5 Tips How to Grow a Ton of Sweetcorn in One Raised Garden Bed or Container

If you would like to know how to grow a big harvest of sweet corn watch this video for my five top tips on sweetcorn growing!

Self Sufficient Me is based on our small 3-acre property/homestead in SE Queensland Australia about 45kms north of Brisbane - the climate is subtropical (similar to Florida). I started Self Sufficient Me in 2011 as a blog website project where I document and write about backyard food growing, self-sufficiency, and urban farming in general. I love sharing my foodie and DIY adventures online so come along with me and let's get into it! Cheers, Mark :)

[Selfsufficientme]

Hi everyone! Hope you enjoy the video! Happy Easter to you all and thanks for your support :) P.S If you have any extra sweetcorn growing tips say G'day and place them in the comments section below, cheers :)

[kasdfg]

I can't stress it enough...It is absolutely WONDERFUL to watch and hear an informational video with no stupid "background" music whatsoever drowning you out. No struggling to hear, no distraction. If people's attention spans aren't long enough to watch a 13 minute presentation without it, they need the practice anyway. Great information by the way. Thumbs up, brother!

[stevengonzalez]

Tip: if you find any one corn plant growing two healthy ears, only save seeds from that one. Eventually you will have more and more plants growing two ears. Twice as much corn.

[williamcox]

Mark is the guy you wished were your next door neighbor. Always glad to see you. Always upbeat. Always has a joke to share. And always willing to share what he has learned about something he loves. I can't help but feel that he would also be the guy who would listen intently to what you would share with him on what you have learned, and if someone were to ask how he figured out something you told him about, you know he wouldn't hesitate to give you credit for the shared information. It seems there is a good deal more to be learned from Mark than just gardening.

[justin]

I grew up in NE Ohio, and we did things a little different. Space rows 18 inches apart, and mound the soil at the base of each row for support when the corn is knee high. Conventional wisdom was a minimum of 4 rows 16 feet long was needed for a good crop. Every 6 feet plant a pumpkin or vine squash for shade and to keep out raccoons. They do not like the tiny spines on the vines.
Do not husk the corn to test for ripeness. You can feel the fat kernels through the husk. Soak the whole ears in water for a couple hours and BBQ them in the husk for maximum sweetness and freshness. Serve with salt, pepper, butter, and cob holders shaped like tiny ears of corn.

[ZsOtherBrother]

Excellent video, as always.
A short corn growing anecdote: A few years ago a friend of mine grew corn in his back yard. When the top has browned off he peeled back the husks on a couple of them just like you did in the video, and decided it was ready, and that he would harvest them the next morning... He didn't remove the peeled ones from the plant, and when he got out the next morning he found ALL the cobs have been peeled and eaten by the birds, (mostly by crows).
My lesson from his experience is that: Birds are smarter than you might think, don't give them unnecessary information.

[toodlesmossberg]

As an Iowan native and having worked in cornfields myself, i would say nearly everything your doing is correct! It was really well explained and you told us us about your trial and error-which is way better than telling us the one and done way everyone else does videos. The only things i have against what you said is, here in iowa, we rotate corn and soybeans so that there is always enough nutrients in the soil to grow them. I would suggest moving the corn every year or so in your garden so that you don’t deplete the nutrients that the corn wants. This is just my suggestion but from what you do i don’t think it’s necessary because you put as much back into your soil as the corn took out. Another thing would be if your having trouble with pollination you can pollinate it yourself using a paper bag to collect the pollen then putting it over the top of the ear of corn. I don’t know if this was helpful but i hope it gives you some more ideas on how to improve you corn!

[heartofmythril]

My first time growing corn I was so shocked that there wasn't very many kernels! A little research told me I needed to plant more and in a block. The next year I had full corn! And it was so delicious.

[DianeHasHopeInChrist]

uncle used to put a built cattle fence cage around the entire corn patch which helped keep the corn firm breaking or falling over. It worked great, too! Just make it removable then harvest. You can water & fertilize through the cage, too! He just used cattle fencing and connected the corners with zip ties. And if it got really bad windy....he'd put up wood sheathing or a tarp on the side of the cage that the wind was coming from, creating a wind breaker.

[erinnkemp]

Remember knee high in July. Daily shake the corn stalks for better pollination.

[nenesundog]

As a kid living in Mexico, I remember our housekeeper prepping the fresh corn every morning while I ate breakfast. Sometimes she found a catapiller in the corn and she would eat it, still wiggling. That was a weird experience, also in Mexico, corn fungus is turned into a dish called Huitlacoche.

[ravenfeaster]

Here is another tip.... if you live where you are going to have wind or a threat of storms. You can pull the soil high over the stalk (6 to 10 inches) like you do tomatoes. This helps the roots tent out under the soil, which helps the corn stalks gain stability and strength. Old homesteaders did this and it works!

[Flyforawhiteguy]

Best page on youtube for gardening. PERIOD. That's why the amount of followers is going up. People catching on. Keep it up Mark and family. Great job 👍👍👍

[sirmi]

You sir are an amazing teacher, wish every other educator had a 1/4 of your passion

[NayrbRellimer]

Please note that if you plan on growing sweet corn adjacent to popcorn, the two maize varieties will likely cross-pollinate and produce kernels with intermediate characteristics between the two varieties. It is best to separate sweet corn from popcorn by a natural barrier, such as a building or hedgerow, and hand pollinate as an added precaution. If you have enough space, separate popcorn from sweetcorn by at least 800 feet (244 metres) to minimize cross-pollination.

[southernkatrina]

To preserve corn: wrap the cob in gladwrap and freeze. They'll last a year. Thaw out in the microwave 3 minutes and have roast corn in winter.

[robinlillian]

FYI: All heritage corn varieties are types of flint, dent, flour, sweet, popcorn, or pod corn. Heritage just means it's an open-pollinated variety was developed before 1940, so it can't be GMO or a hybrid, because that didn't exist, yet. The seeds can be saved and replanted, and it can breed true. There are also open-pollinated varieties that were developed after 1940.

[docfuzzpersonalcollection]

You sir, are just too cool! I have learned so much from you! I am just thanks to you, NOT repeating my gardening mistakes of the past. Who said "old dogs can't learn new tricks"? Next birthday...80! I have asked my lovely wife to just plant me with our cucumbers when I go (hopefully), to that beautiful garden in the sky!

[sammoore]

1:17 tip #1grow in warm season
2:34 tip #2 lots of fertilizer and mulch, no high winds, best tip is at time 4:00.
4:36 tip #3 when to seed, he shows putting black soil on top of the seeds.
7:40 tip #4 grow a lot of corn
10:50 tip #5 harvesting tips

[wwsuwannee]

Good vid, thanks Mark. Here's a tip, companion grow your corn with a pole bean or pea. The corn will support the beans and the beans will supply nitrogen to the corn. Also, if you can, don't pick your corn until you are ready to cook it. When my sweet corn is ready, I get the water boiling first, then go pick the to pot in less the 5 minutes. If you have never had it this way, you will be amazed. The improvement in taste is comparable to a fish you just caught and cooked right there on the :)