I started corn in an indoor greenhouse setup but they became too tall for the setup so I configured a little raised bed that I transplanted them to (2 days ago) and now they look like they’re dead. We did have a little snow yesterday and frost this morning. When I transplanted them i hit them with a little blood meal and fish fertilizer.
Are they dying because of the high 20’s weather we recently had, transplanting with fertilizer shock, or something else that I’m not considering?
Also any chance they pull through if I modify the problem?
by PsychologicalVoice55
11 Comments
Was it sunny?
I put clear plastic over some of my seedling and they all got nuked to death in the sun.
You got that thing wrapped up tight.
My unwrapped ones survived just fine.
But if you left them out wrapped in 20 deg weather, just because they are wrapped doesn’t mean much in 20 degree weather for seedlings.
Looks like they got cooked.
If in Celsius, they fried.
If in Fahrenheit, they froze.
Not seeing them come back. That soil looks dry like a desert, also corn doesn’t usually like transplanting.
Corn isn’t the slightest bit cold-hardy. You’ll get injury and stagnation in the 40s and outright death in the low 30s. In the absence of any heat source, the plastic cover probably didn’t buy you enough protection in the nighttime.
I would consider sowing new seed in that bed once your weather warms up a bit (e.g., nighttime lows in the high 30s or better). The plastic will warm the soil and hasten germination, and you’ll be caught up soon without having to deal with transplant shock-related slowdowns.
I’ve never seen a growth advantage for starting corn early. Just plant the seeds outdoors when suggested for your area. Check you state extension site for planting schedules.
Corn does not transplant well. Sow your seeds directly. Plus it looks like you need to amend your soil. It looks devoid of life.
It’s a Fool’s errand to plant corn anywhere but the ground when the soil is warm enough .
I monitor temps under my plastic and essentially as soon as the sun goes down the air inside the plastic reaches ambient temps
Sadly they a gone 😞. Corn is a definitely a warm season crop and can’t really tolerate anything below about 15 degrees celsius (ideally higher). So if you have had snow or frost; that is the ed of them 😞. Sorry about the bad news.
Plastic like that doesn’t really hold much heat after the sun sets. They may have cooked during the day but they definitely froze at night. Try again and plant directly in the ground after your last frost date.