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 Botanical
Background |
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Scientific
Name: Zea mays L
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Family:
Gramineae
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Genus:
Zea
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Description
 Tree
The stalk of baby corn is made up of nodes or joints.
The portion of the stalk between the nodes is called the
internode. The longest internode is usually the one that
bears the tassel, and the shortest one is usually close
to the ground. The leaves come out from the hole in each
internode, and are arranged alternately on the two sides
of the stalk. 
Grain People always
call baby corn's fruit as "ear". Its ear,
which is in a vertical shape,is composed of soft, fibrous
silk, and surrounded with green leaves. Ears vary in
length from 4-13 centimeters, and measure 1/3 - 2/3
inches in diameter, depending on their maturity and
growth.
Varieties
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In the U.S., there
are over 200 varieties of corn. But, the following
varieties are advertised by seed companies as being
suitable for baby corn cultivation. These are Little
Indian, Baby, Golden Midget, Glacier, Miniature
Hybrid, Baby Asian, Baby Blue, Bo Peep, Supersweet
Corn (generic), Golden Baby (H-102), Sundance, Summer
Sweet and Strawberry Popcorn. |
| The following
is the description of some varieties: |
| •Baby |
Tender, finger-like
ears, nice flavor, entirely edible. Excellent
for freezing. Best harvested within 5 days
after the appearance of silk. |
| •Golden
Midget |
Ear is 3-5
inches long with 8-12 rows of butter-yellow
kernels. Tree 20-40 inches tall with 3-5 ears
per tree. |
| •Glacier
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Short season,
dwarf white. |
| •Baby
Blue (popcorn) |
Blue ears
reaching 3-4 inches in length. Multiple ears
on 5 foot-tall trees. |
| •Bo
Peep (popcorn) |
Pink ears. |
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In Thailand, baby corn variety development began
in 1976 with the open-pollinated variety (OPV),
and resulted in subsequent years in hybrids enhanced
both by the private and government sectors. Finally,
researchers were able to develop Rangsit 1, a
composite variety that met objectives then in
1981. The objectives focused on creating a composite
variety with high yield, nice yellow color, neat
kernel arrangement, resistance to downy mildew
and good adaptation. Nowadays, researchers try
to do research and development of hybrid baby
corn. They suggested that hybrid baby corn should
be more suitable for baby corn production in the
future because it can produce ears, which have
better quality and more regular sizes.
At present, Thai farmers mostly use 5 varieties
in their cultivation and all belong to hybrid
baby corn. These are Suwan1, Suwan 2, Suwan 3,
Rang sit 1 and Chiangmai 90,which have been developed
to resist downy mildew, grow rapidly. Then, they
will have reasonable prices. But, farmers have
to be concerned with harvesting methods. These
hybrids grow very fast. When their baby ears are
mature, farmers must reap them immediately otherwise
they will be too big to meet factories' standards.
Early-maturity varieties of baby corn are preferred
because they reach full flowering more quickly
than full-season varieties.
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Availability
Year-round. Baby corn can be grown 4 times a year.
Productivity
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Baby corn is ready
for harvests after seeds germinate and grow for
45-60 days, during which the plant is in full production.
It is a short-lived plant so it can bear produce
only once, yielding 3-4 ears per tree. However,
farmers can grow baby corn 4-5 times a year. |
Propogation
Baby corn propagation depends entirely on seeds.
Generally, its cultivation needs approximately 6-7
kilograms of seeds per rai.
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Climate
& Soil
Baby corn grows well in a wide range of soil types
but it thrives best in loose soil, which drains well.
A suitable soil for baby corn has a wide pH range, from
5.5 to 7.0. It can also grow in quite very acid soil,
but cannot grow in wetland with low drainage. As for
temperature, the plant prefers full sunlight necessary
to its growth. Consequently, successful growth requires
a minimum average temperature of 72 or 75 °F. Nevertheless,
when daytime temperature exceeds 85°F, baby corn
may be injured, and have to suffer slow growth.
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