"FarmerDill" wrote in message
...

Do I care if the corn cross pollinates with another variety if I'm
not
going to save the corn seed for next year? Does it matter if it's a
hybrid or an open pollinator?

Thanks
Gary

Yes and No. With corn you eat the seed, so you are immediately dealing
with the
cross, Most times with standard corns either OP's or Hybrid it doesn;t
matter
too much. In fact I often plant alternate rows of Silver Queen and
Golden Queen
which results in a nice bi-color mix, If I did not like bi-colors that
could be
a problem, The supersweet varieties (SH2) tend be become tough and
chewy when
cross pollinated so extra care must be taken to isolate those from
standard
corns,

In addition to pollination concerns, a problem for me is the birds
sometimes beat me to the corn as the kernels dry out. Putting paper
bags over the ears to keep birds out helps. The tall Country Gentlemen
also has more of a lodging tendency than short-stalk varieties. But is
still one of my favorites. -Olin