Hello-I would like the broom corn, red corn, & helenium seeds. I will email you for postage amt. Thanks--Dianne

I guess I need to clarify, the question was how many ears to save seed on corn. 200 is an acceptable standard in most publications. As Dangould stated Susan Ashworths book seed to seed is the best resource for home gardeners for saving seed. The statement on using pollen from 100 stalks and silk from another 100 is 200 different plants and this is for hand pollinating. So 200 plants wind pollinated is acceptable if no other corn within a mile tassling. On the distances I stated that for older varieties larger distances were needed. Even on hybrids which are smaller plants 2ft-3ft between rows and 1-2ft between plants is need to produce a good crop.When growing a seed crop more distance is better than when growing for home cunsumption. The intent is to provide maximum light and nutrients to each corn stalk to produce the best seed. I know because I grow heirloom corns for seed both commercially and for preservation.Bill in PA it may look as if the corn in the rows is only a 8iches apart and that is true but if you measured it is probably closer to 24inches between rows vice the 18inches. This works for modern field corns which are smaller plants have less leaf spread and produce smaller ears. For the others I am not talking about growing sweet corn in a small home garden for eating. A couple of rows of intensly planted corn will probably produce a few ears satisfactory for a home grower. I answered the question as a grower and a preservationist for someone who maybe interested in growing a corn variety for seed and preserving the genetic diversity of the corn with out having any significant affect from inbreeding. Corn and other outcrossing crops can quickly develope inbreeding problems in just a couple of generations if sufficent seed from sufficient plants are not saved. For the home gardener do as you please but if you grow and pass on to someone else grow for a seed company or are intently passionate about preserving the variety get some good reference books such as Seed to Seed. Corn is a crop that takes a lot of room to produce a good crop. And it is a fun crop to grow in a small intensive plot and can produce satisfactory ears for eating. But it cannot produce seed good enough to preserve the genetic diversity unless the 200 plant minimum population size is used and adequte spacing and nutrients are used to allow each plant to produce full size ears that are well pollinated and full. Rodger Winn

The tomatoes, generally, not a problem -- tomatoes are overwhelmingly self-pollinated. You might get the rare cross, but not very often. Corn is a different story, however. It has windblown pollen which goes far and wide. And, since the part used for food, the kernel, IS the next generation, any cross-pollination shows up right away. Some cross-pollination, for example, when Sh2 hybrids and SE hybrids cross, can result in very tough kernels. It's best to try to seperate corn either by distance, 50 feet at a minimum, or by time, 2 weeks between maturity dates.

Hi wackybell, I see that autumn explosion is a hybrid and earth tone is supposed to be an heirloom, which would mean that it is not a hybrid. Either way, corn varieties which mature at the same time crosses readily as a general rule. You could try a little of the seed and see how it goes but expect that they mixed. Don't bet the farm on an experiment but, then again, isn't "a mess" as you call it, kind of what you expect on an ear of ornamental corn?