Wertach,
Where did you get the glass gem seeds? I have been interested in growing some as a novelty but haven't found any.

You can get them on ebay, but OP wasn't exaggerating when he said they were pricey. Usually a dollar a kernel or more.

Unlike most seeds on ebay though, you can tell at a glance if what you got is the corn you want (as it being the seed, any hybridization or type swapping is immediately obvious).

And yes, I'd think that planting schedule should be more than sufficient. Should be getting well over a month between the two tasseling, so no problems there. Also, at 150' that should greatly reduce any potential cross-pollination as well.

I'd say you're good to go!

I'm itching to start my glass gem corn too. Just been waiting until I was sure it was warm enough before starting them indoors. Last thing I need is to sprout all 40 at once, get them out in the ground, and have another snow storm roll through like earlier this week.

A lot of people sourced multiple 50+ seed packets for $4...and are now turning them into $25-$50 seed packets.

I can't believe how popular this corn is...and more than a few people are going to be quite disappointed with it based on the GG I've seen people grow/harvest. There's a lot more white kernels that some will expect...and to get that vibrant color you're going to have to polish to cobs. Some ears will come in pale even after polishing. That said, it still is one of the most color-varied varieties out there.

The picture that was popular on the internet was a fully-filled-in and highly polished ideally-color-distributed cob.

I highly suggest you hand pollinate your cobs if you don't want gaps in your kernels, fwiw.

This post was edited by nc-crn on Wed, Mar 27, 13 at 16:50

Yeah, one should always assume the picture of the crop is the absolute best case, "yours will never actually look this good" example.

Kind of like the pictures of your burger at McDonald's or Burger King. No matter what, yours will never look as good as the one in the picture, never.

Katy, I got them from Native seeds. I signed up for their waiting list last year.

""yours will never actually look this good""

Yes, I'm sure you are correct. Mine will probably end up with a few worms too.

But I'm just doing it for fun and if I get a good crop I can offer some free seed on GW next year! I like to share.

Thanks for the responses!

Agreed, I'm doing it for fun as well. I was going to grow bloody butcher this year, but then the glass gem came in.

Got it earlier in the year for a lot less than its selling for now too.

My plans are to grow all I've got out (44 kernels presoaked and started in large containers last night, because I have never gotten corn to sprout reliably when direct seeded), hopefully out of all that I'll get one or two impressive looking ears for novelty/display, and the rest I'll harvest for seed to sell/give away.

I wanted to try corn this year but sanity (and spouse) prevailed. Just can't grow enough to be a food crop and I have too little space to devote any to purely decorative purposes. That glass gem corn is beautiful, though! I've also been tempted by some of the popcorns.

Do you actually grow in the containers, or plant out? If in ground, how big do you let them get?

nialialea, I don't grow in containers. I have 10 acres of land.

That is the reason for the OP, I could put the different corn types much further apart. But it would be more labor.

"If in ground, how big do you let them get?"

I'm guessing @ this question. As big as they will grow. You don't trim corn back.

If I'm misunderstanding your question, let me know?

I also grow in ground, I only start in containers. Fairly large (for starter pots) peat pots. As soon as they sprout, then I move them out into the outside world and put them in the ground.

I've found that I just get better results that way.

Edymnion , I have never started corn in containers, but I might start these in in containers since they are so expensive. My regular corn, Merit, isn't so expensive so I just drill it in with my garden way planter.

I guess that they will probably transplant pretty good since have pulled up corn while thinning and used it to fill in some bare spots and that has worked about 99% of the time.

I am growing glass gem too. I was lucky enough to get about 100 seed from a trade with a gardening friend who grows it. The only other source I know of is Double Helix Farms. 20 seed for 7.99. Hope that helps.

The trick I've found for starting corn indoors is large containers, and transplanting as soon as they sprout. If you do it right, the roots barely touch the bottom of the container, and you can just slide the entire soil plug out of the pot and straight into the ground.

There's no transplant shock at all that way, the plant can't tell anything happened.

I grew glass gem corn exclusively this year, and got some pretty good ears so far, although not very many are ready yet. I did start mine a bit late, but I used soil blocks to start mine. It was only my second time growing corn, with the first being a total failure (corn doesn't like to grow up in containers), so I'd say big improvement here!

How big did everyone's glass gem ears get? Mine might be on the small side (especially that one with poor pollination).

Anyways, if I get a lot more successful ears, I might be willing to share some seed.

Iron Mountain Nursery & Farm sells Heritage Glass Gem Corn for $10.00 / 100 seeds 2014 harvest. Plus $2.50 for shipping and handling

e-mail order to: nvus@usa.com

Here is a link that might be useful: Here's a link to the FB page:

Wow! I would gladly sell 100 seeds for $5 and free shipping! ;)

Imn-F777- I would have thought that a spammer would try to make their post a little less obvious. Guess I was wrong.

wertach- If I had the room for corn (and if it was allowed on gardenweb) I might take you up on that offer. haha

Rodney