How To Determine Seed Size?

Researching seed plates for my C-220 planter for corn, but am lost with all the info on seed sizes etc. Mostly looked at the Lustran plates (or original metal plates).

http://www.lincolnagproducts.com/dbpage.php?page=corn

Seeds I bought in spring were called "Bodacious" Super Sweet Corn. I have no clue how to determine the size, anyone help?



Measured on a 64ths ruler... I'd guess seeds are 24 long x 16 wide x 8-10 thick.

Thanks

Could you possibly show a pic of what type plate you have? Thanks, bill raley

I don't have a pic on hand, but tomorrow will pull the plate I have to get the #.

i'd guess 1978a plate

In my experience,sweet corn is hard to 'size'
because of its varigated size/shape.I usually just
go with a plate with a "large round" cell.I have
always had good results with this.

For what it"s worth, I worked with plate-type planters for many years as I was involved with test plots, hybrid trials, sales, etc.

Sweet corn is a real bear to plant accurately with plates due to the irregular and shrunken shapes. But it can be done good enough to end up with a nice field of sweet corn.

Flat plates do not work well due to the seed shapes of sweet corn. Best advice I can give you is to use a "medium round" plate, such as a C1X.

You didn"t say if your planter is set for 16 or 24 cell plates. But the C1X is available in C1X-16 or C1X-24. The Lincoln Ag plate in this size is orange colored.

Bodacious is an early maturing sweet corn and these usually do not have the sweetness of later maturing varieties, such as Incredible.
LA in WI

You sure dont measure the kernals put a hand ful in the box and turn the drive ove and watch how many seeds drop. You can rell easy how the seed fits a plate. Sweet corn is different than field . Just because one variety fits the plate doesent mean all varietys will its a try and see method unless you get a bushel then there can be a tag saying what plate to use. Plant it thick and thin after it gets up.

Your on the right track measuring. Buy several plates up and
down in size from what you measured and pick the one that works
the best fro your seed.

I use a 1978A plate most every year. I plant Funks G90. I have
collected 30-40 different plates as they come up on ebay, all metal
ones.

Back in the day the feed store would sell or loan the appropriate
plate for the seed they sold.

I look at the seed and decide if it's mostly rounds or flats and pick
the appropriate plate.

Unfortunately none of the seed i've been able to buy lately is
gauged by the manufacturer. I remember back in the day being
able to buy seed that was consistently flats of rounds. Now they're
all mixed.

Previous advise to put seed in planter and check for dropped
kernels is a good technique. Buy several plates and just see which
one drops the most evenly.

I spent many hours and multiple plantings really studying this and
found that for my sweet corn patch it's just not that critical. My
C251 planter will plant way more sweet corn that we can eat,freeze
or give away.

Thanks a lot for all the replies. Very helpful advice. About 2 months ago, I hooked up the planter and dumped in unknown white beans to get it working. Lubed everything up and planted to see how consistent it planted. Wasn't a big scientific test, but was fun getting the planter moving again. Beans came up (uneven as can be), and my Mom even picked some! Were kinda like a snap/butter bean pod & were tasty.

I pulled my plate and have a 1977A "small" in the planter. It's 16 cells. Not sure what size/type this plants yet. [b:e1e66353a9]LA in WI[/b:e1e66353a9], what would be sizes up & below the C1x-16 you mentioned? I would love to find more metal plates on ebay, but that seems to be too much 'looking' I'd like to do!

Thanks again everyone for posting. I'll test out the seeds I got and future seeds. Below is the test planting of beans I did... & my seed plate.

(quoted from post at 05:48:53 10/09/12)I use a 1978A plate most every year. I plant Funks G90. I have
collected 30-40 different plates as they come up on ebay, all metal
ones.

Click to expand...

Dean, do you happen to have any va peanut plates?? By the way, saw in another thread you were looking to id some plates you have... I JUST came across this pic for edge drop plate #s. Though be interesting!

I just sold what peanut plates I had. They did not fit the Richmond
type planter.

I have that book with those seed plate sizes.

Lucid,
Even though your 1977 plate says "small" on it, it is for medium flat seeds. The 1978 other guys mentioned is for large flat seeds. In my opinion neither is the best for sweet corn due to the irregular sizes.
Go with a medium round plastic plate (C1X-16 which is orange colored); plastic plates are just as accurate, don"t rust, and cost less as collectors like to collect steel plates. If you decide to try a used plastic plate you need to check for wear. On the edge of the plate you will see a small hole drilled part way thru the plate....that is a "wear gauge" and if you can see thru the hole the plate is too thin and wore out. It takes a lot of years to wear out a plate, however, probably more than you will ever plant. Some real old plastic plates don"t have that hole.
As for the C1X-16(for medium rounds), going larger is C54-16,(Red-orange color), then C13-16 (Dark green) and then COX-16 (Red) which is for very large rounds.
Going down from C1X-16 is C150-16(Gold), then C2X-16(Maroon); neither of which will help you with sweet corn.
If you can"t find a good C1X-16 in your area, call Lincoln Ag 402-464-6367.
Keep in mind if you plant hybrid corn in the future you need to use the plate the seed company suggests; if the dealer doesn"t know how to match a plate for you then go buy from a more knowledgeable dealer!
One more point; all of these ideas are suggestions, same as what seed companies call it as seed sizing is not an exact science.
LA in WI
PS Plant a short distance, stop tractor, get off, use a knife to dig up kernels in each row so you can see clearly what is happening and how deep the kernels are. Then go a short distance and repeat. That is the best guidance you have before the plants emerge.

Thanks LA, I will give those plates a go. The wear hole also good info too! I'll be sure to post pics of next years corn crop. 8)