Sweet corn food plot

I have decided to turn one of my food plots at home into a sweet corn patch. It’s about 1/8 acre and for some reason it gets very little attention. I have planted brassica, field corn, and soy beans in it and they just don’t use this plot. I have a ton of food left in it in spring, so I want to repurpose it.

Question is, how much different is it planting sweet corn than field corn. Can I use my 3 row planter for sweet corn? Is seed a lot more expensive? It won’t be RR sweet corn, so can I use 2-4D on it? Thanks for any help!

Ding Ding.. I know sweet corn.. I plant it every year and its the best tasting stuff Ive ever had. Probably because I got the sweat equity into it. But its great.

You can use the same planter. I use a walk behind single row planter works just fine.. and buy RR sweet corn.. its sooooo easy..
deer and coons learn its is better than the rest very quick so be prepared for some sort of way to keep them out. A few coons can destroys your hard work very quickly.

I wouldnt use 2-4-D… its hard on the corn.. they get long and weak and tend to tip over and dont recover well.

sktrwx2200 wrote:

Ding Ding.. I know sweet corn.. I plant it every year and its the best tasting stuff Ive ever had. Probably because I got the sweat equity into it. But its great.

You can use the same planter. I use a walk behind single row planter works just fine.. and buy RR sweet corn.. its sooooo easy..
deer and coons learn its is better than the rest very quick so be prepared for some sort of way to keep them out. A few coons can destroys your hard work very quickly.

I wouldnt use 2-4-D… its hard on the corn.. they get long and weak and tend to tip over and dont recover well.

Cool, thanks for the tips. I guess I didn’t know they made RR sweet corn. I will look into that.

I am aware of the coons and I have a plan for that.

Get your coon traps ready

Randy Wieland wrote:

Get your coon traps ready

Yep, I have a pile of live traps, but I am hopeful I won’t need them. A farmer friend of mine claimed that all you need to do is plant vining plants in the rows of the corn and the coons will stay out. I didn’t believe it, but he had perfectly good sweet corn, cobs and all growing in a small garden in a wooded area and no fence. He had pumpkins and cucumbers growing in the rows. Says the coons will not cross the vines for some reason. Saw it with my own eyes or I would have the same crooked look all you guys reading this have on your faces right now.:???:

Unless you have the ability to water it VERY frequently.. I wouldn’t try to pumpkins in the rows.. That would suck the sweet corn dry I Would think. Pumpkins and any other melons take up huge amounts of water. Especially if you are planting it soon which is (relatively) late in year. But that is interesting that they wont walk the vines.. they walk the woods which is like a Vietnam jungle all summer?

Where I plant mine.. I dont have access to water , so I try to get it in early and rely on MA Nature to bring the rain.

So I have a 2.5 mile Electric fence system rigged up to protect my stuff. For a 90ft x 30 ft. area… So much current running through there I can hear it from my house.. haha.. They dont think about trying it.

I am not planting this until next year. I have it planted in beans right now. I was thinking cucumbers in the rows s they grow very fast and are quite hardy.

I am also thinking of planting the rows wider. I have the 3 row planter set up on 26″ rows and I can just not put seed in the middle hopper. I don’t really want 400 cobs of sweet corn anyway.

This is the best stuff Ive ever had.. It has been my favorite after trying alot of different stuff. Its a big step up compared to anything you will find at any garden center in the little paper pouches. A little round-up and the stuff is nearly indestructable. And its treated.. like the ag seed.. and that makes a HUGE difference.

http://www.seminis-us.com/

Also would recommend doing it in 2 batches. Because it is all ready to be picked ALL AT ONCE.. and is alot to process (eat, shell, freeze, give away)

Separate the plantings by 3 or so weeks.. and make sure that if you plant your rows North and South.. you start on the EAST side.. so that the taller stuff doesn’t shade out the stuff started 3 weeks later…

And VICE VERSA for East West rows.. dont want the young stuff to be shaded out.

Sweet(literally), they have a dealer 10 minutes from my house!!! Thanks