how to plant weed free corn patch
TRANSCRIPT
How to Plant Weed-free Corn Patch
1. Cover the future corn bed with black plastic at least 2 months before corn plantingtime for your area, securing it with rocks.2. When you lift the plastic months later, you will find a pile of dead vegetation thatyou simply rake up and add to compost pile.3. Then spread a 2-4 inch layer of compost over the bed, without tilling. If you findvole or mole holes, it is the only time you can turn the soil.4. Make a furrow with a hoe about 4-5 inches deep, which is pretty simple with a hoe.Add a line of organic fertilizer in the furrow and partially fill the furrow back to about1 inch deep.5. Add corn seeds 2-3 inches apart to ensure and even corn patch.6. Lay soaker hoses along each planted row and water the seeds well.7. Optional: if you have birds or cats in the neighborhood, covering the beds withchicken wire or whatever you have will help keep the beds pest-free.8. Soon you will see the corn sprout and sometimes it may take up 2 weeks. You needto thin the corn to 12-18 inches apart, as it is the only way to get full sizes stalks withfull ears.9. Now all that’s left is to water and watch it grow: Water with the soaker hoses forabout 4-5 hours every 4-7 days deeply to encourage deep root growth (shorterwatering every few days results in shallow roots and stalks that will topple when fullof ears if a wind comes up). If in doubt, dig an inch down---it is moist, the corn hasenough water and can wait for a day or more to be watered.You may see a weed here and there that you will need to pull casually as you arehooking up the soaker hose. At the end of the season the bottom leaves may yellow,but the rest of the stalks are healthy green with ears growing full. And this is thefull-grown corn patch at the end of the season---ready for corn harvesting.
