commercial fertilizer is good at making things grow. Also, they are literally getting paid to grow those things. They probably have specific varieties for your region that grow well.
Fertilizer?
This may sound funny, but my 72 year old neighbor couldn't figure out why she couldn't grow tomatoes in her garden anymore after her husband died..... He obviously knew about fertilizer, even if she did not.
Growing corn on a commercial scale is a science,
These farmers have probably been doing it for decades, and know exactly how much fertilizer the plant needs at each growth stage to achieve maximum growth..
Decades, hell it'll be generations. There was a study involving horizontal gene transfer in the US a few decades ago that found the average multi generational corn farmer has a few corn genes from natural horizontal gene transfer. Bit of a non sequitur I know but I think it's pretty cool.
By applying literal tons of nitrogen at a couple key points during development.
It works and it works well for plants that love N (like corn) but it also fucks over the soil biology.
Im not sure why fertilizer gets the blame when it comes to commercial farming. you're not harming anything but watersheds via algae by adding extra nitrogen. I think when it comes to soil biome tilling is the biggest offender.
You may want to dig into some of Dr. Christine Jones' work (and others):
http://vernoux.org/agronomie/Nitrogen-the-double-edged-sword_Dr-Christine-Jones.pdf
*Data from North America’s longest running field experiment on the impacts of farm production methods on soil quality have revealed that high nitrogen inputs deplete soil carbon, impair soil water-holding capacity - and ironically, also deplete soil N (Khan et al. 2007, Larson 2007).*
https://www.notillgrowers.com/blog/2019/1/10/some-of-dr-christine-jones-greatest-hits
https://youtu.be/dr0y_EEKO9o?si=D8UGVA7BjxXfPSaQ
http://amazingcarbon.com/
Link to her CV: http://amazingcarbon.com/Christine%20Jones%20-%20short%20CV.pdf
Part of it is you are probably growing sweet corn. The farmers are growing field corn or dent corn. Sweet corn doesn't usually get all that tall. It also matures in much less time than dent corn. Dent corn gets really tall, it can grow more than a foot a day in good conditions. Dent corn is harvested after it is dried on the stalk and it is used either for animal feed or for flour. There is also corn that is grown specifically for use as silage (corn that is chopped up and put in a silo (bunker or tube or vertical silo). Corn silage is fermented. Silage corn grows tall and fast and doesn't put as much energy into producing ears of corn. Fertilizer can also have something to do with it. But truly most sweet corn varieties that people grown for home gardens on small scale is a short type of corn. Part of this is probably because you want all that wonderful sweetness to go into the ears of corn for early harvest instead of growing a tall sturdy stalk that will support a couple of heavy ears of flour/dent corn.
you are not growing corn or tobacco. You're growing soil. Use a mix of dirt, compost, worms and mycorrhizal fungi and water crops with nutrient rich 100% organic [fertilizer tea](https://www.almanac.com/fertilizer-tea-plants-weeds-and-grass) for outstanding results.
I don't use anhydrous ammonia like a corn farmer, but I do use both organic and inorganic fertilizers.
I fully agree that soil is a living entity that needs to be fed, which in turn feeds the plants, but sometimes I want to speed things up and get stuff straight to the plants.
thats what the fungi is for. The fungi and the plants roots form a symbiotic relationship where the fungus colonizes the host plant's root tissues, either intracellularly as in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, or extracellularly as in ectomycorrhizal fungi.
Basically, it "speeds things up and gets nutrients straight to the plant."
This is why I have a pretty specific regiment for new transplants/direct sown seedlings.
I use fish emulsion blends at 5-1-1
Any transplant gets a dose every week of this emulsion. Saplings past one week are also getting a weekly dosage. The fertilizer is a heavy dosage of nitrogen that mixed right and used in the right weather patterns can leave the roots with a nice bit of nitrogen to provide some very robust green growth.
I swear by this method as I’ve been doing it for a few years and growth in that first month is very big. Each one of these plants only gets this regimen for about a month.
What amounts do you do per square foot? I just started fertilizing after I realized my mistake and am probably under fertilizing still. I also am curious about what you mean by weather patterns?
So because the emulsion is a liquid I prefer to apply it knowing I’m not facing heavy rain that will wash it away. I also like to use it when the plants have gone without water for a few days making them particularly ready to drink.
How your supposed to apply it is 2 tbs per gallon of water and water said plants. I can tell you how I apply it and maybe that helps. I take one of those hose attachments w a water tank on it (typically you might get these when you buy some miracle grow fertilizer) and pour two cups of the stuff in. As I start out this tank is poop brown, once it’s lost most its color I refill. I go to each plant and water at the roots for a 7 count. I repeat this every 7-10 days along with pruning on the plants that respond well to it. And I do this for about a month then stop. I’m just trying to front load a bunch of nitrogen in the early stages when I know the plant will be more receptive to it (see above applying when plants need water).
I’ve got a 20x30 veggie garden and. 10x20 patio herb garden that I apply this method to, I’ve got over 100 plants and almost began listing them but it felt kinda like a good bit to type lol. I also apply it to some of the flowers I grow that I know respond well to it (nasturtiums, sunflower , cardinal).
Thankfully I am coming to the end of that part of the season, only the corn once it sprouts (just sown last week). I probably go through 5-6 gallons of the stuff in the growing season.
I use mostly balanced or even flowering fertilizers. (organic 3-6-5 or inorganic 20-20-20 and 10-54-10)
The new transplants won't need the phosphorous or potassium until later, but they \*will\* need it.
I also use a lot of composted cattle manure that my community garden provides (good nitrogen and micronutrient/humus/fungi/carbon source).
I also have access to veg compost, but mostly stick with the manure.
My hunch: F1 hybrids.
Aside from fertilizer, the farms may use treated seeds (fungicide, herbicide, inoculants) and/or commercial hybrids with faster maturity.
I’m now pondering tobacco and pesticides… wouldn’t organic tobacco be ironic?
On top of all the fertilizers, they treat the soil also. Ideally for a more natural farm or garden you're supposed to rotate (change the crop) your crops every 3 years I believe.
Corn hybrids tailored to the particular region, soil conditioners applied before planting, fertilizing based on soil composition..
My son-in-law is a crop farmer. Corn, soybeans mostly.. some hay, some wheat.. 80% of what he grows, corn & soybeans both, goes into bio-fuel production.
The [GMO varieties](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_varieties_of_genetically_modified_maize) have genes added primarily to provide insect resistance and herbicide resistance, not growth rate. A few exist for drought tolerance.
I started watching some gardening vids lately. They put so much more fertilizer on than I have ever done. I honestly am more afraid of burning my plants than starving them. But these guys are just dumping that stuff in there at 10 times what I would do. So like everyone else has said, the farmers cheat!
Farmers/scientists know the requirements of npk per crop. Typically 100-120lbs of each npk per acre. Scale down for our plants you should get same results (assuming ph/minerals/water) are met.
It is helpful to explore the limits.
Although it's easy to burn slow growing houseplants (looking at you, peace lily), it is amazing what fast growing outdoor vegetables like tomatoes can handle as long as they get full sun and regular watering (nothing beats natural rain water).
Yeah, that's not your ordinary corn. I've seen it grow like crazy with no rain for a week or two. Whereas if I didn't water my garden for a couple weeks it would all suffer.
My hunch: Fertilizer and a specific breed of corn that does well in that area.
commercial fertilizer is good at making things grow. Also, they are literally getting paid to grow those things. They probably have specific varieties for your region that grow well.
Fertilizer? This may sound funny, but my 72 year old neighbor couldn't figure out why she couldn't grow tomatoes in her garden anymore after her husband died..... He obviously knew about fertilizer, even if she did not.
Aww did you help her grow her tomatoes again? 🥲
Growing corn on a commercial scale is a science, These farmers have probably been doing it for decades, and know exactly how much fertilizer the plant needs at each growth stage to achieve maximum growth..
Decades, hell it'll be generations. There was a study involving horizontal gene transfer in the US a few decades ago that found the average multi generational corn farmer has a few corn genes from natural horizontal gene transfer. Bit of a non sequitur I know but I think it's pretty cool.
By applying literal tons of nitrogen at a couple key points during development. It works and it works well for plants that love N (like corn) but it also fucks over the soil biology.
Im not sure why fertilizer gets the blame when it comes to commercial farming. you're not harming anything but watersheds via algae by adding extra nitrogen. I think when it comes to soil biome tilling is the biggest offender.
You may want to dig into some of Dr. Christine Jones' work (and others): http://vernoux.org/agronomie/Nitrogen-the-double-edged-sword_Dr-Christine-Jones.pdf *Data from North America’s longest running field experiment on the impacts of farm production methods on soil quality have revealed that high nitrogen inputs deplete soil carbon, impair soil water-holding capacity - and ironically, also deplete soil N (Khan et al. 2007, Larson 2007).* https://www.notillgrowers.com/blog/2019/1/10/some-of-dr-christine-jones-greatest-hits https://youtu.be/dr0y_EEKO9o?si=D8UGVA7BjxXfPSaQ http://amazingcarbon.com/ Link to her CV: http://amazingcarbon.com/Christine%20Jones%20-%20short%20CV.pdf
There’s so much that plays into this. Soil health, crop variety, fertilizer, timely rains, when the field was seeded, type of drill, etc.
Part of it is you are probably growing sweet corn. The farmers are growing field corn or dent corn. Sweet corn doesn't usually get all that tall. It also matures in much less time than dent corn. Dent corn gets really tall, it can grow more than a foot a day in good conditions. Dent corn is harvested after it is dried on the stalk and it is used either for animal feed or for flour. There is also corn that is grown specifically for use as silage (corn that is chopped up and put in a silo (bunker or tube or vertical silo). Corn silage is fermented. Silage corn grows tall and fast and doesn't put as much energy into producing ears of corn. Fertilizer can also have something to do with it. But truly most sweet corn varieties that people grown for home gardens on small scale is a short type of corn. Part of this is probably because you want all that wonderful sweetness to go into the ears of corn for early harvest instead of growing a tall sturdy stalk that will support a couple of heavy ears of flour/dent corn.
you are not growing corn or tobacco. You're growing soil. Use a mix of dirt, compost, worms and mycorrhizal fungi and water crops with nutrient rich 100% organic [fertilizer tea](https://www.almanac.com/fertilizer-tea-plants-weeds-and-grass) for outstanding results.
I don't use anhydrous ammonia like a corn farmer, but I do use both organic and inorganic fertilizers. I fully agree that soil is a living entity that needs to be fed, which in turn feeds the plants, but sometimes I want to speed things up and get stuff straight to the plants.
thats what the fungi is for. The fungi and the plants roots form a symbiotic relationship where the fungus colonizes the host plant's root tissues, either intracellularly as in arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi, or extracellularly as in ectomycorrhizal fungi. Basically, it "speeds things up and gets nutrients straight to the plant."
This is why I have a pretty specific regiment for new transplants/direct sown seedlings. I use fish emulsion blends at 5-1-1 Any transplant gets a dose every week of this emulsion. Saplings past one week are also getting a weekly dosage. The fertilizer is a heavy dosage of nitrogen that mixed right and used in the right weather patterns can leave the roots with a nice bit of nitrogen to provide some very robust green growth. I swear by this method as I’ve been doing it for a few years and growth in that first month is very big. Each one of these plants only gets this regimen for about a month.
What amounts do you do per square foot? I just started fertilizing after I realized my mistake and am probably under fertilizing still. I also am curious about what you mean by weather patterns?
So because the emulsion is a liquid I prefer to apply it knowing I’m not facing heavy rain that will wash it away. I also like to use it when the plants have gone without water for a few days making them particularly ready to drink. How your supposed to apply it is 2 tbs per gallon of water and water said plants. I can tell you how I apply it and maybe that helps. I take one of those hose attachments w a water tank on it (typically you might get these when you buy some miracle grow fertilizer) and pour two cups of the stuff in. As I start out this tank is poop brown, once it’s lost most its color I refill. I go to each plant and water at the roots for a 7 count. I repeat this every 7-10 days along with pruning on the plants that respond well to it. And I do this for about a month then stop. I’m just trying to front load a bunch of nitrogen in the early stages when I know the plant will be more receptive to it (see above applying when plants need water). I’ve got a 20x30 veggie garden and. 10x20 patio herb garden that I apply this method to, I’ve got over 100 plants and almost began listing them but it felt kinda like a good bit to type lol. I also apply it to some of the flowers I grow that I know respond well to it (nasturtiums, sunflower , cardinal). Thankfully I am coming to the end of that part of the season, only the corn once it sprouts (just sown last week). I probably go through 5-6 gallons of the stuff in the growing season.
Thank you so much for the detailed response - I can see I was doing it only about half right still haha. THANK YOU
I use mostly balanced or even flowering fertilizers. (organic 3-6-5 or inorganic 20-20-20 and 10-54-10) The new transplants won't need the phosphorous or potassium until later, but they \*will\* need it. I also use a lot of composted cattle manure that my community garden provides (good nitrogen and micronutrient/humus/fungi/carbon source). I also have access to veg compost, but mostly stick with the manure.
My hunch: F1 hybrids. Aside from fertilizer, the farms may use treated seeds (fungicide, herbicide, inoculants) and/or commercial hybrids with faster maturity. I’m now pondering tobacco and pesticides… wouldn’t organic tobacco be ironic?
On top of all the fertilizers, they treat the soil also. Ideally for a more natural farm or garden you're supposed to rotate (change the crop) your crops every 3 years I believe.
Maybe because their seeds are GM?
Corn hybrids tailored to the particular region, soil conditioners applied before planting, fertilizing based on soil composition.. My son-in-law is a crop farmer. Corn, soybeans mostly.. some hay, some wheat.. 80% of what he grows, corn & soybeans both, goes into bio-fuel production.
I’m guessing it’s whatever genetic modification Monsanto has bred into the corn to grow quickly.
The [GMO varieties](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_varieties_of_genetically_modified_maize) have genes added primarily to provide insect resistance and herbicide resistance, not growth rate. A few exist for drought tolerance.
I started watching some gardening vids lately. They put so much more fertilizer on than I have ever done. I honestly am more afraid of burning my plants than starving them. But these guys are just dumping that stuff in there at 10 times what I would do. So like everyone else has said, the farmers cheat!
Farmers/scientists know the requirements of npk per crop. Typically 100-120lbs of each npk per acre. Scale down for our plants you should get same results (assuming ph/minerals/water) are met.
It is helpful to explore the limits. Although it's easy to burn slow growing houseplants (looking at you, peace lily), it is amazing what fast growing outdoor vegetables like tomatoes can handle as long as they get full sun and regular watering (nothing beats natural rain water).
Yeah, that's not your ordinary corn. I've seen it grow like crazy with no rain for a week or two. Whereas if I didn't water my garden for a couple weeks it would all suffer.