Corn is a valuable agricultural crop that has excellent taste and a wide range of beneficial elements for the human body. This allows it to be used in cooking and as animal feed. Obtaining high crop yields depends on the preparation of seeds and soil, sowing dates and corn seeding rates.
Corn: an advantageous neighborhood with other crops
Corn does not have high requirements for crop rotation and proximity to other crops, since it does not have common pests and diseases with them, except fusarium. It should not be planted after millet, because both crops can be affected by the corn borer. For productivity, planting corn at a time that is optimal for a given area is of greater importance.
Corn grows best after row crops and legumes fertilized with manure, as well as after winter and spring wheat, rye, barley, oats, alfalfa, clover, fodder and sugar beets, potatoes, and buckwheat.
Continuous sowing of corn after corn for 6-10 years is possible on chernozems with the obligatory application of organic fertilizers. It can be grown on less fertile soils under the same conditions for 3-5 years.
The root system of plants leaves behind a large content of organic matter in the soil, so soil fertility does not deteriorate. The use of herbicides has a greater impact on the condition of the soil. They should be selected so that the consequences of their use do not affect the cultivation of other crops.
How to plant corn in open ground?
Corn is a tall, light- and heat-loving plant. It forms a root system that penetrates deeply into the soil. The duration of the growing season from germination to ripening depends on the variety and ranges from 70 to 120 days. In private farms, it is preferable to grow early ripening varieties.
Planting corn in open ground is done in soil heated to a temperature of 10-12 ºС.
To ensure the fastest possible start of seedlings and to protect them from damage by harmful plaque and rot, much attention is paid to the soil. Area preparation is carried out in the fall:
- the planting area is dug up to the depth of a spade, freeing the soil from pests along the way;
- add compost at the rate of 5 kg per 1 sq. m, if necessary, add ash and sand;
- acidic soils are limed by adding 2-3 kg of lime per 10 square meters. m;
- After 2 weeks, the area is dug up again and the weeds are removed.
In the spring, before planting, the soil is loosened.
How to plant corn seeds: diagram
Since the crop is a monoecious plant, for better pollination it is recommended to plant it using the row method or the square-cluster method of planting corn.
In the first case, they are planted in 4 rows with row spacing of 50-60 cm. The distance between plants should be about 30 cm. If planting is done with dry seeds, 3-4 grains are sown in each hole, covered with moist soil and then with dry soil on top. After the sprouts appear (after 10-12 days), the seedlings are thinned out, leaving the strongest plants.
With the square-nest method, a distance of 45 cm is maintained between the holes. It is important to adhere to the recommended planting schemes, since:
- Full set of ears is possible only when plantings are arranged in several rows.
- The light-loving culture does not tolerate shading.
- At the initial stages of development, seedlings give a small increase and may suffer from overdrying of the soil between the rows.
To ensure good yield per hectare, the following is planted per hectare:
- from 20 to 60 thousand plants at growing corn for grain and silage;
- from 150 to 200 thousand - for green food.
What kind of seeder is used to plant corn?
Seeders for sowing corn are similar in design to devices for sowing legumes and sunflowers. After starting, air is pumped into the sowing module of the device by a fan, and the tedder delivers seeds to the distribution disc. When furrowing corn seeds through the holes in the distribution disk they fall into the furrow and fertilizers are poured into it. A layer of soil is poured on top and locally compacted in the sowing area.
To cultivate large areas, mechanized seeders attached to a tractor are used, such as Lindselmash (Belarus), Krasnaya Zvezda (Ukraine), John Deere (USA) and Gaspardo (Italy). In private farms, small areas are easily cultivated manually, so seeders are not used.
The mechanization of agricultural work using the “zero tillage” method involves the use of mulchers to chop the green mass remaining after the previous harvest.
How deep should corn be planted?
Planting a crop can be done in two ways: seedlings and seeds. It is easier to plant corn in open ground with seeds. To obtain friendly shoots, they are pre-soaked in water or an antibacterial solution at a temperature of 20-25 ºС. To ensure air access to the seed, it is placed in gauze, fabric or burlap.
Soaking seeds ensures their rapid and friendly germination and saves seed material. If, when sowing with dry seeds, 3-4 grains are planted in a hole, then with germinated seeds - 1 or 2. They are sown to a depth of 5-6 cm, if the soil is prone to drying out - at 8-10 cm.
How and when to plant corn seedlings?
Growing corn in seedlings reduces its ripening period by 3-4 weeks. Sowing dates depend on the region. Plants are planted in open ground a month after germination.
To grow seedlings, prepare earthen pots or other containers with a volume of at least 200 ml.They are filled with a soil mixture, for the preparation of which equal amounts of sand and humus or peat are mixed with a small addition of nitrophoska and ash.
The seeds, pre-soaked for a day, are planted in pots to a depth of 1-2 cm and sprinkled with sand. Seedling cups are kept warm at a temperature of 25 ºС until germination. After the sprouts appear, they are transferred to a cool room. A week before planting, the seedlings are watered and fed.
To reduce injury to plants, before planting them in open ground, moisten the soil in the pot. Since the root system of corn does not tolerate damage well, the plant is carefully removed from the seedling pot along with a lump of earth and planted in holes 5-10 cm deep. The interval between plants is maintained the same as between seeds in a row when planting in open ground.
You should not expect a good harvest from seedlings that have not been fertilized enough, are overgrown, or have not tolerated transplantation well. Therefore, among gardeners, an opinion has formed that the best results are obtained by sowing seeds directly into the ground.
Further care of corn plantings involves regular weeding and loosening of the soil. It is useful to hill up plants because it:
- saves moisture in the soil;
- activates the growth of the root system;
- prevents the leaching of nutrients from the soil;
- protects against the appearance of weeds and diseases;
- improves air exchange.
Some varieties of corn may develop shoots that draw away moisture and nutrients. They are cut with a sharp knife to speed up the ripening of the cobs.
When to plant corn?
Timely sowing of corn is an important undertaking.Agricultural technicians believe that crop yield depends 45% on weather conditions and 36% on compliance with cultivation technology. Several factors influence the timing of sowing:
- corn variety - for regions with short summers, varieties that ripen earlier are chosen;
- age and condition of the seedlings - the stronger and older the plants, the faster the cobs will ripen;
- weather conditions - the total temperature for germination of sprouts is 100 ºС, that is, at a steady average daily temperature of 10 ºС, the emergence of seedlings can only be expected on the 10th day.
Scientific calculation
Corn sowing, depending on the region, begins in late April - early May. In northern latitudes you will have to wait until June and even early July. Seeds germinate at a temperature of 8-10 ºС, seedlings can withstand short-term frosts down to -2 ºС, but die when the temperature drops to -3 ºС.
Corn is a heat-loving plant, and when the ambient temperature is below 7 ºС, leaf formation stops. Sudden temperature changes and cold nights inhibit plant development and lead to an increase in the growing season. Late sowing leads to a 1% reduction in yield. So, when sowing corn 5 days later than the optimal time, the yield will decrease by 5%.
Sowing in open ground in the south of Russia is recommended to be done in early May, in the central zone and the Moscow region - 3-4 weeks later. Cold-resistant hybrids can be sown earlier, but they will require protection (covering material or film stretched over the arcs).
In Siberia, vegetable corn is planted in a well-warmed area in late May - early June. Black agrofibre accelerates soil warming. However, the cobs do not have time to ripen.
Moon calendar
Even in ancient times, farmers noticed the influence of lunar cycles on the development of plants. If the Sun is the source of life, then the circulation of the received solar energy depends on the Moon. When the Moon is waxing, the juices of the plant rise to the upper part, and when the Moon is waning, they fall to the roots.
Growing sweet cobs faster than your neighbors is possible if you sow corn in the first phase of the Moon, when it is in the signs of Cancer, Scorpio and Pisces. It is not at all necessary to master astrological knowledge and conduct regular observations of the starry sky. In order to more effectively use favorable days to increase harvests, astrologers draw up a sowing lunar calendar for each month.
The use of the lunar calendar for sowing vegetable crops is considered by some to be superstition, but gardeners who adhere to the recommendations of astrologers more often receive good harvests.
