First time corn planting question

[MarcH.]

Bought 4 corn plants at the local nursery today. 2 of them have 2 stalks in the pot. Do I need to get rid of one of the stalks when I plant?



If so, just kinda separate them like you would do when you transplant bulk sowed tomato seedlings?

[feldon30]

I think you want to separate them or remove one of each yes. You really need 15-20 corn plants at an absolute minimum to get good pollination. There's no need to buy plants. Corn seeds splashed with water for 2-3 minutes and then sown 1/2" deep will vigorously sprout in 3-5 days.

[Irv Wiseguy]

I agree, you need more than 4 plants to get good pollination. They can be planted fairly close together. I plant 18 in an Earthbox and get a decent crop. If you've never grown corn before, you'll be amazed at how much better home grown corn tastes than what you buy in the store.

I've read mixed opinions about the sucker branches. Some say leave them, some say cut them off. Sorry to sound wishy washy about that; don't know the right answer. All I can say is when my plants get suckers I leave them alone and they don't seem to take anything away from the main stalk.

Good luck,

Irv

Edited to write: Oops, I mis-read your post. Those aren't suckers, there are 2 plants in each pot. Yes, you can separate them and plant them separately.

[ChrisK]

To get good pollination from just a couple of plants I would suggest hand pollination, which is pretty easy. Agree on the direct sowing method of a block of plants, though.

[MarcH.]

Learned a lot already, thanks guys.

So you're supposed to plant all the same kind in a block right? I'd go and buy seed but don't wanna intermix them if thats a problem...if so I'll just hand pollinate these fellas.

Mainly just bought these as cheap trellis for my beans.