Ever grow your own popcorn?
By sandyrusty
@sandyrusty (278)
Canada
June 20, 2008 10:31am CST
About ten years ago, I found popping corn seeds for sale. Having never tried growing it and having kids who enjoyed popcorn as a treat, I thought I would give it a go. I planted it as directed on the package and watched it grow like regular eating corn. Not knowing when and how to harvest it, I thought that it would have to be hard before harvesting so I waited till the kernels were hard. Then I picked the cobs of corn and thought, well it has to be dry. So I let the cobs dry for a couple of weeks. Then I thought, it has to be taken off of the cob to be able to pop it, so I took it off of the cob and let it dry some more. With nothing else that I could think of doing to it before popping, I tried some in our hot air popper and sure enough, it popped like crazy. I now grow it every year and have expanded to three varieties - the common yellow one we normally buy, the white one and the latest called strawberry popcorn. Last year I had 48+ lbsof popcorn from my garden. And we do go through most of it in the year as we all enjoy it. By the way, the decorative corn that we call Indian corn is also popcorn. Try it in your hot air machine. It will pop just like the yellow one.
1 person likes this
5 responses
@Lifelight (130)
• Sweden
21 Jun 08
This was interesting - of course I know hwhat pop corn is made of but I never thought of growing them my self! i wonder if it is possible to do where I live... That is in Sweden - we do grow corn but I'm not sure the weather is going to allow the cobs to dry on the plant as fall here is very wet and rainy.. Well it's worth a try and I will give it a go next year! Thanks for sharing sandy!
@Lifelight (130)
• Sweden
25 Jun 08
Thanks for the advice - I will try it. It would be great to have your own pop corn! Not that they are very expensive to buy but it's always fun to eat what you have grown!
Thanks again sandy!
@sandyrusty (278)
• Canada
23 Jun 08
As long as the kernels get hard (so that you can not drive your fingernail into them), then it should be all right. Even after I have picked the cobs, I let them dry for another two to three weeks in the house before I take them off of the cob. Then I let the seeds dry in the open air for another month before I put them in jars. The seeds have to be really dry before jarring them because they will get moldy if there is any moisture left in them. Nor will they pop as well. To dry them, I put them in boxes to about an inch of thickness. Then I regularly stir them with my hands so that they dry better (about once a day). But the key to it all is that the kernel does harden on the plant which it should whether the weather is wet, cold and rainy.
@peavey (16936)
• United States
20 Jun 08
We grew popcorn several years ago. You're right; it grows like regular popcorn. :) We hung ours to dry in an old (unused) house we had. It had such a good flavor! I'd love to grow it again, but I don't have much space and have sweet corn growing this year. Maybe next year!
@sandyrusty (278)
• Canada
21 Jun 08
You do need a lot of space if you are planning on growing different types of corn. If they are too close, they will cross polinate. I often get the odd black seed in the white popcorn (cross with the Indian corn). Last year I had a lot of yellow seeds in the white popcorn (cross from the yellow popcorn). Doesn't change the popcorn in the sense that it still pops but it may adversely affect the eating corn.
@peavey (16936)
• United States
21 Jun 08
I don't think it will hurt it the first year, but the seed won't be true to either kind if you try to save it, which I do. If I were smart, I'd alternate years, growing enough sweet corn for two years, then growing enough popcorn for two years. Don't know how well that would work, but I might try it.
@blackbriar (9076)
• United States
21 Jun 08
I've thought about growing my own popcorn but never got around to buying the seeds. Maybe I'll start surfing online now and buy some for next spring. Thanks for the reminder. 
@sandyrusty (278)
• Canada
21 Jun 08
I used to buy the seeds in seed packs just like all of the other seeds for the garden but in the last two years I just went tot he bulk food store and bought a handful of seeds for about a tenth of the price. Grows just as well as the packaged seeds. In the bulk food store, they have the yellow and the white but I have yet to see the strawberry one.
@sunkissed (4330)
• United States
20 Jun 08
No, I have never grown my own popcorn. But many years ago when I still was married and my children were young, our neighbors had a huge garden, they grew some and gave us some, it was really good. My kids really got a kick out of this home grown popcorn.
@snowy22315 (169966)
• United States
21 Jun 08
That is really neat. I've tried growing regular corn a couple of times but I dont think that I have the right type of soil and I wouldnt know what to add to it anyway.
Oh well, I guess I'll keep getting mine at the store.
