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[EarthNSky <erthnsky AT bellsouth.net>]

Clansgian AT wmconnect.com wrote:

> Bev, beware of what you read on corn sites that are written by and
> for agribusiness.  They know as much about raising organic corn as
> the person who oils the giant weaving machinery knows about knitting.
That's a good point.

> Heritage OP corn had been selected for centuries when mild, slow
> acting, organic fertilizer was all that was available.  New hybrids
> and sweetcorn hybrids are bred specifically for concentrated
> inorganic salts, they don't respond so well in organic plantings.
> Likewise, organic fertilizer on old OP corn makes it grow spindly and
> weak.


Ok, so do you want to recommend some varieties of sweet corn for me to
try that would do well with natural, organic fertilizers, manure teas
and the like?
I grew golden bantam(OP) last year, and it did not lodge.  The stalks
are shorter, though maybe only 5 ft tall.  Plus, like you say, it was a
mild year and we did not have many storms.  I wish I had grown more of
it.  I grew silver queen (hybrid, as everyone knows) and every year I
have grown it, at least some of it has fallen over.  After what you said
and what I read, that makes total sense now, as the fertilizers I use
are slow acting, not the storebought salts.  The silver queen was often
10 feet or better and did not have enough available nitrogen at the key
time and therefore the stalks were weaker and roots were smaller.  That
makes total sense to me.  Why didn't I think of that?

I have plenty of varieties of OP dent/flint corn..
What normal size variety sweet corn can I try to test the theory in 2010?
I'd say I'd grow it next year, but I am maxed out on where I can grow
corn and on the number of varieties I can grow without crossing too much.

Bev

--
“Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to
hate. Hate leads to suffering.”        Yoda