Yes, I'm new to corn too. I'm not going to be planting a ton of it this year, but I want to plant four or five stalks. I've been looking at a lot of different corn varieties, and I think I've decided on 'Queen's Silver' (although my packet says 'Queen's Silver Hybrid'). 'Country Gentleman' and 'Golden Bantam' are top choices as well. To be honest, I was pretty much decided on 'Golden Bantam' at first, but changed my mind after reading some great reviews on 'Queen's Silver' both here and other places online.

What do you think? Is 'Queen's Silver' a good one with which to start? Or do you just say 'Aw heck, corn is corn; just plant a variety, keep the critters away from it, and you'll have a harvest.'

Thanks!

Queens Silver, or Silver Queen?
Anyhoo, my hubby was new to corn a few years ago. I chose one of the SE hybrids. He read a bit, just went for it and had good luck. Suggest you do more than five stalks, for pollination, if you can. Now I will step back for the pros...

My bad Sally, you're right, I don't know why I kept typing 'Queen's Silver'! 'Silver Queen' is what I meant.

I agree that you probably need more than 4 or 5 stalks to ensure good pollination - but @RPR should be able to tell you all you ever wanted to know about growing corn .

Johannian said: Yes, I'm new to corn too. I'm not going to be planting a ton of it this year, but I want to plant four or five stalks. I've been looking at a lot of different corn varieties, and I think I've decided on 'Queen's Silver' (although my packet says 'Queen's Silver Hybrid'). 'Country Gentleman' and 'Golden Bantam' are top choices as well. To be honest, I was pretty much decided on 'Golden Bantam' at first, but changed my mind after reading some great reviews on 'Queen's Silver' both here and other places online.

What do you think? Is 'Queen's Silver' a good one with which to start? Or do you just say 'Aw heck, corn is corn; just plant a variety, keep the critters away from it, and you'll have a harvest.'

Thanks!

Silver is the variety that brought white sweet corn back to life. It is an excellent performer and has great flavor and tenderness for anormal sugar (Su) variety Much better eating then its precursors Stowell's Evergreen and Country Gentleman. It is a full season corn at 92 DTM which may be a concern at your latitude. Silver King is an Se with improved flavor and an 82 DTM. I have planted the entire series simultaneously for a long harvest window. The extra early Silver Knight (65 DTM) was not great but better than other extra earlies that I have tried. Silver Princess (73 DTM) and Silver King (84 DTM) were excellent, exceeding Silver Queen in eating quality but matching in production. In your area I would suggest starting with a second early or mid season variety That appeals to you taste wise whether it be white, bicolor or yellow. I have even grown some good reds. I like fresh corn in September but more so in July-August. I would second the suggestion that you plant at least a dozen in blocks to aid in pollination.
Sweet Corn (Se) (Zea mays subsp. mays 'Ruby Queen')

Good luck keeping stupid raccoons out of your harvest. You WILL need an electric wire or guard dog.
Aww man do I miss homegrown corn!!!!

Johannian said: Yes, I'm new to corn too. I'm not going to be planting a ton of it this year, but I want to plant four or five stalks. I've been looking at a lot of different corn varieties, and I think I've decided on 'Queen's Silver' (although my packet says 'Queen's Silver Hybrid'). 'Country Gentleman' and 'Golden Bantam' are top choices as well. To be honest, I was pretty much decided on 'Golden Bantam' at first, but changed my mind after reading some great reviews on 'Queen's Silver' both here and other places online.

What do you think? Is 'Queen's Silver' a good one with which to start? Or do you just say 'Aw heck, corn is corn; just plant a variety, keep the critters away from it, and you'll have a harvest.'
Thanks!

Golden Bantam, Country Gentlmen and Silver Queen are all very, very old timers and produce well if given good care and soil.
I have planted all three, and did Country Gentlemen again last year.
With four stalks of corn, germination is possible but a poor yield is a strong possibility.

If you do all three, a 4x4 block with three rows and seeds planted 8 inches apart should give you a decent yield.
Make sure you prepapre the soil deeply and fertilize with a fertilizer HEAVY on Nitrogen, plus corn need a lot of water.
As the Golden Bantam is an earlier corn , plant it in a plot inbetween the other two though cross breeding is not really a problem, so what you would have is one plot of corn, 12 ft. long and 4 ft. wide, containing three types of corn.

Thanks everyone for the info. It's very helpful, and I really appreciate it.

So, judging by the info you guys have given me, it looks like I may be planting eight or so stalks. The problem is space. Now, I do have a 60' by 30' gardening plot, but I think I'm going to be using a lot of that space for other crops. Corn was supposed to be a side thing for me, not a main crop. So if I end up not being able to do more than four or five stalks, I may just abandon it altogether until I can get some more space. But who knows; 60' by 30' is a lot of space, so I can probably find somewhere to plant corn.

Also, @RpR the gardening plot is in our native soil, in which potatoes grow super well. I thought I remember reading that potatoes like a lot of nitrogen? So if potatoes do really well here, maybe corn would as well, and I wouldn't have to go so heavy on the nitrogen fertilizer.

Aren't you in corn country?
Seems like growing it should be fairly easy...

Personally, I wouldn't be so concerned about pollination... Hand pollination is a thing...

Thing is... With such a small planting... I'd be more interested in showy, and less concerned about taste.

I'm a fan of Zea mays Quadricolor Variegated Ornamental Corn...
https://centerofthewebb.ecrate...


The ears will have red kernels... And... Corn is corn...

It was funny how the crew at the blueberry patch made a big thing out of eating the "cow corn" in a previous season...

Anyone that had a sweet tooth... might want to search out the super sweet varieties...
When I planted sweet corn a number of years ago, I'd keep replanting from saved seed each year... Wasn't much difference in replanting hybrid seed... that I could tell,

Glass gem is pretty cool too...


As pretty as it was, as the corn ages, the colours get less bright...
Leaving hang on the side of the house meant that the birds soon found...