I wouldn't plant 3 to a row either, that will be a pain to hip/sidedress.
I'm trying something different this year too. I'm hoping I can get away without spending too much time weeding and hipping the corn. I planted an 18'x 18' block with seeds 2.5-3" deep every 7 inches with rows 24" apart. Germination is close to 99.5%. After watching a few farmer videos I thought planting deeper would help hold the plant up in winds and maybe I won't have to hip so high or not at all. The closer planting will hopefully hold the weeds down to a minimum once the plants get 2-3' tall.
I tilled the area and applied 3 lbs of 10-10-10 and tilled that in then used a push plow to make a furrow and planted in that. I should only have to sidedress once at the V6 stage. I plan to loosen the soil between the rows and apply nitrogen down the middle and cover it up. Of course all that might change depending on how much rain we get.
Doing the math that's 18 dozen corn in an 18'x 18' area, I know I won't harvest that much with pressure from coons and squirrels but I should have enough to put up and try again for a fall crop.
__________________
Rob
|