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Idle curiosity -- what is the furthest north you can grow corn?
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Posted by
denninmi 6A SE Michigan (
My Page) on
Tue, Jun 12, 12 at 16:49
| How far north can people successfully grow corn and other warm weather vegetables like tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, melons without a greenhouse? Calgary or Edmonton Alberta? Alaska? Yellowknife? |
Follow-Up Postings:
RE: Idle curiosity -- what is the furthest north you can grow cor
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| I grow all of them here in Edmonton. Eggplant and melons require a little more heat or protection but many varieties have been developed for shorter seasons. Interesting to know how far north of here gardeners have success with warm weather vegies. :) Ginny |
RE: Idle curiosity -- what is the furthest north you can grow cor
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| My neighbor grows corn north of Grande Prairie but she starts them in her livingroom in March. Same with tomatoes I am so glad she shares. |
RE: Idle curiosity -- what is the furthest north you can grow cor
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| I live in Saskatoon. I'd classify the warm season crops into 3 categories: 1. Easy: Guaranteed success except in the crappiest of summers: Corn, tomatoes, summer squash, winter squash
2. Moderate: greatly benefit from plastic mulch, row covers and other protection, but will also yield without such benefits: eggplant, peppers, melons. Often fail in years with unusually cool summers.
3. Difficult: plastic mulch and row covers ARE necessary for any sort of production, even in normal summers: *drumroll* okra. Ironically, my favourite vegetable. |
RE: Idle curiosity -- what is the furthest north you can grow cor
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| Well, don't feel bad about the Okra. I'm in 6A in SE Michigan, and I generally never have had much luck with it either, and no one I know of in the area really does. It will survive and grow a few feet tall, and yield of small handful of pods, but we just don't have the long, hot days and hot nights this plant really needs. I've pretty much decided to not even try again, I planted a few this year only because I had an old packet of seeds and I'm trying to use up all of my old seeds. |
RE: Idle curiosity -- what is the furthest north you can grow cor
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| I've grown sweet corn in Edmonton for 20 years and only one year of those 20 did it fail (extremely early killing frost in late August). But growing one of the very early varieties is key to success at 53.5 degrees north latitude. I've produced ripe muskmelons here too, but watermelons so far elude me (only tried twice -- one year they ended up golf-ball size, once year they ended up full ice-box size but never ripened. |
RE: Idle curiosity -- what is the furthest north you can grow cor
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| I used to watch the 'Canadian Gardener' series on CBC, which was hosted by the man from the U. of B.C. Botanic Garden (can't remember his name, David something perhaps). They had regional guest correspondents from around Canada who were amateur gardeners, and who would report on what was happening in their gardens and in their regions. One was an elderly man from Yellowknife, who had quite an amazing little garden during the short summer season. The nearly 24 hour days, brought things into rapid growth. One thing that amazed me was how compressed everything was -- plants that for me would bloom a month apart or more were all blooming at once for him. Specifically, though, this man had a small glasshouse which he used to start transplants, and to grow tomatoes, cucumbers, and peppers in -- they benefited from the extra warmth even in the summer, and of course that prolonged the harvest since fall and frost came by early September there. Quite fascinating to me. |
RE: Idle curiosity -- what is the furthest north you can grow cor
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| You might want to check out this guys blog site. :) Ginny http://chateau-listeur.blogspot.ca/ |
RE: Idle curiosity -- what is the furthest north you can grow cor
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| Sweet corn grows very well in and around the town of Peace River (AB) townsite, and ripens by mid-August with our long summer days. I personally was surprised to find extensive cornfields last year around LaCrete, AB, which is about 150 km NE of me, and I know that Corn does very well in Ft. Vermilion, as well. I'd think that the northern limits of good sweet corn growing in Canada would be Ft. Simpson or Ft. Liard, NWT. When I worked in the NWT, I was advised that the farthest north uncovered gardens were in Tsiigehtchic, which is about 100 km from the Arctic Ocean, but never got to see them myself...and it's doubtful, in any case, that you could get a good corn crop there. |
RE: Idle curiosity -- what is the furthest north you can grow cor
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| Gosh, denninmi... I remember that show. David Terrant was the host. Bob Switzer co-hosted for a few years; he was a hoot, lol, though I think he was under foot most of the time (poor Terrant)! We have no problem growing short-season corn varieties. I think my latitude here is roughly 52 degrees (central Sask). Some of these other posters are definitely further north. |
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