Corn is grown in fields and gardens, people eat it and use it to make feed for livestock. In small household plots, table (garden) varieties of this culture are grown. In the south, corn grows even on the street, along private gardens. The ears of these particular cultivated plants are distinguished by their special softness and delicate taste. Growing corn for sowing in your garden begins with choosing the right variety.

How to plant corn in open ground with seedlings

For your personal plot, you should choose those corn hybrids that are recommended by breeders for growing in the region where this crop will be cultivated. In other words, a hybrid intended for cultivation in the Crimea may not be suitable for a vegetable garden located in the middle lane.

Corn can be sown for seedlings, this method allows you to get an early harvest in the southern regions.

In the northern regions, in short summer conditions, the seedling method ensures the ripening of the crop.

Corn seeds are processed before sowing for seedlings. First, the seed is warmed up under a lamp for several days, and then soaked in a manganese solution. Potassium permanganate is diluted with water until light pink and heated to 25-30 degrees. The seeds are kept in the solution for about 12 hours. The seed germinates well on wet sawdust.

Seedlings in the ground

Seedlings can be grown in an apartment on a windowsill or in a greenhouse. Cucumbers are good neighbors for corn shoots.

Corn shoots do not tolerate transplanting well, so the seeds are planted in separate containers. Ideally, the container for the seedlings should be made of peat, then the plants will be transferred to the garden along with the container in which they grow.

On a note.Corn loves light, so the seedlings are placed in the lightest window. For crops growing in a greenhouse, they provide lighting for 16 hours a day.

It is convenient to grow corn seedlings because this plant, up to the formation of the fifth leaf, very slowly stretches in height. This period is enough until the transplanting of seedlings into the garden. When corn seedlings enter the garden, they begin to grow very actively upward.

To get an early harvest, you can transplant corn seedlings into tunnels or greenhouses. In the south, where warm days begin in March, seedlings are sown at the end of February.

Disembarkation time and temperature

Corn is very fond of warmth and sun, therefore, it is not worth planting it in open ground until the time when the threat of return spring frosts has passed.

In the southern regions, warm weather sets in mid-spring, therefore, in the Krasnodar and Stavropol Territories, corn seedlings are planted in open ground at the end of April.

Landing during the warm season

Important! For the middle lane, the optimal time for planting heat-loving crops is May-June.

With a seedless growing method, corn grains can be planted on the garden bed only after the soil temperature is above +12 degrees. Before planting, the seed is heated under a lamp at a temperature of + 35 degrees and must be soaked.

Corn: planting seedlings in the ground

With all the popularity of the culture, not all gardeners know how to plant corn seedlings in open ground.It is necessary to prepare the beds for planting corn in the fall. For this, all the remnants of cultivated plants are removed from the garden, weeds are destroyed. Then a garden bed is chosen for a heat-loving culture.

Important! Corn loves well-warmed soil. It will grow well in the sunniest spot in the garden. This plant does not tolerate swampy lowlands and lack of light.

For tall one-year-olds, illuminated beds located along the edges of the land plot are well suited. Tall corn stalks will provide good shade, so those plants that need a little shading from the scorching rays of the sun are planted nearby. Growing well next to corn will be:

  • peas,
  • beans,
  • cucumbers,
  • turnip,
  • carrot,
  • radish.

For beans and peas, corn stalks are a rigid support. This is doubly convenient, since there is no need to create additional trellises for these plants. Such a neighborhood does not harm the corn stalks at all.

Corn will grow well where the year before was:

  • tomatoes,
  • carrot,
  • bow,
  • beans.

After harvesting the weeds, the beds are enriched with organic fertilizers, and then dug up, so that all organic matter is under a layer of earth. Additionally, mineral fertilizers are applied to the soil, at the rate of every 10 sq. meters of usable area:

  • potassium salts - 200 g;
  • superphosphate - 350 g;
  • saltpeter - 200 g.

In the spring, the soil is enriched with nitrogen fertilizers and dug up again. Especially carefully loosen the soil where the corn will grow. Planting seedlings into the ground in small household plots of corn is carried out according to the simplest scheme.

Pits for seedlings are made at a distance of 25 to 40 cm, depending on the type of plant. More space is needed for tall, spreading corn. At the same time, if the arrangement is too sparse, corn yields worse.

Row spacing from 25 to 40 cm

The aisles are left so that they can walk freely. The optimal distance between rows is from 0.7 to 0.8 m.

You cannot bury the seeds too deep, they are placed in the center of the holes and covered with a layer of sand or sawdust 1 cm thick.

Important!You can put 3-4 grains in one hole, no more.

After the shoots appear, the weakest ones must be removed. Only strong stems are left. If you are very sorry to destroy the extra shoots, you can try to plant them together with a lump of earth.

It is clear that this type of cultivation requires exactly 4 times more seed, but as a result of selection, only those plants remain that are capable of giving a good result.

Sowing seedlings in peat pots, you can apply the same method of selecting strong seedlings. So that the harvest of sweet corn can be obtained for a month and a half, seedlings can be planted with a gap of one week. Such planting material will also have to be transplanted into the garden in compliance with such a frequency.

Gardening tips

Gardeners are advised to feed garden crops in a timely manner. To increase the content of nutrients in the soil, organic matter can be added to the soil a few days before transplanting seedlings:

  • compost,
  • chicken droppings,
  • mullein,
  • deciduous humus,
  • lake silt.

Manure and bird droppings are introduced into the soil in the form of a liquid solution, which is pre-infused for a day or two. Manure not diluted with water can be applied to the ground only in the fall before digging. For fertilization, aged compost is used, which burned out in a closed heap for at least one and a half years.

Note.Almost all gardeners agree that the future harvest depends primarily on the variety and quality of the purchased seeds. If the purchased grain is not processed by the manufacturer, then it must be prepared for sowing by yourself. For this, the seeds are kept in a manganese solution for up to 12 hours. The grains, which, as a result of soaking, floated to the surface, are thrown away. They will not sprout, therefore it is impractical to use their sowing.

Then, feeding the corn sprouts can be repeated when 6 leaves are formed on the stems.The fact is that after the formation of the fifth leaf, corn begins to actively grow and it needs nutrition for this.

In addition to organic matter, the aisles are watered with solutions:

  • ammonium nitrate,
  • superphosphate.

You can understand that the plant needs feeding by the appearance of the leaves. Healthy corn should look like this:

  • well leafy plant with a powerful stem;
  • the corn leaves are dark green with a glossy sheen.

If the color of the leaves has faded and turned yellow, it means that urgent action is needed.

Water the corn so that the plants do not stand in the swampy garden. You need to loosen the ground near the stems carefully so as not to damage the roots.

Cultivation and technologies for increasing yields

To grow a good harvest, the gardener should remember that:

  • Weeds can stop the active growth of corn, so the beds must be carefully weeded.
  • Fertilizers with a high content of nitrogen and potassium should be applied to the soil, until the emergence of the forming ears.
  • Plants are especially in need of water during the formation and maturation of the ears.
  • You can increase pollination by planting plants that attract bees next to corn.
  • To increase pollination, you can pick off the top inflorescences and shake them over the female-type flowers along the stem in the leaf axils.
  • To protect the roots of corn from drying out, squash and pumpkins are planted in the aisles. Vegetable growers have long noticed that with such a neighborhood, the yield of both crops increases.
  • Stepchildren must be removed from the stems. If this is not done, useful substances will be delivered to the central stem and the ears ripening on it, in smaller quantities, which will affect the yield indicators.
  • Corn quickly outgrows the period when it can be eaten boiled. To enjoy this dish longer, you need to sow the grains with a gap of one week. Then the harvest will ripen in stages. Extended planting of seedlings reduces the risks associated with pollination.
  • If the corn is grown on a large enough area, you can increase yields and reduce labor costs by using black mulch film. For southern regions, it is better to take a double-sided black and white covering material.
  • Like any other crop, corn can be destroyed by pests and infectious diseases. To get a good harvest, you need to carry out preventive measures aimed at protecting the beds.

It is not difficult to grow corn, all that is needed for this crop is the right choice of a place in the garden and good care. With a little labor, you can get a good harvest as a result.