How to Care for a Corn Plant Sprout Shoot
By Joan Norton, eHow Contributor 
updated: February 16, 2011
Corn is easily grown in the home garden.
Corn is planted when soil temperatures have reached 50 degrees Fahrenheit or more. It decays before it sprouts in colder soil. Gardeners sometimes plant corn in holes through black plastic to ensure a warm sprouting environment. The plant thrives in soil rich in nitrogen and moisture, and benefits from being planted with beans because of their nitrogen-producing ability. Plant two to three seeds per hole and thin to the strongest plant when sprouted. There are several steps to take to care for a corn sprout.
Difficulty: Moderately Easy
Instructions
Things You'll Need:
- Shovel
- Mature organic compost
- Weed hoe
- Plant corn in blocks rather than rows to ensure successful pollination. Corn has both male and female flowers on each plant and is wind-pollinated. Space planting holes 12 to 15 inches a part and rows 30 to 36 inches apart. Make successive plantings to ensure a continual supply throughout the summer. Early varieties such as Ashworth come to harvest in 69 days and late varieties such as Trucker's Favorite ripen in 95 days.
- Watch when corn germinates and sprouts. It germinates when soil temperature is between 60 and 95 degrees Fahrenheit, in four to 12 days. Thin out the weakest seedlings, leaving one strong sprout. Continue watering weekly, taking care that corn sprouts do not wilt. Water more frequently as plants grow and weather becomes hotter.
- Hoe weeds weekly. Take care not to damage corn roots or sprouts. Weeds compete for available sunlight, water and soil nutrients. Fertilize corn shoots when they are 12 to 18 inches high, using all-purpose, mature organic compost. Spread one shovelful of compost around each plant or in a line along the row of plants.
- Do not remove sucker growth from the base of young corn sprouts. Sucker removal does not increase yield or benefit the plant. Continue to water weekly until silk tassels develop and corn matures. Each corn plant produces at least one ear of corn.
0 comments:
Post a Comment