What are the key points for growing sweet corn?
What should be noted when growing sweet corn? Please advise. When growing sweet corn, note the following: 1. Isolated planting: Sweet corn and common corn should be planted in isolation to avoid cross-pollination. In ordinary plains, keep a distance of more than 400 m; if there are natural barriers such as woods, hills, villages, or buildings, the distance can be appropriately shortened. If planted adjacent to corn with a different flowering period...
What should be noted when growing sweet corn? Please advise.
When growing sweet corn, note the following:
1. Isolated planting: Sweet corn and common corn should be planted in isolation to avoid cross-pollination. In ordinary plains, keep a distance of more than 400 m; if there are natural barriers such as woods, hills, villages, or buildings, the distance can be appropriately shortened. If planted adjacent to corn with a different flowering period, the flowering times should be staggered by more than 15 days.
2. Fine sowing: Sweet corn has weak germination and soil-emergence ability, so choose plots with good fertility, moderate pH, convenient irrigation and drainage, and sufficient soil moisture before sowing. Prepare the land finely and sow shallowly and carefully, generally at a depth of 4 cm.
3. Staggered sowing: Sweet corn cannot be stored for long after harvest. Therefore, when growing sweet corn, sow in stages according to market demand and factory processing capacity, and combine early-, mid-, and late-maturing varieties to improve economic returns.
4. Reasonable dense planting: The planting density of sweet corn should be determined according to variety characteristics, soil fertility, sowing date, planting method, and market demand. On generally medium-fertility soil, 4000 plants is suitable; early-maturing varieties can be denser, and late-maturing varieties can be sparser.
5. Timely removal of tillers: Sweet corn generally has strong tillering ability. Tillers compete with the main stalk for nutrients and water, affecting the growth of the main stalk and the development of the ear, so tillers should be removed early.
6. Strengthen management: Generally apply 3000-4000 kg of farmyard manure per mu, 7 kg of pure phosphorus, and 5 kg of pure nitrogen as base fertilizer; water promptly at the six-leaf-one-heart stage, and topdress with 5 kg of pure nitrogen. Depending on the growth of the sweet corn, a suitable additional nitrogen topdressing can be applied once at the bell-mouth stage. For irrigated sweet corn fields, irrigation should be no fewer than 3-4 times, respectively before jointing, at the heading and flowering stage, and at the grain-filling stage. Sweet corn has a high sugar content and is susceptible to corn borer damage; in the early stage, spray the heart leaves with phoxim or methamidophos at 1000 times dilution, or at the bell-mouth stage mix 3% carbofuran with fine sandy soil at a 1:5 ratio and pour 2-3 g per plant into the heart leaves.
7. Timely harvest: The harvest time is mainly determined based on the appearance and morphology of the kernels, by calculating the number of days after pollination, by measuring water content and sugar content, and by tasting. Generally, sweet corn has the highest sugar content, the thinnest pericarp, and is most suitable for harvest 20-25 days after silking.
Storage of sweet corn
Optimum storage temperature: 0°C Relative humidity: 95-98%RH
After sweet corn is harvested, its sweetness and texture decline rapidly. The higher the storage temperature, the faster this change occurs, making it an extremely non-storable crop. Therefore, few people store it for a longer period. Ordinary storage only extends it by a few days to coordinate production and sales operations. After sweet corn is harvested, field heat should be removed within the shortest possible time and the product temperature lowered; this is the main key to maintaining sweet corn quality. The faster the cooling, the slower the loss of sweetness and the better the quality. As for precooling operations, crushed ice, water cooling, pressure-difference forced-air cooling, and the like can all be used, depending on the equipment at the production area and cost calculations. In addition, the processes of storage and transport to sale must all maintain low-temperature conditions in order to preserve the good quality of sweet corn. Sweet corn storage must also maintain high humidity; storing with the husk leaves can reduce moisture loss and increase protection, and if an outer layer of plastic wrap is added, the effect is even better. However, aeration must be noted to avoid off-flavors.
If sweet corn kernels are cut off, the storage life is quite short, and at about 0°C they can be stored for only one day. Therefore, when selling as a commodity, be sure to pay attention to the daily sales volume, process an appropriate amount, and always keep it at about 0°C in order to maintain considerable quality.
Storage temperature (°C) 0 5 10 15 Room temperature (25°C)
Storage life (days) Wrapped in plastic wrap 8-12 5-10 2-5 0-1 Within 1 day.
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