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Organic Gardening

can i grow corn in a balcony container 5 ft away from tomatoes?

organic_girl_ma

11 years ago

I live in Boston, Massachusetts, and only have a tiny 9x6.5ft balcony to grow things on in containers. I am already growing 4 different tomato plants (all cherry-type) on one side of the balcony in 2 earthboxes. I really love corn so I was interested in growing corn in a container on the opposite side of the balcony. Now, I've read that growing corn next to tomatoes is not a good thing because it attracts corn pests like the corn ear worm, but I was wondering if these rules also apply if you grow both corn and tomatoes in containers ~5ft apart. Should I attempt to grow corn now, or should I wait until next year to grow it, and not plant tomatoes then?

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Comments (5)

Kimmsr
11 years ago
The Corn Earworm and the Tomato Fruitworm are the same wee beasty but that is not the reason you probably could not grow corn on your balconey. More of the reason would be pollination since you would need a fairly large block of corn, at least 4 rows wide and deep, to get some pollination or about a 4 foot by 4 foot container.
organic_girl_ma
Original Author
11 years ago
I'm ok with the pollination issue. Or I am even prepared to "help" pollination with a brush myself. I've seen people having a 20"x20" pot with 4 corn plants in it, so pollination space is not what I'm worried about, just whether is a good idea in the first plant corn relatively close to tomatoes in terms of pests, since I wouldn't want to spray any insecticide/fungicide later.
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I am not going to get into soil mixes, do as you please there. As for pot size, even though these are smaller varieties, a 5 gallon container is more appropriate. I am sure you will get fine growth early on in 1-2 gallon containers, but if you are going to sell them to others you are committing them to very frequent water/fertilizer requirements if you don't use a larger container. I started from seed and gave to my aging mother a patio hybrid that she grew on in a 12" pot. A 12" pot adhering to 'normal' dimensions will hold ~1 cubic foot of mix. That's 7.5 gallons. Alternately sell them in 1-2 gallon pots and provide instructions indicating it is desirable to pot up to a 10-12" container. It's entirely normal to sell plants that require a larger container than they are purchased in.
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It's an old thread but to get back to the subject. I have grown corn in unamended, clay which I didn't till in any manner I mowed the rough grass and poked holes in the clay and dropped a kernel down the hole. No weeding, no watering; in PA. The corn grew, it wasn't very health looking. It produced corn cobs, some stunted a little, some stunted a lot. But it grew edible corn. The variety was Country Gentleman. I saved seed and grew another crop the following year. I'm certain it would have been a better crop of corn if there was a little organic material to soften that raw clay, to retain a little more soil moisture.
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I just don't think that 1 gallon is going to be large enough to get reasonable results. As the plant gets larger, the moisture retaining capacity of 1/4 cubic foot of potting mix will not be sufficient by time the roots are fully grown to support a mature plant. I found some 10 gallon size tote boxes on sale for about $3.50 each. Regular price is around $4.00. I know that you said that you don't want to spend more money on containers, but even a 2 gallon container is too small. Just in case you would consider trying the 10 gallon size (12"X18"x12 inches deep, I have a link to some pictures of a simple self watering grower that I built for around $5 bucks each. Good luck, chuck Here is a link that might be useful: tomato growing project
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jolj
11 years ago
some one did this in his driveway, he used a blue rubber box.
Search the GW for it.
rhizo_1 (North AL) zone 7
11 years ago
There should be no problem growing your corn in proximity to the tomatoes. It's surely not how I would choose to use that valuble real estate, though. We've been bringing home the most delicious sweet corn from the farmers ' market for a couple of weeks.

But that's me! I'd use that precious space for a couple different kinds of basil and some other herbs. So what kind of corn are you interested in growing and how many plants will your container accomodate? I know you'll have fun.
organic_girl_ma
Original Author
11 years ago
The thing is, I have not seen any organic corn anywhere, not in stores and not at farmers' markets. That would be the reason why I would like to be growing corn. But I might wait until next year, when I will be rotating the tomatoes for something else. For now I am thinking sunflowers as a late summer crop instead.

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