I planted 12 seeds of Silver Queen corn. I know you're supposed to stagger the plantings but my corn seems to stagger itself and I can't figure out why. Maybe someone here can tell me. I plant 2 seeds together, so two, two and two in the back row and two, two, and two in the front row. The individual stalks are probably about 2" apart from each other and the sets of twos are probably 18 inches apart from each other, if that makes any sense. I've planted like this before and never had any trouble before. In the back row, plants 1, 2, and 4 are up to my chin now. Plant 3 is about half their size. Plants 5 and 6 are a shade shorter than Plants 1 and 2. Not a great deal of variation there. But, in the front row, seeds 7 and 8 were eaten by birds, so they were replanted about 3 weeks after the original planting. The plants now are about a quarter size of 1,2, and 4. Plants 9 and 10 are shorter than plant 3. Seed 11 was also eaten by a bird and was replanted 4 weeks after the original planting. It's the smallest of all my corn stalks. But plant 12, planted when all the others were originally planted, is actually smaller than the two stalks 7 and 8 that I had to replace three weeks later. In fact, 12 is almost being passed by plant 11 and 11 was planted four weeks after 12. What gives? They all get the same sun and the same water. It's a mystery to me. Also, the main leaves are turning brown on the tip. Is this too little water? Too much water? Fertilizer needed? I've always stuck my seeds straight into the ground and this is the first year I'm growing corn with a raised bed. It's not looking good.
Are you rotating your crop or planting in the same spot as last year? I had issues with my corn seed germinating this year. I planted corn twice and only one stalk came up. Next year I am going to start them in pots under grow light where I have no critters getting to them. That should fix it. As far as one kernel not growing: seeds are like anything else, some are strong and some weak. Viability varies. Brown tips is probably drying out from wind if you're soil is moist or uneven watering.
This is the first time the corn has been planted in this location. Next year I'll throw the corn out in the yard and grow tomatoes where the corn currently grows. I've been really watering the corn but I was looking at it while watering yesterday and I think I know what the brown on the cornstalks is. The corn is in an enclosed area where the sides are about 18" higher than the soil. I simply ran out of soil to fill the container. The container is probably way too high. Anyway, when I water, I spray the water across to the bottom of the stalks but the nozzle spreads the water (I use a gentle spray to water). So the water is consistently hitting the edges of leaves on its way to the ground. I noticed the browning pattern is right where the water say, hits the stalk in front while I water the stalks in back. Unfortunately, I have the container built up against my trailer so there's no way to get around to the back of it. I've also noticed that the soil right behind the front of the container has stayed dry, so now I'm making an extra effort to make sure all the soil is getting watered. Not that I think it will do any good. I noticed today that there are tassles coming out of the largest corn stalks and the corn is maybe only 3ft high, if that. I may get corn cobs from these stalks, but I bet they'll only be about 2" long. And I don't think I have any hope at all of getting corn from the smaller plants. Our weather this year has been just awful. I call it a loser summer. We had rain and cold until the end of June, then we'd have one day where the temps got up to 90°, then they'd drop again to 70° the next day and then to 60 for the week after that. Rinse repeat for all of July. Next week we're supposed to have two days at 92° and then of course, it's right back down to 80 and 70. At least it's supposed to be 80. We've had overcast for two weeks now and the sun doesn't even come out until 2pm. Which means my corn is getting maybe 3 hours of sun a day. I don't even know why I bother. I've been putting on sweatshirts and socks in the morning because it's been so cold.
