It shouldn't hurt the corn unless you distrub the roots during the process of scraping the soil up. Mulching the plants would probably do better if conserving moisture is your goal and watering is not possible. I guess it depends on how big a crop you have there. vgkg

i have 3 50ft rows, they are in hill rows now. my thought was if i toss on the bloodmeal and a handful of compost then pull up somemore dirt or mulch, it might help on the water.

what do you think?

thanks
reg

Sounds like a good plan. But just to see if it really makes a difference you could do this to some of the corn and not do it to others and compare the results come harvest time. This year I planted my corn in flat rows (always have used wide rows that are 2-3" high). 2 reasons I'm switching to flat rows is that wind has tended to knock over my corn during heavy rains and also the raised rows tend to dry out fast. Hoping to eliminate both problems this year with flat rows. vgkg

I don't hill up soil for anything. Some things, I plant in a 'ditch' or bowl. This helps with watering as the water stays put or runs into the low spot. It runs off of the hills.

Mulch works great for moisture retention around corn or just about anything else. I wait until it is about 6 inches high, give it a good weeding and mulch with a few inches of grass or whatever is handy.

Kay.

Back in the old days, when we 'laid by' the corn - it was the last cultivation possible before the corn got too big to drive through with horse/mule or tractor. Sidedressing of ammonium nitrate was applied, and the middles were plowed out, with soil hilled up against the cornstalks. This accomplished several things - it cleaned up most of the weeds, incorporated the fertilizer before it sublimated off into the atmosphere, and it helped 'brace' the cornstalks, to some degree, against blowing over in the wind.
Most of the corn varieties in existence today have been bred to be self-supporting, without hilling. Indeed, the vast majority of field corn - and probably a significant amount of sweet corn - is planted no-till or minimum-till, and never gets plowed even once in its life.

Method we use here in SW Mo is to open a trench with a hiller-furrower on the tiller. I plant the corn in groups of 3 to 4 grains every 18 to 20 inches. I use a hoe to pull just enough soil in to cover each group of seeds about one inch. Usually pull out all but two best after they are up. Regular tilling finishes filling in the trench. The last time the soil can be tilled, my husband uses the hiller-furrower again to throw up soil to the row on each side, which leaves a trench for watering, if need be.

Lucky may well be right....maybe we are just still doing what we learned to do 60 years ago. :O) We just figured it would help to have those roots deeper in when late June and July rolls around. Some things we do are the result of living and gardening in SW Oklahoma for 20 years.