How many feet will a pound of seed corn plant?

[Artichoke Lover]

Normally I don’t bother with this since I plant everything in blocks Tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and I just go down the rows until it’s all planted. This year I’m doing rows though so I need to know how many rows I’ll need.

 

[Ridgerunner]

The Sustainable Seed Company gives this as the number of seeds per pound but I think it's going to vary by variety, not just type. You could count out 100 seeds and weigh them to get an average and figure out about how many seeds you probably have in a pound. Then how many inches apart in the row will you plan them to come up with an answer.

I noticed they were advertising a certain sweet corn by the pound and said it would have 2,400 plus seeds. Maybe they don't trust their chart?

Crop	Seeds per G	Seeds per OZ	Seeds per LB	Seeding Rate (per acre)*
Corn - Dent	5	150	2,400	15 lb.
Corn - Sweet	7	200	3,200	15 lb.

 

[flowerbug]

Normally I don’t bother with this since I plant everything in blocks Tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and I just go down the rows until it’s all planted. This year I’m doing rows though so I need to know how many rows I’ll need.

i would plant at least four rows so that it is still a block.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

i would plant at least four rows so that it is still a block.

Yep! I’m planting in 40 foot rows so I should be good. My calculations are coming to around 400 feet of row spaced 3 feet apart so it should be a roughly 30x40 patch. Generally anything planted in less than 6 rows gets blown over by the wind here.

 

[Ridgerunner]

@seedcorn probably ought to be n this conversation. Why 36" apart? Equipment or something? When I planted corn in rows my method was two rows 12" apart, skip 32", then do two more rows 12" apart. I wasn't planting nearly as much as you but could easily get my tiller between the 32" rows until it got big enough to self-mulch and keep weeds down. Between the 12" rows was hand or hoe work. Weeding should be a huge consideration in what you do.

For your amount the 12" rows is probably not a good idea, but 32" rows or something similar might give you better pollination and with 10 rows would give you another row through your garden.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

@seedcorn probably ought to be n this conversation. Why 36" apart? Equipment or something? When I planted corn in rows my method was two rows 12" apart, skip 32", then do two more rows 12" apart. I wasn't planting nearly as much as you but could easily get my tiller between the 32" rows until it got big enough to self-mulch and keep weeds down. Between the 12" rows was hand or hoe work. Weeding should be a huge consideration in what you do.

For your amount the 12" rows is probably not a good idea, but 32" rows or something similar might give you better pollination and with 10 rows would give you another row through your garden.

It’s so we can get the tiller down the rows. I’m grateful to say space isn’t an issue here however weed control is so getting the tiller in there makes a huge difference.

 

[Artichoke Lover]

Well my calculations were off lol. One pound of silver queen corn plants 800ft of row at a rate of two seeds every 8 inches.

 

[seedcorn]

Field corn is planted roughly 6” apart on 30” rows. That is taking it to maturity which you will not on sweet corn. To answer how to plant, need some answers:
Are you going to feed and water it? If so, can push population.
Would you prefer larger kernels/ears? If so, lower population.

When you till in between rows after it’s knee high, you will destroy a lot of feeder roots. Thus limiting yield. I use straw to limit weeds. Usually one good weeding while on knees, takes care of my weed issues. I have 8-10 rows about 40’ long. More rows are better than one long row.