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market-farming - Companion Planting in Sweet Corn

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  • From: "Jeffery Blake" <echoecho AT bedford.heartland.net>
  • To: "market farming" <market-farming AT franklin.oit.unc.edu>
  • Subject: Companion Planting in Sweet Corn
  • Date: Sat, 3 Feb 2001 11:22:57 -0600


I am working on transitioning to organic or more sustainable sweet corn
production. In the future I want to fall plant rye and hairy vetch as a
winter cover crop to reduce weed pressure and to fix nitrogen. Do I have
any alternatives for Spring or summer seeded Nitrogen fixing companion
crops. I have considered cowpeas, field peas, and field beans. I want
Nitrogen fixing while maintaining good ear size. I wouldn't mind cutting
back population. I raise about 20 acres and have high residue cultivators,
planter and a heavy disk.
My thoughts are spring seeded peas, which I understand fix about 80 lbs N ?.
I would plant succession of sweet corn between May 1 and June 15. I am not
sure my planter would no till into standing peas, might be to much growth.
so could I mow then no till, could i strip till ahead of the planter, or
should i just disk it down and plant. if i disk then the peas might not
have fixed nearly so much N on the first planting. They should be fully
mature my June 1 I think. Another alternative would be to seed feild beans
into standing sweet corn, but would that get enough N to the corn. Would it
out compete the corn. the vines would make weed control difficult and maybe
the picking. I wonder if that would work for feild corn? Probably wouldn't
go through the combine. Pea seed is cheap field bean seed is about $1 a
pound. Does anybody have any experieces trying anything like this? Any
thoughts.





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