GROWING CORN

good afternoon to all and thanks in advancd for the help
i have been growing corn now 2 years ,now i do not raise thousands of acres but just a one acre patch of field corn for feeding chickens thru the winter. the problem that i am having is that the stalks grow very well but no ears are on the stalks.
The first year I just planted corn after discing and the corn grew 7to 8 feet tall and one three ears per the plot
the second year i plowed then disced and then spread 200 lbs of urea then disked per local co op and soil sample.
this year the corn is not so tall but also maybe three to four ears per plot
What am I doing wrong???
Thanks Chris

Forgot to add that i spread manure(sheep) on this field ( both years)
Thanks chris

Are you planting a hybrid seed? If you are using bin-run, there is your answer.

JMS has probably got it; where are you buying your seed?

What poulation are you planting at? 32,000 plants per acre would be a good average pop.

About how far in between plants and what row spacing are you at now? Too close of plants will yield very little.

bought it at a local seed dealer. i can not for the life of me remember what it said on the bag other than great hybrid and also it is a white bag with a black and yellow label (conventional corn)

also i am using a old old 2 row ih planter with steel closing wheels i think is set on 30 " rows but have no idea what population it is

If you bought hybrid seed from a dealer you should give him a call and ask what is going on.

You don"t say what you"re doing for weed control.

Weeds can come up at the exact time that your corn is making ears and rob the nutrients from the ground.

Ron

MJ is right, talk to the dealer you got the seed from. He might even give you a little kick back on the seed if it didn't perform right.

It sounds like a pollination problem to me, but then if it was a pollination problem there would still be an ear but it would have a bare cob. Jim

OK. Let's try it this route.How much of the bag was left over after planting? This will get us close to the planted population.

Would say that ther was at least 3/4 a bag left
I have no weed control right now i am working on that problem
I was thinking maybe that weeds could be a problem

You are in Learning Curve 101. Post your row width. Measure off 100 feet of a row, count the plants. Post that here. Tell us what your seed was. Hybrid, bin run, open-pollinated like Minnesota 13, or what other organic farmers grow....traditional moonshiners use-yes, some are still here...If this is your second year trying it, you need to get to the bottom of this.

Like the other posts said, weeds are a likely culprit. I only grow corn in a small garden, but I have found that plants too close together in the row will reduce yield. I like to have plants about a foot apart in the row. It appears to be different in the cornbelt where there is adequate rainfall and weed control, but that works for me.

KEH

You are in Learning Curve 101. Post your row width. Measure off 100 feet of a row, count the plants. Post that here. Tell us what your seed was. Hybrid, bin run, open-pollinated like Minnesota 13, or what other organic farmers grow....traditional moonshiners use-yes, some are still here...If this is your second year trying it, you need to get to the bottom of this.


I will measure this out tonight and post so that i can get to the bottm of this. I am really staring to get frustrated with this

Sounds like you're planting sugar corn. :>)

Allan

You might want to check what the characterists are of the corn variety you are using. I've planted some old non-hydrid varities that did terrible; especially Country Gentleman. Also, do you have bees around? I'm wondering what color are your corn leafs? Do they stay dark green all summer?

I'm no expert, but do grow 5-10 acres of sweet corn every year on some pretty crappy, high-acid, and very rocky soil. Also grow feed corn for some neighbors which grows better and faster then any sweet corn I use. And, I don't use any chemicals anymore. I got tired of spending the money on Prowl and Bicep. Now, I interplant all the sweet corn with pole beans and pumpkins. Then, I just let the weeds grow. This year, the weeds were as high as the corn until July, and then the corn overtook the weeds. Absolutely no problem with ears, all big and full. I use 15-15-15 when planting, and that's it. No side-dressing later. I'm using all SU and SE corn hydrids. Silver Queen and Silver King seem to grow anywhere as long as there is enough nitrogen in the soil.

I must admit I've got a plot of land up on top of the mountain where corn never did well. Short stalks and no ears. I didn't bother getting it checked; just stop using that area. So, I know that certain soil types will not support corn very well. But, you said your's was checked, correct? If so, what do those ag people say about your corn?

If you had a lot of grass weeds, that's your problem. Broadleaves can mess it up too.

Corn comes out of the ground, sits there for a couple weeks at 5 inches high & grows it's roots.

Then it takes off and grows fast & tall.

During that period, it does not like _any_ shading or competition from weeds.

If it gets shading, it tries to grow, instead of building roots.

It cannot grow as fast as the weeds; it's root system is now messed up; and it basically is done for the year.

The weeds shade it out, and take the moisture & nutrients, and the corn will struggle to grow any at all in those conditions, much less form ears.

Weed control early on corn is _very_ important.

That is why corn spacing & seed depth is also very important - very uniform, so it is all equal.

--->Paul

ok so i did some checking and the planter is set up for 38 inch rows and i measured 100 row and counted seems to be about 80 or so plants thats not counting skips from planter
leaves are yellowish green and some are very deep red and also the weeds are a deftinaly a problem
the bag a corn has no tag and no gentic makeup it just says hybrid seed corn sqc seeds and location of company that i bought it from
yes i had soil samples done last year right at end of season and had 2 different guys look at it one that works woth the soil samples and one who use to work selling seed and fert
both seem to agree that spreading 200 lbs of urea would cure the problem
Sorry for rambling just trying to get this worked out as i have money in this field and not going to get anything out of it

Did you apply anything other than the 200 lbs. of urea? Also, when did you apply it?

One fourth of a bag isn't enough for todays hybrids, if that's what you planted. At 30,0000 population a normal 80,000 kernal bag should plant 2.5 acres. Weeds will suck that corn down fast. Jim

What all did the soil test test for? Soil PH? Trace elements? Soil composition such as organic matter, etc.?

While weed infestation is a big issue I am of the opinion that you have some soil deficiency issues.

When did you plant the corn? How did that planting time compare to others that planted?