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Vegetable Gardening

How early can I plant corn?

16 years ago

Last year I planted Early Sunglow March 15 and harvested the week after Memorial Day. Am I pushing it by wanting to plant now? My soil temp is 60 degrees and our daytime temps are in the upper 60's. Should I just be patient and wait or is there any advantage to getting it in now?

I'm just itching to plant something! My maters won't be ready for another three weeks!

Elaine

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Comments (3)

paulc_gardener
16 years ago
I would wait till April. Your harvest was about 2 weeks late.
sirmac
16 years ago
I dont know what kind of sugar variety that cultivar is. But,I believe SU variety corn needs at least 60 deg F . SE and up need a bit warmer like 65 deg F. - Hope that helps.
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kjggames
16 years ago
Hello there,

Who could blame you for wanting to get started? It's "That time," after all.

Where in Central Cal do you live? I use to live near the coast, and you could start most summer items early because of the mild winter/spring climate, but the summers were mild as well (and foggy) so in order to get successful crops, you had to get seeds that grew faster than normal in order to get them at the usual time (I hope that made sense). I moved a few miles inland, where the climate is warmer, and can get stuff more in line to when they are suppose to mature.

What's my point? If you live in a mild spring/summer area, expect things to take a bit longer than the seed packet says, but should still be doable right about now, especially if it an "Early" type of crop (any crop, not just corn). If, however, you have a noticable difference between spring/summer, you can plant just about any type, but warm soil would be best, so you may want to wait like paulc says.

If you're really jonesing to plant something though, try lettuces and cole crops...although that window is quickly closing.

Have fun,
Ken

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