Posts: 7,734
Threads: 686
Joined: Jun 2011
While looking for things to add to our container garden I stumbled across "This first-ever container-ready corn is a revolution-one you can enjoy from the comfort of your patio. Simply plant 9 seeds per 24" container and get ready to harvest in about 2 months!" (
http://www.burpee.com/vegetables/corn/co...03168.html ) and that sent me down the internet rabbit hole of article after article of growing corn in containers.
(don't mistake the above link for endorsement of the product)
It is something we're going to try, but none of the information I can find was specific to growing in Hawaii. Has anybody here successfully grown corn in containers here, and if so what did you learn?
Posts: 1,252
Threads: 72
Joined: Sep 2012
I've never grown corn in containers, but I know you can get 3 seasons of corn here in Hawaii; I used to work for a research lab that grew corn on Molokai (no, not Monsanto, somebody at UC Berkeley. You know, Novartis.)
Corn plants pollinate best if there are lots of them in a squarish formation, rather than one long row. I would think 9 plants wouldn't pollinate well. Maybe if you had a grid of 9 pots with 9 plants each.
So where do you get 24" pots? Smiths! They sell washer and dryer tubs for $5 each. I have a line of them for my herb garden, and several with individual plants. Dryer tubs usually have an open bottom (so they're a big tube); washer tubs have lots of small holes all over for drainage, but have a center post that might be a problem with tree roots. Bonus; you can weedwhack all around them without harming the plants inside.
><(((*< ... ><(("< ... ><('< ... >o>
Posts: 4,249
Threads: 96
Joined: Mar 2014
Interesting! 4 to 5 feet tall with 2-3 ears per stalk and ready to harvest in 2 months... I would imagine wrapping them up in mosquito netting as they got closer to producing just due to all the bugs here. And of course, put copper wire or copper tape around the container to keep the slugs out.
Posts: 998
Threads: 30
Joined: Feb 2012
Corn is a c4 photosynthesizer, which means that it prefers hot, relatively dry places with bright sunlight. That makes it an excellent crop for the West side, but I wonder how it would perform on the East side with lower light levels and moister climate? I suppose you can control the water levels with a greenhouse or cover of some sort.
Me ka ha`aha`a,
Mike
Me ka ha`aha`a,
Mike
Posts: 581
Threads: 44
Joined: Feb 2006
I have only grown cukes and grape tomatoes in large pots. I grew a decent crop of corn earlier this year (HPP) in a raised bed using a UH variety (Garden Exch). The second planting was on the shadier side of the first planting and did really poorly. I planted the seeds 8" apart in a 6 X 6 block. Supposedly the mainland varieties do poorly here. I think a cover to keep them drier would reduce light and corn would do worse.
Allen
Finally in HPP
Allen
Finally in HPP
Posts: 7,734
Threads: 686
Joined: Jun 2011
"I wonder how it would perform on the East side with lower light levels and moister climate?"
My guess is that there is a variety for everything. The only commercially grown corn on this island that I'm aware of is just north of Hilo, though it's grown for silage for feeding dairy cows, not for the actual corn ears.
Posts: 761
Threads: 40
Joined: Nov 2014
I tried a couple of small containers (intending to transplant them if they got big enough) on top of a 2ft wall. The seeds were one of those UH "local" varieties. They died about a month after sprouting. Back to pineapples and papayas for me.
Posts: 1,219
Threads: 52
Joined: Dec 2014
There was an East side farm that sold really tasty sweet corn from the Kai Store parking lot for years, I don''t know if they are still around though. Loefflers, or something like that might have been the name.
Posts: 7,734
Threads: 686
Joined: Jun 2011
quote:
Originally posted by leilanidude
Interesting! 4 to 5 feet tall with 2-3 ears per stalk and ready to harvest in 2 months... I would imagine wrapping them up in mosquito netting as they got closer to producing just due to all the bugs here. And of course, put copper wire or copper tape around the container to keep the slugs out.
I am concerned about what the bugs might do. Being a winter crop I'm hoping that the pests will be a little easier to deal with, but that's based on "hoping" and no real science. I did put two stripes of this copper tape (about an inch apart, because the african snails will try to step over the tape) around the container, then put wire fencing around the whole setup to keep the chickens out of it.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HQT3B8A/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&psc=1&linkCode=ll1&tag=pw016-20&linkId=7a86a0e09e07db3d34c44ab82d0f3c1b
I have seedlings now, about 3 inches high.
Also trying our first stab at growing potatoes in a container:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMrkIecqQL8
Posts: 185
Threads: 24
Joined: Jul 2012
quote:
... I did put two stripes of this copper tape (about an inch apart, because the african snails will try to step over the tape) around the container...
Does copper really work? We are trying our hand(s) at vegetables and the snails and slugs have me worried (not to mention creeped-out - I had no idea snails got so huge).
Also, thanks for the general topic - I have corn seeds from UH, but have yet to do anything with them.
