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South Hero, VT

I would like to start growing corn for giant EARS as opposed to growing corn for height. Can anyone help me? Thanks.

12/26/2009 7:01:00 PM

Eastern Washington State

I don't have any but did notice that Baker Creek seeds has a variety called 'Wade's giant indian corn'. That might be something to get you started.

12/26/2009 7:15:43 PM

South Hero, VT

Thanks for the great suggestion. I'd really like yellow corn so I could have my giants and eat them, too, but this is a great start. The size is just what I want!

12/27/2009 8:27:50 AM

Bethlehem CT

It is hard to find the huge ear size with hybrid sweet corn. The biggest I have grown with hybrid seed is 'Lancelot' a butter sugar type. They still sell an old type called elephant ear or 'NK-199' I have never tried it though.
'Country Gentleman' which is an open pollinated white, Had huge ears for me. I was living in New Hampshire at the time and I barely had a long enough season for it to ripen.
By far the biggest ear of corn I have grown were off the variety 'Goliath' from Shumway's seeds. Every year I bring a couple to the fair with me, they are usually a real hit as they are easily double the size of the sweet corn ears. 'Goliath' is a white kerneled silage corn. Start it early if you want it to produce mature ears for you.

12/29/2009 9:51:07 AM

South Hero, VT

I'm looking for a starting point so I can start crossing plants for ear size. A drunkard's dream? Thanks for replies, guys(and gals, too). Size matters, not the taste.

12/29/2009 12:00:49 PM

El Paso TX.

Not sure if you can still find them or not but the largest ears I have ever seen grown was many years ago from some seed that came in a bag of Cornnuts - (in the late 70's IIRC they had a promotion going where they included a few seeds in each of the large bags they sold.) They were a hybrid variety of Cusco corn - very tall and large plants with giant ears (some of the kernals were about an inch in size) -unfortunately My Father and I grew them that year and I never saved any of the seed but you might check to see if they can be found anywhere.

12/29/2009 12:48:45 PM

West Amwell, NJ

Jala Maize from Mexico has some very large ears, however the cob itself is not as long.

Here are some pictures I took of a Jala ear on a plant
http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Gallery/GalleryImg/jala_ear_2ft_9_6_05.JPG

More Jala ears
http://cdn-media.gardenguides.com/media/images/000000/17/61/MTE3MjA2_large.jpg

Picture of some Jala plants
http://cdn-media.gardenguides.com/media/images/000000/13/81/MTM~Nzgx_large.jpg

12/29/2009 2:15:43 PM

West Amwell, NJ

JDFan,
Any pictures I've seen of Cuzco Gigante (Peru) have shown rather short, stout ears. I've never seen any long ears with that race of corn. JDFan, do you happen to have any pictures of the corn?

Here is a picture of some Cuzco Gigante seeds that I have
http://www.bigpumpkins.com/Gallery/GalleryImg/Peru_giant_kernels.JPG

12/29/2009 2:20:37 PM

El Paso TX.

Here's a pic of the original Cuzco corn from Peru ( http://www.bedicomsa.com/cuscocorn.html ) but the ones I had seen are from a hybrid that the makers of CornNuts had developed to grow in California - It was a long time ago when I was in junior High and used to go stay with my dad in the summers in Indiana (parents had divorced) I just remember the stalks being taller than our Garage building and the ears were very large with kernels that were about an inch in size. We grew them for a couple summers but then I got a bit older and started doing other things in the summer and don't know what ever happened to the seeds (though I'd be interested in planting some again if found !)

12/29/2009 3:22:34 PM

South Hero, VT

Brian, since you're posting on this board, I'll ask you here if fairs/weigh-ins measure the ear, the cob, or go by weight. Steve Minor.

12/29/2009 4:47:58 PM

West Amwell, NJ

I'm sure all fairs are different. If I remember correctly, the fairs around here measure cob length.

12/29/2009 5:22:51 PM

South Hero, VT

Thanks, Brian. I'm checking out specifics on all the varieties mentioned so far, and will make some choices next month for planting in May. It appears that foot long cobs on some varieties are not uncommon.

12/29/2009 5:37:41 PM

West Amwell, NJ

If you want to read about tropical maize, I highly recommend going onto google books and searching on "races of maize". These books give detailed descriptions of the many races of tropical corn. I've learned much from these books. Most of the books listed are the full text, but a few are partial text.

http://books.google.com/books?q=races+of+maize

12/29/2009 9:03:44 PM

West Amwell, NJ

I just found this site that may be of interest to you

http://www.alibaba.com/product/pe100934839-100903629-100568924/Frozen_Sweet_White_Giant_Maize_Corn_On_The_Cob_Of_Peru.html

If you scroll down, you can see all sorts of varieties of corn listed

12/29/2009 9:08:25 PM

South Hero, VT

I didn't realize all the varieties of South American large cob corn available until today. I also found some of your posts from a few years ago. Again, thanks to one and all who have given me all the information. I now have a lot of varieties to make my choices from.

12/29/2009 9:39:31 PM

West Amwell, NJ

BTW, I also agree with Big Moon about the Goliath Corn from R.H. Shumway. If you are looking to get big ears in time for the fair then that is the corn to go with. The problem with a lot of these tropical varieties is that they don't produce ears in time for the fair. You have to grow them previous year and save them for the fair the following year. Many of the tropical varieties do not produce ears at all where I live. I tried to grow Cuzco Gigante and it did not produce any ears. Only certain maize produces ears for me. Almost all of them are in Mexico (Jala, Olotillo, Tuxpeno, Olotillo-Tuxpeno). The only other that I had kernels from was Gallina from Ecuador in 2008. However, this year not a single ear from Gallina.

12/29/2009 10:09:24 PM

South Hero, VT

Maybe I'll try to grow some of those tropical varieties after I retire and move to Mexico. LOL. I'm aiming for foot-long cobs first year.

12/30/2009 6:26:41 PM