[markm75]

I've heard a few variations on this.. was curious if anyone had any
thoughts..

I've heard its ok to plant the white corn and the bicolor at the same
time, as long as you aren't saving seeds.. i've also heard to not do
it as they will cross pollinate and result in tough kernels.

Or.. i've heard that its ok, as long as you say, plant one one week
then wait a few weeks and plant the other variety...

Any thoughts on this? I dont have 100 feet to separate the varieties
either.. more like only a few feet

Thanks

[David E. Ross]

On 6/7/2008 10:33 AM, markm75 wrote:
I've heard a few variations on this.. was curious if anyone had any
thoughts..

I've heard its ok to plant the white corn and the bicolor at the same
time, as long as you aren't saving seeds.. i've also heard to not do
it as they will cross pollinate and result in tough kernels.

Or.. i've heard that its ok, as long as you say, plant one one week
then wait a few weeks and plant the other variety...

Any thoughts on this? I dont have 100 feet to separate the varieties
either.. more like only a few feet

Thanks

When cross-pollination occurs, the effect is seen in the plants grown
from the resulting seeds. The seeds themselves (corn kernels in this
case) reflect the plant on which they grow.

This is best illustrated by Japanese plums. To set fruit, Satsuma plums
require cross-pollination from a different variety of Japanese plum.
Often, Santa Rosa plums (which don't require cross-pollination) are used
for cross-pollinating Satsuma plums. The resulting fruit on a Satsuma
tree are clearly Satsuma plums. However, planting the seeds from such
plums will not produce a Satsuma tree.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/

[J. Clarke]

David E. Ross wrote:
On 6/7/2008 10:33 AM, markm75 wrote:
I've heard a few variations on this.. was curious if anyone had any
thoughts..

I've heard its ok to plant the white corn and the bicolor at the
same
time, as long as you aren't saving seeds.. i've also heard to not
do
it as they will cross pollinate and result in tough kernels.

Or.. i've heard that its ok, as long as you say, plant one one week
then wait a few weeks and plant the other variety...

Any thoughts on this? I dont have 100 feet to separate the
varieties
either.. more like only a few feet

Thanks

When cross-pollination occurs, the effect is seen in the plants
grown
from the resulting seeds. The seeds themselves (corn kernels in
this
case) reflect the plant on which they grow.

This is best illustrated by Japanese plums. To set fruit, Satsuma
plums require cross-pollination from a different variety of Japanese
plum. Often, Santa Rosa plums (which don't require
cross-pollination)
are used for cross-pollinating Satsuma plums. The resulting fruit
on
a Satsuma tree are clearly Satsuma plums. However, planting the
seeds from such plums will not produce a Satsuma tree.

However Satsuma trees are not hybrid corn.

With corn, follow the recommendations of the seed producer with regard
to cross pollination. For some varieties it doesn't matter, for
others one can lose the benefits of hybridization that way.

The time delay in planting can be effective at preventing cross
pollination by staggering the time at which the plants are in flower,
but one needs to study the details of the life cycle of the corn
varieties being planted to know how best to do it--get it wrong and
you can end up having two varieties that if planted at the same time
would not have cross pollinated due to different maturation rates
cross pollinating because of the staggered planting dates.

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)

[David E. Ross]

On 6/8/2008 1:36 PM, J. Clarke wrote [in part]:
David E. Ross wrote:
On 6/7/2008 10:33 AM, markm75 wrote:
I've heard a few variations on this.. was curious if anyone had any
thoughts..

I've heard its ok to plant the white corn and the bicolor at the
same
time, as long as you aren't saving seeds.. i've also heard to not
do
it as they will cross pollinate and result in tough kernels.

Or.. i've heard that its ok, as long as you say, plant one one week
then wait a few weeks and plant the other variety...

Any thoughts on this? I dont have 100 feet to separate the
varieties
either.. more like only a few feet

Thanks
When cross-pollination occurs, the effect is seen in the plants
grown
from the resulting seeds. The seeds themselves (corn kernels in
this
case) reflect the plant on which they grow.

This is best illustrated by Japanese plums. To set fruit, Satsuma
plums require cross-pollination from a different variety of Japanese
plum. Often, Santa Rosa plums (which don't require
cross-pollination)
are used for cross-pollinating Satsuma plums. The resulting fruit
on
a Satsuma tree are clearly Satsuma plums. However, planting the
seeds from such plums will not produce a Satsuma tree.

However Satsuma trees are not hybrid corn.

However, they are indeed hybrid plums, different from their wild
ancestors. The effect is the same. The development of seeds and fruit
is dictated by the characteristics of the plant on which the seeds and
fruit develop, not on the genotype of the seed "germ" (the part that
forms a new plant when the seed sprouts).

So much pollen drifts through the air or is carried by insects from one
variety to another (e.g., from my neighbor's cherry tomatoes to my own
beefsteak tomatoes) that having named varieties of vegetables, fruits,
and grain would be meaningless if cross-pollination affected the
resulting crop. The results of cross-pollination is seen only in the
next generation of plants.

--
David E. Ross
Climate: California Mediterranean
Sunset Zone: 21 -- interior Santa Monica Mountains with some ocean
influence (USDA 10a, very close to Sunset Zone 19)
Gardening pages at http://www.rossde.com/garden/

[Pat Kiewicz]

David E. Ross said:

However, they are indeed hybrid plums, different from their wild
ancestors. The effect is the same. The development of seeds and fruit
is dictated by the characteristics of the plant on which the seeds and
fruit develop, not on the genotype of the seed "germ" (the part that
forms a new plant when the seed sprouts).

In the case of a plum, the edible part which surrounds the seed is
generated by the parent plant, and will have the properties of the
parent plant.

In the case of sweet corn, you are eating the seed derived from
pollination. It is wholly derived from the product of pollination,
germ and embryo.

The genes responsible for it being sweet (as opposed to starchy)
and white (as opposed to yellow) are recessive.

It's ok if SU (sugary) strains cross with SE (sugary enhanced) strains,
but cross pollinating either with field corn varieties will result in a loss
of sweetness.

Crossing any other type of corn (even other types of sweet corn) with
an sh2 (shrunken) type can give you corn that is tough and starchy.

Yellow color is dominant over white, so a white corn variety that is
pollinated by a yellow variety will turn yellow. And thus your Silver
Queen may end up specked with gold if it crosses with a yellow
corn. Bicolor types have genes for both white and yellow, so express
a mixture and will also speckle your white variety with some yellow.
And bicolors that cross with yellow varieties will be predominantly
yellow. (Since I'm assuming you haven't emasculated your white or
bicolor corn, they will still manage to produce some white kernels.)

So, going back to the original question, it's ok to plant bicolor and
white sweet corn in the same garden (as long as they are either both
sh2 types, or both su or se types), as long as you don't insist your
white corn be pure white.
--
Pat in Plymouth MI ('someplace.net' is comcast)

After enlightenment, the laundry.

[J. Clarke]

David E. Ross wrote:
On 6/8/2008 1:36 PM, J. Clarke wrote [in part]:
David E. Ross wrote:
On 6/7/2008 10:33 AM, markm75 wrote:
I've heard a few variations on this.. was curious if anyone had
any
thoughts..

I've heard its ok to plant the white corn and the bicolor at the
same
time, as long as you aren't saving seeds.. i've also heard to not
do
it as they will cross pollinate and result in tough kernels.

Or.. i've heard that its ok, as long as you say, plant one one
week
then wait a few weeks and plant the other variety...

Any thoughts on this? I dont have 100 feet to separate the
varieties
either.. more like only a few feet

Thanks
When cross-pollination occurs, the effect is seen in the plants
grown
from the resulting seeds. The seeds themselves (corn kernels in
this
case) reflect the plant on which they grow.

This is best illustrated by Japanese plums. To set fruit, Satsuma
plums require cross-pollination from a different variety of
Japanese
plum. Often, Santa Rosa plums (which don't require
cross-pollination)
are used for cross-pollinating Satsuma plums. The resulting fruit
on
a Satsuma tree are clearly Satsuma plums. However, planting the
seeds from such plums will not produce a Satsuma tree.

However Satsuma trees are not hybrid corn.

However, they are indeed hybrid plums, different from their wild
ancestors. The effect is the same. The development of seeds and
fruit is dictated by the characteristics of the plant on which the
seeds and fruit develop, not on the genotype of the seed "germ" (the
part that forms a new plant when the seed sprouts).

So much pollen drifts through the air or is carried by insects from
one variety to another (e.g., from my neighbor's cherry tomatoes to
my own beefsteak tomatoes) that having named varieties of
vegetables,
fruits, and grain would be meaningless if cross-pollination affected
the resulting crop. The results of cross-pollination is seen only
in
the next generation of plants.

Google "SH2 Corn" and see what you find then if you disagree get back
to us.

--
--
--John
to email, dial "usenet" and validate
(was jclarke at eye bee em dot net)