Try New Vegetables and Popcorn

vegetable you should try. The yardlong pole bean is a green bean type of plant with seed pods that can grow to three feet long. The whole vine may only grow to six feet tall.

There are many varieties of your favorite garden vegetable. Try a new one to see if you like the different colors or tastes. You might find one that grows more fruit or is hardier in your garden soil or climate. Try new varieties that are insect or disease resistant so you can use fewer pesticides.

Q: My family knows I love popcorn, so I was given a few ears of novelty popcorn. They are about three inches long and you are supposed to pop them on the cob. I am wondering if I can plant them to grow my own popcorn. I have grown sweet corn in the garden. Is there any difference in growing popcorn?

A: You can grow popcorn in your garden. Popcorn is one of the four kinds of corn. The others are sweet, dent and flint. Popcorn comes in two groups. Miniature cobs like yours are about three inches long and grow on four-foot-tall stalks. The other kind grows seven-inch cobs on eight-foot stalks.

Popcorn needs warm soil of at least 60 degrees to germinate, so don’t plant the seeds too early. Plant the corn in square blocks and not in long rows because they are wind pollinated. The closer the plants are to each other the better the pollination will be. Don’t plant popcorn and other corn types near each other. The popcorn seeds will not pop well if cross-pollinated and sweet corn will not be as good either. If the two corn types must be planted near each other, plant the popcorn three weeks earlier to prevent contamination.

Corn is a grass, and it grows better with plenty of water and fertilizer. Add compost to the soil before planting. Supplement rain to at least an inch of water per week. Popcorn will continue growing in very hot weather if given enough water.

It does take a long time for the popcorn to mature. They may take four months to mature, which is four to six weeks longer than sweet corn. Popcorn is left on the stalk until it is dry.

Like with any corn, deer and raccoons are problems. The long growing and drying time can make it hard to protect popcorn from pests.

Email questions to Jeff Rugg at info@ greenerview.com.

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