Planting Corn

Britesea

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I have a wide row I was thinking of planting to the Painted Mountain corn. It is approximately 24 feet long and 3-4 feet wide, oriented so the prevailing winds would blow through the long side, rather than across it. I was thinking of planting them a foot apart in every direction. Does this sound like a recipe for success, or failure? The only other time I ever tried to grow corn, I had my wide row oriented the other way, and I got very spotty fertilization.
 

Britesea

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I can't plant for a couple more weeks either, but I'm getting the beds ready. I was thinking of doing a 3 Sisters type garden, but decided I don't really have the right space for it. So instead I'm doing the wide rows of each Sister.

This is also the first year I'm planting lots of flowers for extra pollination help. I've got some Chickling Vetch growing near the beets- the beets won't mind the partial shade and they should benefit from the great nitrogen fix from the vetch. I've also got sweet peas and poppies started. Hoping to get some Bee balm and Bee's Friend going too.
 

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Planting at 1' increments would be the best option. If you could get a total of 4' available, that would be better. But, you gotta work with what you got to work with. One thing you can do is when the corn is in good silk, go out and shake the stalks a bit, concentrating on the outside rows. Tedious task, given the amount of plants involved... but... you COULD do that!
 

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The downside of the sisters: Traditionally, the sisters were planted in the spring, and NOTHING was harvested till the end of the season. Corn and beans were harvested/dried for the winter, and the squash was also a late season crop that was stored for winter meals. Traditional American gardeners think of: fresh corn on the cob, and green beans, plus the winter squash or pumpkins, so they would be wading through the mess to harvest beans and corn frequently. Pole beans turn the whole thing into a knotted mess. With all of this in mind, I've done modified 3 sisters with limited success: Hills of corn, with bush beans planted in the corn hills, then... summer squash planted every 3 hills, or just at the corners, depending on the size of the patch. No matter how you do it, plan to have to go wading through the jumble to harvest. Cucumbers would be a nice alternative to the squash.

I prefer to plant potatoes with my corn. Both are heavy feeders. Both need hilling or heavy mulching. And, the potatoes don't compete in canopy space with the corn. My traditional planting is in rows, with a row of potatoes sandwiched between every 2 rows of corn, plants and rows are 1' apart, with 2' between each trio. So, a 12' wide bed would be: C - P - C - - C - P - C - - C -P - C. This spacing is tight, and if you had more room, you could certainly space it out a bit more. 3' between each set of C-P-C would be pretty ideal.
 
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baymule

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I planted Lima pole beans in my corn one time. ONCE. The corn was harvested, the Lima beans kept going. I was picking beans too. The cornstalks died, the Lima beans kept growing. Cornstalks fell over. I put in T-posts and ram string to try to pick up the mass of vines so I could pick them. What a mess.
 

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I planted Lima pole beans in my corn one time. ONCE. The corn was harvested, the Lima beans kept going. I was picking beans too. The cornstalks died, the Lima beans kept growing. Cornstalks fell over. I put in T-posts and ram string to try to pick up the mass of vines so I could pick them. What a mess.
Think of all that humus and nitrogen they added to your soil. Sometimes, I think it's a good idea to plant for sheer mass rather than ease of picking. It all depends on what your goal is. There was a guy who was the spokesperson for Troybilt, I'll look up his name later. He was big into block planting, and rotational crops. Any how, he would block plant bush beans and short peas. Grow them up to harvest all at once, then turn the whole mess in with his tiller. Great green manure crop, as well as providing a huge harvest of food for the table. He'd then block plant corn in those plots the following season.
 

CrealCritter

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Three sisters is actually a way to save/use less space. The beans grow up the corn stalk and add nitrogen to soil, pumpkins, shade ground to stop weeds....so only plant a couple melon/pumpkin...a bean every other stalk. Of course you know this but, maybe think a smaller area won't work. IMO you just plant a little less in smaller area. :idunno still works. Add more compost. It should work fine. 100 stalks, 50 beans, 2 pumpkin vine. Good harvest there. ;)
I like to plant acorn squash in my rows of corn. They seem to work well together.
 

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Three sisters is actually a way to save/use less space. The beans grow up the corn stalk and add nitrogen to soil, pumpkins, shade ground to stop weeds....so only plant a couple melon/pumpkin...a bean every other stalk. Of course you know this but, maybe think a smaller area won't work. IMO you just plant a little less in smaller area. :idunno still works. Add more compost. It should work fine. 100 stalks, 50 beans, 2 pumpkin vine. Good harvest there. ;)
 

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