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mckenziek_gw

Early OP/heirloom corn

mckenziek
10 years ago

I am looking for a good early sweet corn variety. I want to save seeds, so no hybrids.

Does anyone have any favorites to try? It is OK if they are small. I was looking at yukon chief and orchard baby.

This year I grew around 100 plants of golden bantam, and it is good, but it takes a relatively long time to mature. Also, my earliest batch ended up getting damaged by cold weather when it was still small. So I probably can't plant golden bantam any earlier. (Or maybe I just need to protect it against the cold overnight weather).

I am thinking next year I will grow some early variety, and also golden bantam.

Regarding the golden bantam, we are eating the first batch now, and the second batch will probably be ready next week. The results are not spectacular, but there is plenty of edible corn. I still have a lot to learn, but it is good enough to be encouraging rather than discouraging.

--McKenzie

Comments (7)

  • planatus
    10 years ago

    I get much better productivity with classically-bred hybrids, many of which are now available as organically-grown seeds. Tip fill is especially important to deter corn earworms, which I get with several nice hybrids, especially Luscious. We love sweet corn too much to settle for anything short of wonderful, and because of GMO and pesticide issues we won't eat any we don't grow ourselves. There are many excellent OP grain corns out there, not so with sweet corn.

  • n2xjk
    10 years ago

    I've had good results with Triple Play. I've grown it along side Quickie and Early Sunglow and I was picking it at the same time as these. Its height is similar to these varieties also (my stalks range anywhere from 4' to 5 1/2').

    (This used to be carried by Seeds of Change, but they've dropped Triple Play and carry similar Hooker's instead. I haven't tried Hooker's yet so can't speak about it.)

  • zzackey
    10 years ago

    I had two rows of corn that I grew late a few years ago. They had earred up nice, but they weren't quite ready to pick. I put old blankets on them and secured them with clothespins. They survived the frost and gave me 27 ears of nice corn. Sorry, no picture. I remember I was wearing my goose down coat when I was covering them. 100 plants is another story. Switching varieties sounds like a better idea.

  • pnbrown
    10 years ago

    I grew GB this year also. I picked it a bit late, it was little too mature, but I like real corn taste.

  • laceyvail 6A, WV
    10 years ago

    I really like Golden Bantam, and I believe it's about the earliest of the open pollinated corn. I also like Country Gentleman, but I'm pretty sure that's a longer time to maturity.

  • farmerdill
    10 years ago

    I am not a fan of the supper earlies. Of those that I have tried, only Silver Knight, Quickie and Sunglo have been accetable. Yukon Chief was developed for Alaska. It is super early but I have not tried it. I have tried some Canadian varieties ( Polar Vee). Grew ok, but not very tasty. Orchid Baby is also quite early but gets mixed reviews. Have not tried it. Most of the OP's have a relative long season. Golden Bantam is the most popular OP at about 80 days. Country Gentleman and Stowell's Evergreen run about 90 days.
    If you really want an early OP, Yukon Chief and Orchid Baby are probably your best bet.
    {{gwi:88071}} Silver Knight

  • mckenziek
    Original Author
    10 years ago

    Thanks to all for the great replies. I think next year I'll try one of the two early OP varieties I mentioned. I will also research the traditional hybrids, based on plantatus's and farmerdill's responses.

    Just to clarify, I have a long growing season. I intend to keep growing golden bantam. I just want to have some corn ready before the golden bantam comes ripe, so I am looking for something that is quick and/or cold hardy as a seedling.

    --McKenzie