Gardening Myth: Corn Doesn’t Transplant Well

OK, let’s talk about gardening myths! There are countless numbers of them, spawning vigorous debates and disagreements among gardeners. They often confuse newer gardeners who are just trying to figure things out!

Like any good myth, they’re almost always rooted in some truth. Usually, some sort of practice that led to a specific result. That result might even be repeatable by others. And while this might indicate correlation and supposed evidence, we’ve found these myths often overlook the complexity involved.

Let’s take the “corn doesn’t transplant well” myth. We, and many others, have been transplanting corn successfully for ages. In fact, we can’t recall a single incident of transplant failure. Yet countless resources will tell you, authoritatively, that corn cannot and should not be transplanted.

The root cause of this myth is based in using initial containers that simply aren’t large enough for corn. Corn will put on a serious root system which can draw up water at considerable rates. And yeah, if you constrain those roots in a tiny container, you’re going to have a bad time. Turns out, when you give a plant the soil it needs, it can transplant just fine.

To solve this problem, we simply direct sow our corn into 3.5 inch pots. After years of experience, that’s a bare minimum, even with a mere five weeks of growth between sowing and last frost. Even this larger container is barely enough. But, it is enough.

We’ve found that a lot of these gardening myths are based in some overlooked detail like this. The actual “root cause” or variable of success wasn’t determined, it was just assumed to entirely not work. Instead of changing variables to determine if something could work, a pervasive myth now permeates the gardening world.

So, when you see things like “such and such doesn’t work” or “it only works this way,” it’s good to apply some healthy scepticism. There are few absolutes in growing, almost everything is malleable to some degree.

It’s a good thing to try things for yourself! Inform your practice through actual experience, as opposed to what others say. It’s a lot better at teaching you the actual boundaries of biology and plant growth!