Saving Seeds

brownhounds · Mar 27, 2018

Has anybody tried to save hybrid seed for the next years planting? Or, can it ONLY be done with heirloom seed?

I am looking for somewhere to buy bulk corn seed in a heirloom variety around Cherokee County if anybody can steer me in the right direction.

thanks

NCHillbilly · Mar 27, 2018

Seed from hybrid varieties is usually viable, but it usually doesn't come back like the parent, because of the genetic mix in it. It's a crapshoot.

doomtrpr_z71 · Mar 27, 2018

You can save seed unless it's protected, then depending on the protection either only enough to replant the original acreage or in some cases it's not supposed to be saved. You can save hybrid seed but eventually it will revert to one of the parents. Heirloom seed is a misnomer, it's stuck on a lot of things. With that said you will not find sweet corn that is not hybridized. Heirloom corn tends to be the multicolored kernel varietys. Even those will eventually revert back to a teosinte like plant since there are no wild corn plants.

ucfireman · Mar 27, 2018

What NC said. The seeds are usually viable but wont be the same as the first time you plant them.

doomtrpr_z71 · Mar 27, 2018

This is how the generations would look

livinoutdoors · Mar 27, 2018

Look at southern exposure seed exchange to see what corn they have

brownhounds · Mar 28, 2018

Thanks for replies.. I did find some heirloom seed from a company called South GA Seed Company. I'm ordering the Stowells Evergreen Corn Seed from them.

doomtrpr_z71 · Mar 28, 2018

I wouldn't buy it in bulk, it's not a real sweet corn, it's semisweet and some people find it to be bland tasting. I'd try it first before buying it in bulk.

brownhounds · Mar 30, 2018

doomtrpr_z71 said:
I wouldn't buy it in bulk, it's not a real sweet corn, it's semisweet and some people find it to be bland tasting. I'd try it first before buying it in bulk.

Thanks for the heads up. I bought a few. Ill plant a 1/4 acre. When did you plant it, and how tall do the plants get?

doomtrpr_z71 · Mar 30, 2018

I have never planted it, I usually plant roundup ready sweet corn, usually a peaches and cream line. I plant earlier, I already have sweet corn up, but mid -april to may would be normal. Evergreen is pretty tall growing 7-8ft, and some people recommend spacing it out a good ways (36in per plant). The evergreen name comes from it getting picked early and hanging up on the plant for weeks to keep. It's a cross between some flour corn and an older sugar corn. As long as it's been around a lot of the original traits will most likely have been bred out by now. If it had high sugar content the ears wouldn't last long.

brownhounds · Mar 31, 2018

That makes sense.

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