281 Impact of Plant Population, Nitrogen, and Variety on Early Fresh-market Sweet Corn Quality

Abstract

Early fresh-market sweet corn expressed concern is prone to variability in ear length and quality due to uneven germination rates in cooler soils, smaller plant size of early corn, and single ear per stalk trait of early varieties. In an informal survey of current practices, growers reported using in-row spacings between 0.5 and 0.25 m (0.76 m between rows) for their first bare-ground corn, representing a range of plant populations from 86,000 to 43,000 plants/ha. However, no information had been gathered on the impacts of these various in-row spacings on early corn ear length and overall quality and how different sweet corn types (se, sh2, sweet breeds) might respond to these spacings under cool conditions of early spring. Four trials were conducted over the last 2 years, in upstate New York, examining three sweet corn types, five plant populations, and two nitrogen sidedress rates for effect ear length, quality, and uniformity. In general, results thus far indicate that all three parameters can influence ear quality and variability. Among treatments, ear length varied by up to 1 cm. The variety `Sweet Symphony' was less affected by high populations than `Temptation'. In 1998, no difference in ear length due to spacing was found. It is suspected that the warm spring in 1998, coupled with adequate moisture, reduced plant stress during early growth. Higher nitrogen sidedress rates reduced variability of early season corn, at all populations. In 1999, plant population was found to be the most important factor affecting ear physical characteristics.