A Complete Guide to the Latest Corn Planting Times and Methods

Corn has a very wide planting range, and the planting time in each region varies with the local climate and environment, but the overall time difference is not great. Of course, the planting methods are actually much the same. That may sound like a lot of talk, but for the specifics, we still need to keep analyzing and understanding. Understanding the specific planting times and methods, and what differences there may be.

1. Planting time

Most planting is done in spring and summer, but some varieties can also be sown in summer. In spring, sowing is roughly from April to May; in some warm regions it can be sown in March, while in some cold regions it cannot be sown until the end of May, and early-spring protected cultivation can begin sowing at the end of February. Summer corn is roughly sown from June to July, and it can be sown once the previous crop has been harvested. In some colder regions, summer sowing is not possible, while in warm regions it can be sown to harvest autumn corn.

2. Seedling stage

Corn is generally direct-sown, with the seeds coated with pesticide before sowing to prevent the seeds from being eaten by insects. Keep moisture in the soil as the seedlings emerge; after the seedlings come up, they are easily bitten through at the base by cutworms, so before emergence, carbofuran granules should be dropped beside the seeds to repel the insects. After the seedlings grow taller, cutworm larvae will chew the leaves, or the corn borer will chew and damage them. When they reach about 30 cm, topdress once with urea; urea is high in concentration, so apply it away from the roots and cover with soil. Pay attention to irrigation.

3. Growth stage

The plants grow rapidly and the stems elongate quickly, requiring large amounts of nutrients, so weeding is needed, along with topdressing, applying compound fertilizer; to prevent lodging, hilling should also be combined with this to strengthen the root system. Natural rainfall can be enough for irrigation; in drought, water promptly to avoid water loss in the new leaves. If sunlight is too strong, it can easily scorch the leaves. If the leaves grow too densely, remove leaves to suppress vegetative growth, removing leaves, removing crossing leaves and dense leaves.

4. Grain-filling stage

Pollination is needed during flowering, but generally artificial pollination is not used; it is all natural pollination, mainly wind pollination, so when planting, pay attention to what varieties others are growing, to avoid cross-pollination and growing multicolored corn. During booting, topdressing can be done or not; generally ammonium bicarbonate is applied. After the ears form, it is generally about 20 days to maturity, which is very fast. So pay attention to timely harvesting; after the kernels harden and the upper leaves wither, it can be harvested.

For corn, in the central region the planting time is generally spring planting, with one harvest a year and 2 to 3 topdressings; farmyard manure is inconvenient to transport, and tolerance to chemical fertilizer is also very good. Planting must be adjusted according to the entire growth period.