Originally Posted by
extreme01
I wanted to ask for some sugestions on planting corn. I have looked over other postings, but not able to find details on the best way to plant for the purpose of a food plot. I have planted food plots for the last many years, but never corn. I purchased a new 20 acre parcel of land last year and it has three plots of corn of around 1 acre of size already on it (also has 3 other food plots, pines, swamp, and a section of woods). I want to keep planting the corn, however not sure how. I have a atv with a disc, spreader, sprayer, and roller. Based on looking at Ed's book, I was going to broadcast the seed around mid May. I was thinking of brodcasting the seed, I know it would be thicker, not sure if this would limit the growth. I was going to use 200 lbs of 20-10-10 fert- I need to check around to see who has it. My questions-
1- so far, am I on track?
2- Do I just use field corn? or Round-Up ready corn? pro's/con's
3- Do I need to spray? with what and when ? I don't mind the weeds but will spraying give me a better crop?
Thanks for any help that can be offered!
Your plan is fine, with a little tweeking you may get some better results. Using round-up ready corn will give you much better weed control. Corn does not like weeds when it is small, and spraying will give you much better yields. Spread 100 lbs/a 9-23-30 (common corn starter fertilizer, check your local co-op for bagged corn starter), and disc the heck out of the plot. Plant your seed about 1 1/2 inches deep. You may want to consider an earthway seeder for a 1 acre plot (they work ok if you do not have rocks and lots of sod/weed residue
http://www.earthway-outlet.com/1001b.htm). Spray your weeds whenever they get thick, as long as you can get into the plot (especially when the corn is very small, or if the weeds are over the top of the corn). Apply 200 lbs/a urea (100 lbs/a would be OK if you are looking to save money, 20-10-10 is too much filler for your money) when the corn is 6-12 inches tall, right before a rain. If you can get a soil test, that may help you save on fertilizer (you may just need urea). Good luck.