Dryland Hopi Corn 2025

Our long term plan is to add inorganic fertlizer and plant a perennial legume crop which can then be harvested as a nutrient rich organic fertilizer/mulch and used for animal feed. Animal waste can then be recycled back to other crops and the legume field. In Sep 2024 we spread 1500lbs of fertlizer on 5 acres and tilled in 3 acres in preparation for alfafa seeding before it was apparent that rain was not coming anytime soon. With no rain we were concerned that a larger area of exposed dry ground would increase the chances of damage by wind erosion, and stopped tilling. Fortunately the soil was uneven with residual stubble and the wind was not strong enough to cause any noticable damage. It did not rain till Nov 1st which was too late to plant alfalfa. Since fertilizer has already been applied to this area and the soil has minimal cover, we will plant this area with corn without retilling in spring of May 2025. There will be some competition with annual spring grass but not tilling will reduce inputs and conserve soil moisture.

In 2024, the Hopi Blue Corn North Field (1.5 acres) was planted too densely and due to lack of moisuture fertlizer wasn't fully utilized, low yield = low fertilizer consumption. We will plant this area in spring 2025 without retilling to conserve soil moisture and make use of previous years fertlizer.

We will till and apply fertlizer as in 2024 with a drill/augur various experimental spacings to optimize planting arrangement and plant density.

What Planting Arrangement Minimizes Competition but Maximizes Density?

A hexagonal lattice. Plants growing next to each other compete for water, nutrients, and light and inter-plant competition so important that millions of dollars are spent on precision seeding equipment and herbicides every year. To maximize density and reduce competition between plants, plants need to be of equal distance from each other (equidistant). The corners of an equilateral triangle are equidistant and 6 equilateral triangles can be arranged in a hexagon resulting in optimal density and all plant distances being equal. If you arrange similar diameter pots as close as possible the resulting arrangement is the same. This means that if plant spacing within a row is 1 (foot or meter) then the distance between rows is 0.866 (feet or meters). Multiply plant spacing by 0.866 to get row spacing and offset rows by half which results in rows being narrower than distance between plants. This arrangement increases planting density by 15% with the same planting distance.

Where did we get 0.866? Divide an equilateral triangle in half. Get the area of half using a^2 + b^2 = c^2. c=1 and b=0.5 so a^2 = 1 - 0.25 = 0.75. The square root of 0.75 is a=0.8660254. Which is the distance from the middle of one edge to the opposite vertex and the row distance.

To assist in planting make an equilateral triangle tools of the right side and use one side to measure distances in a row with the tip of the triangle the location of the plant in the adjacent row.

Dryland Corn Production Experiment Target

Irrigated high density hybrid dent corn is often planted at about 30,000 plants per acre, or 1.5 sq. ft. per plant, 24 - 30 inch rows, and can yield more than 150 bu./acre with a record of over 600 bu./acre. Another idea is to try to produce as much corn by weight as wheat in the same region. In areas where annual rainfall is less than 12 inches yield is between 27-65 bushels/acre with an average of 48 bushels/acre. We use have designed a calculator to help consider various planting arrangements that will meet this target. The calculator can be used for conventional and hill planting arrangements where using 1 plant per hill is the same as conventional row planting. Please see the tip button as it has additional information on how to use the calculator.

Try Our New 2025 Corn Spacing & Yield Calculator

How Much Yield Is Needed To Sustain A Person Or A Family?

To get an idea what 1 person would need, or a family, we'll make some conservative estimates assuming a person needs 2800 kcal. per day and 35% of the diet is meat/eggs/dairy, with 10 times more carbohydrates needed to sustain the livestock. The human diet needs a certain amount of fat and protein (eggs, meat, fish, or dairy) can be provided for my chickens, pidgons, goats, rabbits, or other manageable farm animals. I'll also assume no other expenses such as fuel for tractor, etc. So this comes out to 1820 + 9800 or 11620 kcal. This may be on the high side so assume the extra is sold or traded for other needed commodities. 11620/(4 kcal/gram)/(453.6g/lb.) = 6.4 pounds a day with most of it being animal feed. That is 36 bushels or less annually with the bulk of that being used as livestock feed. Assuming 36 bushels of corn per acre, each person would need an acre. If full time is dedicated during planting and harvest 1 person can easily manage an acre of low density planning. Most of the labor is clearing and soil preparation and plowing, and tilling equipment with a drill with augur will speed up the tasks immensely. A nitrogen rich legume crop can be added into the rotation to produce a protein rich food for livestock and as a source of vitamin B3 which is not readily absorbed from untreated corn. In total 20 acres with less than 12 inches of rainfall should be able to produce much more than enough for a 5 person family.

Pueblo Corn Strains For Planting in 2025

We had many color variations of each variety and there are too many to plant them all. The Kikam Hu:n was starchy and we won't be planting this in 2025. Most seeds were saved on the cob and cobs from special color variations and highly producing plants (4, 6, up to 8 ears) were separated and labeled (examples Hopi White Super 4, Hopi Pink Super 6, or Concha White Super 8). Color is not a good indication of variety. Special colors can be easily identifed at planting but ears from highly producing plants need to be separated and labeled. Hopi Blue was planted last in 2024 so we'll plant it first in 2025.

Hopi Corn Strains List 2024

• Concha White (mixed with select Hopi White and Hopi Pink)
• Hopi Pink
• Hopi Blue
• Hopi White
• Kikam Hu:n (Pima 60 Day Corn)
• Smoik Hu:n (Tohono O'odham 60 Day Corn)
• VCOO Pink (Purchased as Hopi Pink but looks like Wikti)
• Wikti

Hopi Corn Varieties & Labeling

We separated all varieties based on color and color pattern except the VCOO pink where we only classified (VCOO Pink Super 6, VCOO Pink, and VCOO Pink reject). Kikam Hu:n was separarted as flinty and less flinty.

Hopi Corn Color Variations

In 2024 we planted new Hopi White corn (first 4 rows) and our 2024 Hopi White in adjacent plots. The first 4 rows were mostly white with some pink and dark pink variations with few (cross pollinated) blue kernels while the other rows had a few plants with 50:50 white/blue ears (Hopi Blue crosses from 2023). These were segregated as Hopi White first 4 rows and just "Hopi White". Super producers were labeled Super (#ears per plant). Below is an example of how we have separated and labeled varieties for breeding. Origin strain first followed by other information such as color, productivity, source, texture, or quality.

• Hopi White - whitest first 4 rows
• Hopi White - very white first 4 rows
• Hopi White - pink blush first 4 rows
• Hopi White - pink first 4 rows
• Hopi White - dark pink first 4 rows
• Hopi White - dark pink stripes first 4 rows
• Hopi White - very dark pink first 4 rows
• Hopi White - whitest
• Hopi White - very white
• Hopi White - pink blush
• Hopi White - pink
• Hopi White - dark pink
• Hopi White - dark pink stripes
• Hopi White - very dark pink
• Hopi White - pink-a-dot
• Hopi White - white glow
• Hopi White - yellow glow
• Hopi White - yellow
• Hopi White - orange
• Hopi White - red
• Hopi White - best true red
• Hopi White - white Super 4
• Hopi White - pink blush Super 4
• Hopi White - pink Super 4
• Hopi White - white glow Super 4
• Hopi White - yellow glow Super 4
• Hopi White - blue glow Super 4
• Hopi White - grape Super 4
• Hopi White - not true to type (mixed colors)

Glow were pink colored but the crown of the kernels was lighter white or yellow. Blue glow had light blue crowns. Hopi Pink also had the glow and stripe color patterns. The Hopi White grape was a hybrid with very large kernels combined with dark pink and blue, and they look somewhat like small grapes. We weighed the kernels and good portion were larger than 0.40 grams and a few were as heavy as 0.48 grams.

Hopi White Corn - Grape Feb / 2025

Hopi White Corn - Grape (avg 0.42 grams)

Hopi White Corn - Grape (left < 0.35g ≤ right)

Hopi Corn Selected Big Kernels

As of Jan 20 2025 all types of corn had been shelled except the Hopi Blue. Kernels from high yield plants were frequently significantly larger than kernels from other plants of the same variety. There were also some Hopi x Hopi hybrids, and frequently these produced better and had larger kernels than pure Hopi varieties. It seems obvious now that selecting for plants that do well when planted deeply would select for larger kernels. Larger kernels have more energy reserves increasing the chance that when planted deeply they will successfully emerge from the soil. These plants develop faster enabling them to start absorbing light earlier and grow deep roots accessing ground moisture before the full onslaught of summer heat. We sorted the Hopi Blue and selected 25 to 30 ears with larger than average kernels and will use these to breed corn with larger kernels. We'll also sort through the Hopi Pink, Hopi White, and Hopi x Hopi hybrids to select larger kernels for the same purpose.

I sorted some Hopi Blue Corn ears that appeared to have larger kernels and then weighed and selected the biggest to try and breed for larger kernels and to compare with average field corn weights. I considered any that were over 0.36 as noticably larger than my average, and separated those heavier than 0.35g for selective breeding. Of these selected kernels about 30% were heavier than 0.40 grams and one that was a whopping 0.49 grams.

How Many Corn Kernels Per Pound
Description	Weight in grams	Kernels per Pound
Popcorn	0.125	3629
Sweet Corn	0.227	2000
Wikti & Smoik Hu:n	20g - 25g	1814 - 2268
Hopi 2023 Average	~0.291	1500 - 1560
Field Corn	0.349	1300
Smallest Selected Hopi Blue	0.35	1296
Very Large Selected Hopi Blue	0.40	1134
The Largest Selected Hopi Blue	0.49	926

Dryland Hopi Corn Experiments For 2025

To increase production for labor and materials input plant spacing needs to be optimized.

Effects of Reduced Plant Density on Unirrigated Dryland Hopi Corn

• Less competition for water, light, and nutrients,
• Quality and yield are increased per material inputs (fertlizer, fuel, etc).
• Labor input may be decreased per yield output.

Negative Effects of Reduced Plant Density and Other Considerations

• More land area is used per yield output.
• Increased total labor per area cultivated (walking between plants for maintenance and harvest).
• Increased chance of soil erosion depending on planting arrangement.
• Increased chance of lodging and damage by wind depending on planting arrangement.
• Cross pollination reduced and not as efficient depending on planting arrangement.
• Decreased humidity and increased evaporation depending on planting arrangement.
• Less shading and increased temperatures depending on planting arrangement.

Planting in hills will mitigate some of the negative effects of decreased plant density.

To minimize competition and get the most plants per area, plant corn individually equidistant such that plants in each row are midway between plants of adjacent rows. Studies have shown that multiple permeable barriers perpendicular to prevailing winds reduce wind and erosion caused by wind more than impermeable barriers. Wind goes over and wind speed is reduced only very near impermeable barriers. This indicates that even spacing or evenly spaced hill planting may better mitigate the negative effects of wind on crops and soil. A barrier only reduces wind speeds in the area downwind that is within 3 times the height of the barrier. If rows or hills are spaced 9' apart the distance between rows will be more than 3x the plant height until plants reach 3 feet in height. While increasing inter-plant competition within a hill, hill planting has the advantages of decreasing labor inputs per plant, increasing the efficiency of pollination, reducing damage by wind and pests, and reducing evaporation by creating a microclimate. As we still do not know optimal plant density or how hill planting actually affects yield, and 3 experiments intially come to mind.

1. Determinte optimal density, plant corn individually 3' x 3' to 6' x 6' apart.
2. Determine optimal plants per hill with a 9' x 9' hill spacing (2 - 7 plants per hill).
3. Determine optimal hill spacing (too many variations to test).

The initial value ranges are based on traditional native planting practices with hills spaced 12' x 12' apart with 4 - 7 plants per hill resuling in a density of 20 - 36 sq. ft. per plant. It is likely the optimal number of plants per hill depends on hill spacing. It would also be good to test the optimal plants per hill with various spacing between hills (9' and 20'). In the Collins journal article hills per spaced 20' apart with more plants per hill, so this could be the direction for future experiments. We'll try to test single planting and plants per hill first and use these results to infer a starting point for optimal hlll spacing in future experiments.

Previously I brought up the idea of a genetic component to corn plants that don't produce ears, selfish plants, and later discounted the idea and removed the paragraph. These plants would provide pollen to nearby ear producing plants there by carrying on the trait. Many species of trees produce only male or female flowers which increases genetic diversity but this trait, if it exists, would be undesirable in farmed corn. Breeding populations should be selected from corn stalks where all nearby stalks also produce ears to select against the proposed "earless trait".

We took some measurements of part of the 2024 Hopi White field and the rows of interest were 52 inches apart with plants in a zig-zag pattern roughly 1 foot apart. Every 3rd plant usually had an ear indicating that 13 sq. ft. per plant should be enough to produce. Without the 2 earless stalks in every 3 feet of row, the producive plants will do better possibly with less than 13 sq. ft. per plant.

16 Plot Experiment
Square Foot Per Plant	Plants / Hill	Hill Distance / Square
7 sq. ft.	2	44.9 inches.
7 sq. ft.	3	55 inches.
7 sq. ft.	4	63.5 inches.
9 sq. ft.	1	36 inches.
9 sq. ft.	2	50.9 inches.
9 sq. ft.	3	62.35 inches.
9 sq. ft.	4	72 inches.
9 sq. ft.	5	80.5 inches.
13 sq. ft.	1	43.27 inches.
13 sq. ft.	2	61.2 inches.
13 sq. ft.	3	74.9 inches.
13 sq. ft.	4	86.5 inches.
18 sq. ft.	1	50.9 inches.
18 sq. ft.	2	72 inches.
18 sq. ft.	3	88.2 inches.
18 sq. ft.	4	101.8 inches.

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