ltilton: The clear over black raises soil temperature about 15-20F on sunny days. The highest I've measured in my sweetcorn has been 70-75F so far this spring. On the coldest recent morning with air at 37F the sweetcorn was 48F. So 48/75F bare vs 55/95F covered. This method, during sunny weather, allows emergence as fast or faster in March/April as you would get in July on bare soil. But it's not just emergence that is helped. Warm soil is essential to rapid growth of melons and many other crops. If the soil falls below 60F for several days melons die from damping off. This method works for other crops, especially those needing warm soil or on shallowly planted crops like carrots. The soil stays evenly moist right to the surface. But if you raise the poly off the soil surface, then the soil drys in some areas and condensation from the poly runs to other areas.

I've been reading all the posts on this site and have both enjoyed & learned from them....now I have questions that I sure could use some answers for. I live in Bonham which is in the northeast part of Texas 13mi. from the Red River & Oaklahoma. For the last 2 yrs. we have taken a beating, weatherwise, here as far as our gardens go....this year we had a late cold snap at the end of Mar. that wiped everbody's gardens out...luckily I had enough sense that I still hadn't planted yet - mine were still in pots in the house. Then we all planted and the rains came and wiped all the gardens out again...SEVERAL TIMES. I have replanted my corn 4 times now and finally gave-up after the fourth time...so now I have corn in various stages of growth...some past maturity, some only a foot or so tall. I expanded my garden this year so that it is a 42' X 5' plot and had planned on a 8' X 5' or 4 rows of corn planted 1' apart with the rows spaced 2 1/2' apart which would give me 16 plants total...well, I counted them this evening and there are 10 or 11 plants left but only 7 that aren't already past maturity that I might be able to get a harvest from. I planted Burpee..."Honey & Cream" corn which is supposed to be a mixture of both yellow & white kernels per cob. The package says the scientific name of the corn is "Bicolor Normal Sugary Hybrid". One problem we have here (besides the weather) is that there just are "NOT" any bees or butterflys around here...once in a blue moon I will see a butterfly come by. This is the second year I have tried to grow this corn and still no luck at all, out of the 7 that I still have left, 2 are now big enough that they have tassels coming out at the top but still no cobs or silk showing yet but I figure any day now they will start showing. My really big question, that I am confused about, is that from reading all of the posts on your site...the comments make it sound like the pollen off of the tassels is like a fine dust. Quote from your site...."Inhale while you do your pollinating since corn pollen smells wonderful". Now, both last year & so far this year, what I see on my corn tassels looks like little seeds...actually they kinda look like "SESAME SEEDS"....sooo, I end up with sprouts coming out of the top of my corn stalks with all these little seeds on them...and I really don't think I want to try to inhale any of them...hahaha. As these sprouts or (tassels) mature I can shake them or thump them and all these little seeds fall off. I have tried to take a few of the seeds and put them on the corn silks but they don't want to stay there...the first wind, or if I shake them they just fall off...I have even tried to put them down close to where the silks go into the husk but so far no luck, plus I got to wondering....am I gonna have to put one seed on each one of these silks, cause if that's the case then this is more trouble than it's worth. Would you please tell me...IS THIS JUST THE TYPE OF CORN I PURCHASED OR AM I DOING SOMETHING WRONG....it has me totally confused. If it is the type of corn I purchased, then how do you pollinate it...or is it self-pollinating? If so then I still have never gotten any harvest from it! Also, another confusing question that popped-up this year, I had two of my plants that formed tassels and some really small ears down near the ground but up on the tassels each plant developed 2 to 3, what I would call, kernels of corn which aren't in a husk or anything...they are just sitting there on the tassels...and all the rest of the tassel on each plant went ahead and formed the little seeds that finally dropped off. I could really use some help on figuring out "what th' heck" is going on with this corn...I've never had this type of problem with growing corn before! When I moved up here it had been about 30yrs since I'd had a garden so it's kinda like a whole new learning process again, BUT I do know that my carn never did this before....hahaha. I can post pictures of the plants if needed. Could you also tell me what zone I'm in as I've forgotten. LOST IN TEXAS!.....

Hi I am sewing some sweet corn seeds and when reading information on the subject I see that two seeds should be planted in each module and when they sprout remove the weakest one but it doesn't say why - does anyone know why you should remove the weakest one ? and would it make any difference if I only planted one seed per module and what would happen if I planted two seeds per module and left them both to grow ? All info greatly appreciated Regards Simon

Well 15 of the last 22 days have been 98 or above with 12 of those days over 100. The "Coolest" it has been is 103 in the last week. I am getting so use to it now, I hardly take breaks anymore. Yes I drink enough water, Yes I work slower, but it was 105 yesterday and I was out planting during half the afternoon and picking tomatoes the other half. It is our county fair week and we have obligation in the mornings and evenings. It is the only time I have to pick, weed and plant. The first week kills you. The second week gets better. The third week you forget about it. We are on the way to 106 today. I have been watering non-stop for the past three weeks it seems. Crops are doing ok. Yields are down. Markets are slower, but prices are high and I am not dropping them anytime soon. No one is complaining about prices. Many people are appreciative of the work we do. Jay