Heat wave killed my corn

 

I've got a few rows of corn in the back yard. They were coming up
nicely; beautiful, lush and green, and we'd actually managed to eat a
few ears before a sudden heat wave seemed to kill them off. Temps in
the triple digits the last three days turned them from green to brown,
although they were irrigated every day during the hot spell.

Now I wonder, should I pick all the corn as soon as I can and freeze
it? Will the plants "bounce back" now that the weather is more normal,
so I can go back to picking them only after the water has come to a
boil?

On a brighter note, the watermelon seemed to thrive in the heat!

-Frank

--
Here's some of my work:
http://www.franksknives.com/

 

On Tue, 01 Sep 2009 11:03:34 -0700, Frank Warner wrote:


I'd pick it. My corn was pathetic this year, the biggest ear was less
than 2 inches long. Corn normally comes in at the end of July or early
August in New England, I didn't get anything until the end of August and
what I got was small an overripe. I've managed to get two meals out of my
corn field, I'm hoping I'll get one more meal before it all dies.

 



Same here in Michigan. The unusually cold weather here kept my corn from
growing well also. The old saying "Knee high by the 4th of July" was a
changed to "Ankle high by the 4th of July" This year was a bust for corn
for me also. Three days this entire summer that got above 80 degrees.

Enjoy Life ... Dan L

--
Garden in Zone 5 South East Michigan.

 



I noticed you hadn't done any updates lately.  I guess it didn't really work
out, then?  I never got around to getting my pumpkins in, so mine was a "two
sisters" deal.  My Chires baby corn did okay, but the sweet corn pollinated
too early, so many of the kernels ended up not developing.  The ears were
from 4-8 inches long, and while a few of them were nearly complete, most
were comically random.  (The kids loved eating the individual big, fat,
yellow kernels on each ear!)  The corn field made for good grazing outside,
but we never had enough to make it inside.  (Of course, with four kids who
LOVE garden vegetables, a lot of things never make it to the house!)

The beans, I didn't pick at all.  Just let the seeds drop.  We'll probably
have some volunteers next year.  I've since mowed the entire field down, and
will plant clover and alfalfa there soon.
--S.

 

On Wed, 02 Sep 2009 01:20:45 -0600, Suzanne D. wrote:


I got the same results with my three sisters plantings as I did with my
conventional plantings. The corn plants were four or five feet tall in
both cases but the ears were tiny. My bean plants were eaten by insects.
The squash plants are large but they produced no squash. In the rest of
my garden I got a few peas but not a lot. The cucumber plants were all
eaten by insects, in past years I got lots of cucumbers. My carrots are
tiny also, but bigger than last year. The only things that were a roaring
success this year were strawberries and blueberries. I still have
blueberries, the bushes have been bearing since the end of June and they
are still going. I also still have the occasional strawberry. This is the
first year that I've gotten any strawberries, I credit the chicken wire
strawberry hats that I put on the plants. My tomatoes all came down with
the blight, however I was able to save them with Agway's fruit tree spray
which contains a broad spectrum fungicide. I'm saying goodbye to organic
farming, next year I going to Agway and get whatever fungicides,
insecticides and fertilizers they suggest.