage
@@trishdavi7049 nice thanks!
Lol, corn sword! Looks delicious!
I just planted 90 corn plants here in central Maine. Worried it's too early, but excited to see the result. Great, informative video.
M.E.S.S. - I think they chose the words to match the acronym!!
And the dwarf corn,
THEN the baby corn in the MESS!!
I keep thinking you're going to show us where that baby corn comes from in my Chinese Food!!
Almost!
If you make a compound butter for the corn it is So Good. I use 1 stick of butter, one minced clove of garlic, juice from half a lime, salt and minced cilantro. I keep a lb of butter made like this going in my fridge all summer long. It is great to smear on roasted or grilled meats and veg.
Sounds awesome! How much cilantro?
@@DonnaCookAuthor as much as you like. I use one bunch per lb of butter.
@@gwynvyd Thank you!
Growing corn for first time this year. Surprised myself that it actually grew! Now shooting myself in the foot because I only grew three thinking they wouldn’t survive 😂 I was totally wrong! I guess come next spring it’s gonna be a whole corn patch 😝
"Triplets" 😂😂😂 "Salt BAE" 💀
You're the best!
Would love an earwig vid!
I have one up!
These growing guides are very helpful. Hopefully in the future you can add more plants 👌🏻
The first time we grew sweet corn and my friend had extra, we added it to our bed. BIG mistake. All the corn tasted bland. They turned out beautiful but I tried theirs and it was sweet. Going to try again this year but only one brand of sweet corn. No clue what brand of sweet corn they had, LOL. Trial and error. They stalks stayed up till after halloween, easy decoration!
When you tried the baby corn you looked just like my cat when he's trying to chew something
I like my corn with sausage and a pot of shrimp 🙌
Hey Keven thanks u for all your all your videos I really appreciate it because I’m a new Gardner
You are so welcome
Penzeys’ fan here, too!
What I love about gardening is that the food tastes so delicious! I think store bought vegetables do not have the same great taste and that is why people tend to add sugar or cream sauce to food. I never thought you could eat corn straight from the plant until I ate sweet corn on an organic farm. Wow, it was awesome and so sweet. Now, I don't think I would do that with corn from a store. Eating fresh organic food is my motivation to garden.
Veg's from the store we're transported from God-knows-where and we're harvested days-weeks ago! They no longer have life.
Glad u spoke on x pollination.. I planted sweet and gem and got white??!!.. planted apart , didn’t stagger enough
Actually, the best way I've heard someone explain this instead of making people feel like shit for it
Yum! I love your program. 😊
Hi Kevin, thank you for the seed to harvest complete guide. This type of videos are so helpful. Those are the coolest looking sweet corn ever! Would you mind sharing from where you got those seeds? Thank you!
Astronomy Domine, from Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds years ago
gonna plant it now i’m from jamaica
Lookin like gooooood corn. I was wondering if you could do a how to save corn seeds for next season video. I am also a first time corn growin gardner.
THANK YOU! I planted six in one row and at maturity in filled and proper soil, they seem stunted. I'm guessing its a pollination issue based upon this video. I need a block not a line. Thanks again!