Topic: 2006 - tall corn

[sunflower_info]

This a new personal best for me!  19 ft. tall Jala Valley Landrace maize.

[sunflower_info]

This one is even taller than the last one.  This one is 20 ft. 1 inch tall!  This is now my new personal best

[tim]

GREAT!!  And how many cobs each?? We seem to average about 1 1/2.

[sunflower_info]

The type of corn I grow is a tropical type from the Jala Valley in Mexico.    It has the largest ears in the world.  The ears can reach 2 ft. in length   The actual corn cob gets up to 18 inches or so.  In my climate in NJ, I do not always get ears on stalks.  Sometimes I get ears, but they don't extend silk, and sometimes I get an ear.  At most, I've had three ears per plant.  Usually one large ear, and two smaller ones.  Ears are not at consistent heights, and the plants do not put on tassels or ears in a uniform manner.  Generally, the really tall plants generally do not put on ears.  I've had a plant that was 18 ft. 4 in. that did put on an ear last year.

Here is an ear from a 18 ft. 4 in. plant last year

[Marymary]

Impressive stalks but what do they taste like? 

[sunflower_info]

I've never tried to eat them.  They don't look very good to eat.  Anywyas, I get a limited amount of ears; so all go for seed collection.

[keef]

What do they grow them for in Mexico - silage ?

2ft cobs! I wonder if they'd grow over here.

[saddad]

Probably not Keef... I saw some Cuzco giant at Ryton one year which got to about twelve foot but didn't produce ears...
 ???

[sunflower_info]

I've sent seeds to quite a few growers I trade seeds with in the UK, and I don't know of anyone who gets them as large as I get them here.  I think New Jersey gets a bit warmer, and more humid than in the UK.  Although, I'm no expert on UK weather patterns.   If you are interested in growing large corn, I recommend trying Goliath Silage.  That is a very large temperate corn.  The tallest corn at the Iowa state fair every year is Goliath Silage.  Last year was around 17'8" and this year was 18'4".  I'm not sure if they sell to the UK, but you can buy it from R.H Shumway. 
https://www.rhshumway.com/shumsiteDefault.aspx
I tried it out this year, and in cooler weather, it seems to grow faster than Jala.  Tallest plant I had was 14 ft. with a 15 inch corn cobb. 

Speaking of Cuzco Giant.....  I tried growing that for my first time this year.  I was only able to get one ear, and it didn't extend silk.  The plants were pretty pathetic, and didn't get higher than 8 ft. or so.  I'm trying again next year.  I'm trying to obtain a cross between Jala and Cuzco.  I have a friend in south California that was able to produce Cuzco in the 15-17 ft. range.  I hoping he can get a successful cross.   Jala produces the largest ears in the world, and Cuzco produces the largest kernels.  I'm very curious what type of ears i would get from that.

Next year, I'm also going to work on a goliath silage and Jala cross.  I'm hoping to produce very large plants that do better in more northernly climates, and produce more ears. 

[saddad]

I look forward to seeing and hearing all about them next year..
 8)

[lns]

How do you know about Jala?

The type of corn I grow is a tropical type from the Jala Valley in Mexico.    It has the largest ears in the world.  The ears can reach 2 ft. in length   The actual corn cob gets up to 18 inches or so.  In my climate in NJ, I do not always get ears on stalks.  Sometimes I get ears, but they don't extend silk, and sometimes I get an ear.  At most, I've had three ears per plant.  Usually one large ear, and two smaller ones.  Ears are not at consistent heights, and the plants do not put on tassels or ears in a uniform manner.  Generally, the really tall plants generally do not put on ears.  I've had a plant that was 18 ft. 4 in. that did put on an ear last year.

Here is an ear from a 18 ft. 4 in. plant last year