I have grown earth tones. To cross it with another variety would seem to be at cross purposes with things. Check the directions again.

One catalog says it needs a pollinator. I posted the link. But if you have grown it successfully without one, i will take your word for it!!!
Thanks
Sarah

Here is a link that might be useful: earth tones corn from Jung Seed

Who knows what Jung's is trying to say with this -- they probably use the same generic information box for all crops. Perhaps it would be more appropriate for them to say it needs "Pollination" rather than a "Pollinator" which does imply another variety.

Anyway, corn DOESN'T want to be grown with another variety, it wants to be isolated by at least 50 feet, or by two to three weeks in time, from other varieties. If you plant two kinds close together that cross-pollinate, there is no telling what you'll get.

I've actually been saving my own 'Eath Tones Dent' seed for a couple of generations, but even with isolation from other corns, there is some sort of "genetic drift" of something going on in the colors -- they are changing from the soft pastels of the original to more vibrant strains typical of many ornamental corns. I guess that means it's time to give up on the home-grown and start fresh with some commercial seed.

Dennis
SE Michigan

Either I don't understand what Jung's means by "needs a pollinator," or else they goofed up. You wouldn't want to cross this with another corn. The cross would affect the color and quality of your crop, showing up in your fall harvest.

Remember that any corn can cross with any other corn. To keep varieties pure one needs either A LOT (like at least 1/4 mile, but better 1 mile) isolation, or else isolation by time. Isolation by time means that the corn you want to keep pure is in silk when others are not. SO they won't cross.

George
Tahlequah, OK

Dennis, what does Earth Tones taste like? Is it good for roasting at the milk stage?

Thanks so much everybody for all the great info! I figured they either messed up or I was losing my mind!

Happy Holidays!!

Happyday asked: "Dennis, what does Earth Tones taste like? Is it good for roasting at the milk stage?"

Sorry, I can't really answer that question -- "roasting" corn isn't something in my culinary tradition, although where my dad grew up, Southern Illinois, roasted field corn was far more popular than sweet corn. I've only eaten sweet corn as a fresh corn. I did grind some of the 'Earthtones Dent' into cornmeal this fall -- the color was bit muddy, but it tasted like any other cornmeal.

I don't know why it couldn't be eaten in the young stage as a roasted corn, I think pretty much any corn can be.

As far a Jung's catalog, IMO, it's just sloppy editing on their part, nothing more or less.

Dennis
SE Michigan

Dennis, You mention that saving seed from isolated earth tone dent has given you more vibrant colors. I was hoping that would not be the case. When selecting seed to save, have you leaned more toward one color or shade than another? Have you taken a general sampling of your yield? I'm just trying to satisfy my curiosity of why this might have happened.

Holtzclaw -- I'm not a very sophisticated or dedicated seed saver, so I wouldn't want to extrapolate my experiences to those of someone who is more careful about these things. When I look for seeds to save for the next year, I just try to pick out the best two or three ears (largest size, nicest looking), and then take some kernels from each one until I get the required amount. And, my isolation technique, if you can call it that, consisted solely of planting the corn varieties in separted clusters about 50 feet apart -- hardly the ideal way to do it -- as was pointed out above, it really should be something like a mile away from all other corn.

Another corn I've been saving for quite a few years is the variegated Japanese popcorn (Zea mays japonica) with the white and pink striped foliage. The original seed corn was a dark burgundy in color, but this too has changed -- this past summer's harvest, which is probably my sixth or seventh generation, is a wide mix of colors, everything from golden yellow to almost-black burgundy, with a lot of red, orange, and brown shades in between. Curiously, though, the foliage variegation pattern hasn't changed to date -- it all still seems to be variegated like the original.

Your info on variegated Japanese corn (popcorn?) sounds promising. It makes me believe that you are isolating them far enough apart to be effective, but practical. I like the idea of the ears being multicolored much more than being dark burgundy.
My genetic knowledge is more animal based than plant based. However, a few generalizations apply. Choosing from the best ears for your purposes is right on track, but I would choose kernels from the best 20 ears instead of three. However, if there were seven ears I rated highly, followed by 13 I rated mediocre, I would choose only from the best seven.
My question arose because I thought you may have made the same error I once made. I had a race of ornamental corn that had lots of colors. Every ear you husked made you smile. I liked the colors, but thought the yellows and especially the whites added nothing to the beauty. I planted only the colors I liked and zero yellows and whites. My yield still had plenty of yellows/whites and I kept selecting against them. This was decades ago so I don't remember exactly. But about the fourth year I was opening husks to find very dark ears that would have looked nice in certain arrangements, but none really made you smile. I discontinued the project completely. My lesson was to not place emphasis on individual kernels, but to rate the grains/silk/stalk/husk/tassels/leaves/cob/root system as a whole.

Dennis, Have you ever tried popping any Japanese corn? Is the cob size or the kernel size (or both) comparable to popcorn?

Dayle,

Yes, it pops just fine. It's a rounded-kernel type popcorn (as opposed to the pointy kernels of some types of popcorn, like 'Strawberry'). Kernel and cob size are similar to the larger varieties of yellow popcorns out there on the market.

A tip for corn poppers; if your corn is so old and dry that it does not pop well, try soaking the corn in water for half an hour or so, then dry on paper towels and repop. Dry seeds do have a fractional water content. Corn pops when the stored water in the seed turns to steam and explodes the shell. Seeds that have dried past the optimal water content might not pop.

However after two or three reheatings the corn may become so structurally altered by heat that it will not be able to absorb water and pop.

I just came across this, so my response is very late. Jung is one of those companies where One Answer Fits All. YES, corn does need a pollinator. All this means with corn is that you can't grow one plant by itself. If you plant a

5-ft-square block of ANY corn variety, the group will pollinate each other. It does NOT need another variety.