What are the pros? fun, gets attention, yummy
What are the cons? very long season
I've grown the red "Maiz Morada" Red Flint and "Choclo" white giant corns from Peru. Decades ago, I imported seed and started plants in 1/2 gallon pots, in a greenhouse, during Feb. By May 15, they were about two feet high. Secured a bunch of Virginia Cedar (Juniperus) poles, about 15 feet tall, into holes about 2.5-3 ft. deep. Planted 4 plants around each pole with good soil nutrition, lot of Nitrogen/old poultry manure. Plants reached about 14-18 feet tall and needed staking regularly. These grow in fairly calm valleys in Peru and cannot take the wind. Numerous adventitious roots suggest it might be shorter if trained horizontally before allowed to shoot straight up. The plants set numerous short cobs. Had to watch for Corn Smut and remove infected ears before sporulation. Last seed collected here was 1992 and germination was an astonishing 98% plus in 2012! Folks asked if I was using gibberelic acid to get such giant plants: no, that's just how they grow. A lot of work, but fun.
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