Sowing corn in open ground: seed preparation, timing

2024 Author: Howard Calhoun | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 10:16

Corn is not only very tasty, but also a very valuable crop. In addition to unsurpassed taste qualities, corn cobs have useful properties, as they contain a huge range of elements useful for the human body. In cultivation, the queen of the fields is quite unpretentious, so many gardeners annually plant it in their plots. Proper sowing of corn is the key to the future harvest, so this stage should be given special attention.

Choosing a place for planting corn

Regardless of the variety, this crop loves light, well-cultivated sandy, sandy and loamy soils with a pH level of at least 5, 6, into which moisture and solar heat easily penetrate. It is strongly not recommended to sow corn seeds in over-compacted soils!

Another important factor affecting yields isis the choice of previous crops growing in the previous season at the place where it is planned to grow corn. Good predecessors include cereals, row crops and legumes.

Sowing corn should be carried out after autumn plowing and spring pre-sowing tillage with a cultivator. Prepared soil should also be enriched with organic and mineral fertilizers.

Sufficient moisture is a prerequisite for the formation and good growth of corn. Autumn plowing helps to provide the necessary soil moisture. During its “rest”, loose earth accumulates enough moisture to quickly turn corn seeds into strong and he althy seedlings.

Choice variety

Speci alty shops offer a huge variety of hybrid varieties. The timing of sowing corn of all varieties is almost the same, but other characteristics vary. When choosing seed, one should take into account such factors as the direction of the economic use of a particular variety (food or fodder), yield, taste, ripening time, resistance to adverse environmental conditions, pests and diseases.

Presowing seed treatment

Calibrated seeds without any external defects are selected for planting. To ensure good germination, corn seeds are prepared for sowing. A week before sowing, it is recommended to heat them with air-thermal heating at a temperature of 25-35 degrees andgood ventilation. Heated seeds germinate better and faster, develop and give a good harvest.

After 5 days, the seeds are washed, sorting out low-quality material along the way (if you put the seeds in a container and fill it with water, the quality ones will remain at the bottom, and the spoiled ones will float to the surface). Then they are wrapped in gauze and soaked in clean water at room temperature for 2-3 days until the sprouts hatch.

Before corn is sown, it is recommended to treat the seeds with special preparations in order to protect against pests and diseases.

Sowing dates

This indicator depends on the climatic picture of a particular region. Sowing corn in open ground can be carried out at an average daily temperature of +10 degrees and there is no threat of frost. The best time is mid-May. By this time, the soil at the required planting depth usually also has time to warm up to a similar temperature indicator.

The corn sowing calendar is strictly not recommended to be violated, since failure to meet the deadlines directly affects the final result. Every day late in planting reduces the yield level by 1%.

Scheme of sowing corn seeds

The planting depth of this crop is from 3 to 5 cm. The soil must have sufficient moisture and completely cover the seeds. It is not recommended to close them deeper than 5 cm, as this will negatively affect the timing of germination.

Sowingcorn runs in rows. Plant spacing and row spacing vary by variety. Seed packages usually contain recommended planting patterns. However, it is worth thinking in advance about the convenience of caring for corn. In other words, corn should be sown so that there will be easy access to each plant later on for weeding, fertilizing, watering and harvesting.

The optimal distance between plants in a row is 20-25 cm, row spacing is 50-70 cm.

Seedling care

After germination, it is necessary to regularly loosen the soil and carefully remove weeds. Weeds deplete the soil and take away the moisture that corn needs from it. Plus, they drown out young shoots, preventing them from developing normally.

Loosening the earth is recommended after rain or watering. This way the soil will stay moist longer. By the way, corn does not tolerate drought well, so it must be watered if it does not rain for a long time. However, excess moisture should also be avoided, as too damp soil makes it difficult for air to reach the roots of the plant.

Plant fertilizer

When 5 leaves appear on the seedlings of corn, they should be fed with superphosphates, potassium s alt and ammonium nitrate. These fertilizers are applied to the soil in the form of solutions. Dosage recommendations are usually indicated in the instructions for the drugs.

The second feeding is carried out during the flowering period of corn, and the third - whencobs will begin to form.

The composition of the soil directly affects the plant's need for a particular fertilizer. The condition of the leaves can tell you what kind of fertilizer the corn is missing. So, for example, with nitrogen starvation, the leaves will turn yellow and dry out. A lack of phosphorus will manifest itself by reddening of the leaves, and a deficiency of potassium will result in a slowdown in their growth and damage in the form of burns.

Harvesting

Timely harvesting of corn will allow you to enjoy its unsurpassed taste. Cobs have the greatest taste value at the stage of milky ripeness. Young, juicy and sweet corn is consumed boiled, canned and pickled. Use 20-25 days after flowering as a guideline for determining when to harvest.

There are also several visual signs of corn readiness:

• The edges of the top wraps are starting to dry out a little.
• Wrappers, drier on the outside and still moist on the inside, wrap the heads tightly.
• The pistil threads have not yet dried up, but have already acquired a slightly brownish tint.
• The grains are round and elastic over the entire height of the head.
• The color of the beans is no longer white, but light yellow.
• When light pressure is applied, the shell of the grain bursts, releasing a milky-sugar liquid.

Corn picking usually starts in late July - early August. The formation and ripening of cobs occur in several stages, so fresh fruits will be able to please their taste for several weeks in a row.