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Moonlite37 · Mar 25, 2017

If the numbers I found are anything like right, corm must be the most efficient reproducer of grain. Could a grain of seed corn produce 540 grains of corn? It is a rainy day and I am gathering unneeded information. In the parable of the sower Luke chapter 8, some of the seed yielded 100 fold. They had barley and wheat and that would have been a terrific yield in those crops . that area, and cultural practices. Of course I know that the parable was not meant to be a lesson in agriculture.
How does corn rank with the other grains with the amount of soil nutrients used and the amount of food nutrients or energy produced.

I knew an organic gardener who used ground corn for fertilizer. Was this as foolish as it sounded?

paul · Mar 25, 2017

Ground corn actually suppresses some small seeded grass seeds from sprouting. It is far from an effective weed killer, but in organic situations it can help control some small grass weeds. It decomposes into organic material, and so is a minor fertilizer then.

We plant about 20# of corn per acre or .35 of a bushel, and the national average yield is 165 or so bushels per acre.

We like to see an ear of corn 16 kernals around and 30-35 kernals in a row, or 480-560 kernals produced for every one planted. This would be real nice corn, there are a lot of corners and spots that do poor ears.....

So the math comes out to maybe 470 kernals produced for every one planted?

Corn uses a lot of Nitrogen, perhaps .6-.8 lbs of N per bushel produced, only a little to 50lbs of N can typically be found in the soil by itself. So we need to add a fair amount of N depending what we want to yield. Well, here is a chart for 165bu corn, the grain removes the one amount, but you need the total amount for the plant to grow and support the stalks and leaves as well.

Paul

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