Golden Bantam Corn Seed | SEED / 5 pounds

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Growing Tips & Guides

Get Started

Zea mays.

Days to maturity are calculated from date of direct seeding.

Direct Sowing
• Make row furrows about 6-8 inches deep
• Spread 3-5 pounds of TSC's Complete Fertilizer per 100 square feet
• Back fill the furrow, then sow seeds and cover with soil or sifted compost
• Thin seedlings when 4-5 inches

Transplanting
• Start indoors 2-3 weeks before desired transplant date
• Avoid letting starts get root bound and avoid damaging roots when planting

From Seed

Soil Temp for Germ 65–85°F
Seed Depth 1–2"
Seed Spacing 4"
Days to Emergence 7–14
Thin Plants to 8–12"
Row Spacing 24–30"
Fertilizer Needs High
Minimum Germination 80%
Seeds per Ounce ≈ 110–250
Seed Life 1 year

Corn Disease Resistance Key

Maize Dwarf Mosaic Virus Viral disease causing mosaic patterns, stunting in maize.
Northern Corn Leaf Blight Fungal disease causing gray-green lesions on corn.
Common Rust Fungal disease causing orange pustules on leaves.
Southern Corn Leaf Blight Fungal disease causing tan lesions on corn.
Stewart's Wilt Bacterial disease causing wilting, streaked corn leaves.

* Numbers indicate specific disease race.

Sunlight Requirements

Corn thrives in full sun, requiring 6-8 hours of direct sunlight daily for optimal growth, cob development, and yield. It does not tolerate shade well, so avoid areas with less than 6 hours of light to prevent weak stalks and poor pollination.

Watering Requirements

For optimum growth, ensure beds are watered evenly and deeply. Corn needs consistent, deep watering, about 1-2 inches of water per week (roughly 0.6-1.2 gallons per square foot), ensuring soil stays evenly moist but not waterlogged, especially during tasseling and ear development. Water 1-2 times weekly at the base, increasing frequency in hot, dry conditions and reducing in cooler or rainy weather to prevent root rot.

Soil Requirements

Corn performs best in fertile, well-drained soil with a pH between 6.0-7.0. Corn is a heavy feeder requiring high amounts of nitrogen during the vegetative stage. Waiting for soil to reach optimum temperature is critical to successful corn growing.

Benefits & Care Tips

• Corn is wind pollinated - for proper pollination plant individual varieties in blocks of at least 4 rows
• Separate varieties by time (plant 10 days apart), or distance (200 feet) to reduce cross-pollination

Insects & Diseases
• Common insects: Corn borer, corn ear worm
• Insect control: Pyrethrin, applied before silking, Monterey B.t. to silks
• Common diseases: Blight, rust, smut
• Disease prevention: 3-4 year crop rotation, remove old stalks in the fall, and contact your local extension agent with specific issues

Hybrid SE/se Corn: The inherited sugar enhanced (SE/se) traits are what make these corn varieties unique. For starters, the kernel walls are the most tender of all corn varieties. Added to that are more sugars, making every ear as sweet as can be. After harvest, the conversion from sugar to starch in SE/se corn is delayed, so the corn maintains its sweetness longer after picking. To top it off, no isolation is required from other normal types of sweet corn, making SE/se corn very popular. For best germination, soil temperature should be at least 70°F.

Hybrid sh2 Supersweet Corn: The shrunken gene (sh2) gives the dried kernels an extra-wrinkled appearance. This inherited characteristic increases the sweetness of the corn at harvest time. Commonly called Supersweet, sh2 varieties are some of the sweetest corn available. They do not germinate well in cold wet soil, so make sure your soil is at least 70°F; use a soil thermometer if uncertain. To grow great Supersweet corn, isolate it by time or distance from any other corn.

OP Sweet Corn: For best seed saving results we recommend bagging plants to avoid cross pollination.

Ornamental Corn: Often used for decorating, but it also makes great cornmeal and corn flour. Grow just as you do sweet corn. The earliest plantings are preferred to ensure ample time for field drying. Ears may be picked after the husks begin drying. Isolation is necessary between varieties to preserve color combinations.

Popcorn: After picking and husking, spread the ears in a dry, airy place and allow to cure for several weeks. Test-pop a few kernels periodically to determine when the kernels are dry enough to make into popcorn. Twist the kernels from the cobs and store in airtight containers. Large quantities can be processed by placing into heaps and stomping the kernels off the ears. For best results, isolate from any other corn.

Synergistic Corn: Synergistic corn has 75% sugar enhanced kernels and 25% Supersweet kernels. It combines the exceptional tenderness and sweet corn flavor of SE/se varieties with the extra sweetness, extended shelf life and field-holding ability of sh2 varieties. For best results, isolate Synergistic corn from any other corn. For best germination, soil temperature should be at least 70°F.

How to Harvest Corn

• Check corn frequently during the harvest window (daily, if possible), especially if temps are above 85°F as the ears will lose their flavor if not harvested at the peak
• Harvest when kernels are full and milky and the ears are blunt or rounded
• Drying and browning of ear silks is also an indicator of maturity
• Remove ears by pulling down and twisting
• Ears should be cooled as quickly as possible and stored at 36°F. Most sweet corn, except for supersweet varieties, turn starchy quickly, so eat or preserve the ears as soon as possible after harvest
• Sweet corn freezes well. Remove from the cob and store in freezer bags

Popcorn
• Allow the ears to reach full maturity (plump, hard kernels and dry husks)
• Popcorn should be left in the garden as long as possible
• Harvest if rain is anticipated; bring inside, remove the husks, place cobs in mesh bags, and hang in a warm, well-ventilated area
• Ideal moisture content is 13-14%. Try popping a small batch weekly during the drying process, looking for fluffy, crips kernels. If the popcorn is tough or chewy, the kernels are too moist; allow to dry longer. Once the majority of the kernels are fluffy and crispy when popped, store the whole crop so it does not get too dry
• Popcorn can be stored on the cob, but most people prefer to remove the kernels before storing. Wear heavy gloves and rub the cobs to remove kernels. Store popcorn in airtight containers so it does not continue to dry out

When Will my Order Ship?
Though we cannot guarantee a specific time frame, new orders that are in stock will take approximately 48 business hours to ship. Pre-ordered items such as plants and garlic will ship at their designated time noted in the product description.

When Will my Transplants Ship?
Plants are sent out according to the shipping date chosen by you when they are ordered. Since our live plants are dependent on the weather to mature, they can be delayed. We reserve the right to slightly alter the shipping dates if there are maturity problems. Remember, plants are living things and don’t always follow schedules.

Before shipping, each transplant is hardened-off in the crisp night air of our short season farm. When they arrive at your door, they're ready for your garden.

When Will my Garlic or Shallots Ship?
Garlic and shallot bulbs are shipped ONLY in the fall - September through mid-October, depending on the season and the variety.

Product FAQs

What growing zone do I live in?

We base our zones off the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map. You can find out what zone you live in here.

Do you sell genetically modified seed?

No! We are a 100% non-GMO company, and are signers of the Safe Seed Pledge. The Safe Seed Pledge can be found towards the bottom of our About page.

What is Heirloom Seed?

Heirloom is a descriptive term with no definitive definition. At Territorial Seed, we categorize a variety as an heirloom if it is from pre-World War II, open pollinated, and has a history of being preserved and passed down through the generations. In other words, heirlooms are time-tested favorites.

What does F1 or Hybrid mean?

The F1 symbol is used to indicate that a variety is a hybrib. Seed that is noted to be a hybrid would be the result of pollen from one variety fertilizing the flower of another variety; cross pollination. You would not want to save seed from a hybrid as it would not grow "true to type" to the plant you saved the seed from.

What does OP or Open Pollinated mean?

An open-pollinated variety will produce new plants that are "true to type" or just like the parent plant, as long as it has not cross-pollinated with another variety. You can save seed from open-pollinated varieties.

What does TS Select Mean?

Quality is never an accident; it’s always a result of dedicated effort, and we believe traditional, high-quality open-pollinated varieties are worth the effort. Existing open-pollinated seed varieties need care and attention to ensure the desired original characteristics are preserved. In our Organic Conservation Breeding Program we select varieties for their original positive attributes, and continuously adapt them to the organic growing conditions. Territorial Select Strains are unique organic seed varieties that are the result of this program. Many of our varieties have been grown and selected under organic conditions for over 25 years and are well adapted to low-input farming and gardening practices. We are committed to providing the broadest possible range of proven true-to-type, high quality organic seed varieties for home garden and professional organic farming.
Look for the varieties with the Territorial Select icon, for seed grown at our organic farm from our Organic Conservation Breeding Program.

What does Parthenocarpic mean?

This word literally means virgin fruit. Parthenocarpic vegetable varieties have the ability to produce fruit without being pollinated. These fruits will also be seedless. The most common fruiting vegetables for which parthenocarpic varieties can be found are cucumbers, tomatoes, summer squash, and eggplant. In the case of cucumbers, the fruit will be seedless if kept in isolation from other pollen-producing varieties. With other vegetables, parthenocarpy allows earlier fruit formation (often in less-than-ideal conditions), but under normal circumstances will eventually produce seeded fruit due to normal pollination activity.

What is your Fertilizer recipe?

4 parts seed meal or fishmeal

1 part agricultural lime or dolomite

1 part ⅓ rock phosphate, ⅓ bone meal, ⅓ kelp meal

To use an organic fertilizer in a cost effective manner, spread the fertilizer around the plant or incorporate it into the soil to a depth of 4–16 inches.

Below seeds, we recommend making a 3 ½ inch deep furrow, sprinkling complete organic fertilizer in the bottom of the furrow and covering the fertilizer with soil.

Sow the seeds on top of this soil, then cover the seeds as necessary.

Above is a formula for a complete and well-balanced fertilizer. All quantities are in volume, so the items may be scooped out. Mix thoroughly and store in a dry place.

Seed meal means any kind of ground-up seed, which is usually a by-product of oil making. Cottonseed, soy, canola and linseed meals are usually available. Cottonseed is the most inexpensive and is easy to work with. Fish meal tends to have a strong odor. All these meals are high in nitrogen, contain moderate amounts of phosphorus and are weak in potassium.