...And Sometimes The Experiment Fails - This Year's CornTainers (pics)

rnewste · September 22, 2011

Some of you may remember my CornTainers of last year, and how surprising it was to see 6 to 7 feet high stalks of corn growing in the EarthTainers:

Well, I thought that if the 3:2:1 Combo Mix was now working so well for my tomatoes, peppers, cukes, snow peas, etc. that it MUST work equally well for sweetcorn this Season. WRONG!!

Same two 'Tainers as in the first photo - but notice how poorly the sweetcorn performed in the "improved" 3:2:1 Combo Mix.

The ears were paltry:

So, next Season, I am going to dump the (expensive) Sunshine #4 Mix, and go to Lowes / Home Depot and buy again the cheap Sta-Green / Miracle-Gro Potting Mix, and then use it without adding in any Microbark nor Perlite.

Yep, the straight Potting Mix smells like swamp-gas when emptying it out at the end of the Season, but it appears that corn does NOT like the well draining 3:2:1 Combo Mix, but instead prefers the dense, compacted 100% Potting Mix media.

Raybo

kath · September 22, 2011

Sorry your corn experiment had less than stellar results but I guess paltry ears are better than none, right? Corn is such a heavy feeder- maybe the denser mix made the nutrients more available.

fortyonenorth · September 22, 2011

How do fertilize your Earthtainer corn, Ray? I do know that corn is a much heavier feeder than, say, tomatoes - especially with regard to Nitrogen requirements.

rnewste · September 22, 2011

This year, as I was filling the CornTainers, I sprinkled in 1 cup of 14-14-14 CRF fertilizer in the lower half of the Mix. As I filled up the 'Tainer, I sprinkled in another 1 cup of regular (non-CRF) 15-15-15 fertilizer. My "thinking" was that the top layer containing the instant release 15-15-15 would be beneficial early on, while the 14-14-14 CRF in the lower portion of the 'Tainer would kick in later in the Season, as the roots reached down to that lower level. Pretty smart, right???

Well, apparently NOT!! So, next Season I will return to the 100% Miracle Grow, coupled with 2 cups of 14-14-14 CRF mixed in, which is what I did in previous years.

Raybo

September 22, 2011	#1
rnewste Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Campbell, CA Posts: 4,064	...And Sometimes The Experiment Fails - This Year's CornTainers (pics) Some of you may remember my CornTainers of last year, and how surprising it was to see 6 to 7 feet high stalks of corn growing in the EarthTainers: Well, I thought that if the 3:2:1 Combo Mix was now working so well for my tomatoes, peppers, cukes, snow peas, etc. that it MUST work equally well for sweetcorn this Season. WRONG!! Same two 'Tainers as in the first photo - but notice how poorly the sweetcorn performed in the "improved" 3:2:1 Combo Mix. The ears were paltry: So, next Season, I am going to dump the (expensive) Sunshine #4 Mix, and go to Lowes / Home Depot and buy again the cheap Sta-Green / Miracle-Gro Potting Mix, and then use it without adding in any Microbark nor Perlite. Yep, the straight Potting Mix smells like swamp-gas when emptying it out at the end of the Season, but it appears that corn does NOT like the well draining 3:2:1 Combo Mix, but instead prefers the dense, compacted 100% Potting Mix media. Raybo

September 22, 2011	#2
kath Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: zone 6b, PA Posts: 5,664	Sorry your corn experiment had less than stellar results but I guess paltry ears are better than none, right? Corn is such a heavy feeder- maybe the denser mix made the nutrients more available.

September 22, 2011	#3
fortyonenorth Tomatovillian™ Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: NW Indiana Posts: 1,150	How do fertilize your Earthtainer corn, Ray? I do know that corn is a much heavier feeder than, say, tomatoes - especially with regard to Nitrogen requirements.