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  • From: deberryemail-website AT yahoo.com
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] CORN under plastic / CORN on plastic
  • Date: Tue, 23 Nov 2010 06:32:49 -0800 (PST)

We have tranplanted some (1/4 - 1/2) acre sweetcorn for 3 years now both on greenplastic and bare soil.  I did not plant any "control" to see how much earlier we get corn but we have had the first local corn at our makets.  It still takes 85-90 days from seeding to get 70-72day corn from the first planting.  The first harvest being about the third week in july Still 2-3 weeks ahead of most in our area. 
 
We use 128 trays plant one seed per tray.  transplant about 2-3 weeks later  when I can pull the plug from the cell intact but before the roots start to circle the cell.  If you plant to late they will be stunted or die.  I use a water wheel if planting on plastic and a holland rotaryone in bare soil.  We plant on double 12" on plastic with 60" bed spacing.  on baresoil  it is 10" in row and 34" rows.    I think that is only about 12000-14000 population but it makes for nice size ears.  and we runabout 600-700 doz per acre harvested and sold.  Plastic gives shorter growing time. But I have grown to hate plastic.  I plan on only transplanting to baresoil in the future.
 
We don't use herbicide and tranplanting the corn on bare soil and cultivating has given me some of the cleanest corn I have grown.  I still direct seed some corn and it always has more weeds.
 
We use supersweets. One is a Mira variety if I transplant it does well.  Direct seeded I get 50% germination at best
 
 
   My goal is to have high quality corn before others, set the price,  then be out of corn when the rest start showing up at the market.  We sell the corn for 5.00 a dozen I know thats low for some markets but it is good for ours we still have some that sell as low as 3.00 and most goes for around 4.00.  Many customers stll want our corn at 5 later when we're out.  Because of the economics of sweet corn and limited land I don't have alot of land to use for corn.  It is still profitable to grow on plastic I know a grower who direct seeds acres through plastic, but it is not the most valuable crop in our mix.
 
 
Charles DeBerry

 

From: Allan.Balliett <allan.balliett AT gmail.com>
To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
Sent: Sun, November 21, 2010 8:42:46 AM
Subject: [Market-farming] CORN under plastic / CORN on plastic

Has anyone been doing this?

Starting early crop of sweet corn under plastic?

And/or planting early/late crop of sweet corn on black plastic?

If so, how did it work out for you?

I see lots of Mennonite farms doing the black plastic in southern PA but I've heard from other farmers that corn doesn't do well on the black plastic.

Thanks

-Allan in WV
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