Sweet corn shriveled up?

gwstang · Aug 22, 2014

We had plenty of rain off and on the last few weeks and the sweet corn looked good. I just planted a small area this year. I was watering it every other day when it got really hot and dry. I did side dress it a week ago and piled some dirt around them. Then this last week, it all shriveled up and has died. What is going on with this? The side dress was 12-12-12 I think. I guess that was a bad idea? No great loss, but just wondering what NOT to do next year.

David G · Aug 22, 2014

Really late to add fertilizer.

ShadetreeRet · Aug 22, 2014

As David G said, it's little late to side dress corn, especially if the ears have formed. Sounds like you put too much side dress around it. Very much 12-12-12 soaking in around and being absorbed by the plant, that's pretty strong stuff. Before next year you might want to consult your local agricultural office for information on this.

David G · Aug 22, 2014

I side dressed my garden in late may and we had a month of rain after that. The results were outstanding, but you could see the stress immediately when the rain stopped.

Brendon-KS · Aug 23, 2014

Not that this is what killed it but watering every
other day isn"t the best thing to do. It"s better
to irrigate every week to ten days but then really
soak the ground deep when you do. Constant but
shallow watering will discourage the plants from
putting down a deep root system. With no deep root
system the plants will be very stressed if for
whatever reason you have to miss a few days of
irrigating.

RN · Aug 23, 2014

Sweet corn and other garden fertilizer now? Compost chicken or other manure, plain yard waste compost side dress yes, strong chemical boost- no. I have some late planted rescue tomatoes that are happy with compost. RN

gwstang · Aug 23, 2014

Yeah, I really do think I boo-booed adding the late side dressing. I have watered plenty in years before and never really had a problem with that. Are you saying it would have been better to add a scoop of the chicken litter from my chicken pen for a side dressing? I always thought that hot chicken litter would damage plants that are growing? I just want to get this straight before net year. Cantaloupes are doing great! :lol:

Dan Richardson · Aug 28, 2014

Way to late to side dress and 12-12-12 is not a good mix either. I side dress with 34-0-0 when the plant is six inches tall and again at knee high. Then work on the weeds. I always have good sweet corn unless there comes a wind storm.

mkirsch · Aug 28, 2014

Corn doesn't need anything after it's too tall to get through with the cultivating tractor.

Fertilize when you plant. MAYBE side dress with a little nitrogen when it's cultivating height. After that leave it alone.

You won't need much fertilizer for the crop next spring.

gwstang · Aug 28, 2014

Thanks, I am bookmarking this for next year!

Sweet corn shriveled up?

gwstang

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David G

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ShadetreeRet

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David G

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Brendon-KS

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RN

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gwstang

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Dan Richardson

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mkirsch

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gwstang

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