How to Plant Sweet Corn Seeds in Containers
I will then plant six seeds per container. I actually ended up doing 12 seeds I double up the seeding and then then after everything is germinated and that’s just to make sure that I do get six plants once in a while you have to that long term and
Why Pollination Matters When Growing Corn in Containers
the next key to keep in mind is pollination. So sweet corn does better planted in Spanish and that is because when the pollen drops off of these tassels it needs to fall on the silks in order to properly pollinate the ears. It has a higher chance of doing so when the sweetcorn is grouped together. So by planting these cyclical container, and if you have the room, placing several containers very near to each other, that’s going to help to ensure all the years get properly pollinated.
Watering Container Corn: How Often and How Much
Another key is water. So as you can imagine, these plants are taking up a lot of water during growth. And these containers tend to dry out very very quickly. So in a typical summer, we don’t get a whole lot of rain through July and August. I’m watering these containers about every two to three days. And they will typically get a couple gallons or so usually, I actually will just fill up a five gallon bucket and bring it up here and dump it on the pads.
Fertilizing Sweet Corn in Containers for Maximum Yield
Another very important key for success is feeding your sweet corn. So as I mentioned, sweet corn is a very heavy feeder especially with nitrogen. So it is important to fertilize your sweet corn properly. typically do is once the plants are about six inches tall, I will give them a dose of slow release all natural, a high nitrogen formulation at first. This year I used the sweet corn food from Gurnee Siena nursery, I think it’s an eight to two formulation, about a cup of this granulated fertilizer per container.
Signs Your Corn Needs More Nitrogen
Now depending on how your sweet corn is doing, you can come out a little later in the season like right as they’re starting to set yours and give it another feeding between the initial seeding and the compost in the corn didn’t need us feeding but your corn will tell you if it needs additional feeding because the color of the foliage will go from a nice deep rich green to kind of yellowish green. And that’s often your corn telling you it needs a little more food.
When and How to Harvest Sweet Corn from Containers
And finally, the moment we’ve all been waiting for picking your sweet corn. I hate to have you go through all this work only to pick your ears a wrong time.
How to Tell If Your Ear of Corn Is Ready to Pick
So a few cues you can look for to know when your ears are first of all the silks. So you’re going to want to watch for the self to change color. It’ll go from a white blond blur to this dark, dark, dry doubt. The other thing you’ll want to check is their ears feel plump and build out within this husk. And if you’re really unsure, you can actually peel a little bit of the husk back and you could actually peek in there that was not just like do a little tape on their little rubber band. That would go for a couple more days. Let’s look over here I’m going to show you a properly mature ear. So here we have one sir dried down it feels full and that’s right off the top. There we have it. A perfectly plump, filled out here of corn. You will also be able to tell when you press into these kernels. They’re very plump and juicy. And they’re not starting to dry up yet. So that is exactly where you want to pick that year.
So let me know in the comments. Have you grown sweet corn and containers or do you plan to grow it in the future? I’d love to hear from you. If you enjoy growing your own food this summer, you might also love growing seedless watermelons alongside your corn for a full summer harvest. And if you find this helpful, please consider subscribing to my channel grow fully with Jenna. Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time