Dryland CornDryland 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.
Are Floating Seeds Inviable?
No, this is a myth. While in general it is believed that seeds that float are less likely to germinate, floating seeds may also germinate. Seeds may have air pockets or less permeable seed coat and the best way to tell if a seed will germinate is to plant it or do a germination test.
Corn Kernel Size & Shape Does Affect Seedling Vigor
Corn from smaller seeds have a reduced rate of emergence and are weaker during the vegetative stage especially when planted deeply, in cooler soil, or under water stress. Under favorable irrigated condition and given enough time corn plants from small kernels catch up the the plants from large kernels with little difference in final yield. Corn grown from large flat kernels in the middle of the ear are more vigorous. Large kernels germinate faster and have a higher percentage of germination under stressful conditions and do better during the early stages of growth. The differences in germination and development due to kernels size are more significant with increased planting depth and cooler soil temperatures. We plant Hopi Corn very deep, 8inches deep, compared to the conventional planting depth of 2-3 inches. In North Central Washington we must plant our corn as early as possible while soil temperatures are still cool so the kernels will mature and dry down before the first frost in the fall. Our best producing plants seem to have noticably larger kernels. Each year we have selected kernels from the best producing plants for the next year, and as a result kernel size and weight seem to be increasing. Larger kernels will allow plants to develop a strong root system earlier before suface water evaporates or infiltrates deeper into the ground and before the hottest days of summer.
Kernels 0.40g or heavier are pretty large and when we select for large kernels we pool those over 0.35g. One research article catagorized large seeds in ounces per 100 kernels which when converted was 0.28 g per kernel. Certain varieties of corn (Hopi White - Grape) have kernels frequently greater than 0.40g. Frequently cobs with larger kernels are from plants that were a cross of 2 different varieties of Hopi corn (eg Hopi Blue x Hopi White). Although round seeds at the butt of the ear are heavier research shows that flats are more vigorous, so we should select large flats in future years.
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 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 planting. The bulk of the labor is clearing, soil preparation, and plowing. Labor saving tools such as tilling or plowing equipment and a drill with an augur attachment will reduce fatigue and speed up the tasks. 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). The VCOO Pink Super 6 was notable as it had several ears at the tips of stalks and produced 1.33 lbs of corn on a single plant. Kikam Hu:n was separarted as flinty and less flinty.
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. Below is an example of color and trait sorting for the Hopi White, and other strains were similarly sorted.
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"Glow" were pink colored or darker colored around the sides with lighter white or yellow crowns. Blue glow had light blue crowns. Pink-A-Dot were mostly white with a pink dot. Hopi Pink also had the glow and stripe color patterns. One Hopi Blue ear had a few green or yellowish crown kernels that we called green eye. The Hopi White grape had very large kernels and is presumably Hopi White - dark pink crossed with Hopi Blue. 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
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Hopi White Corn - Grape (avg 0.42 grams)
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Hopi White Corn - Grape (left < 0.35g ≤ right)
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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 3 experiments intially come to mind.
- Determinte optimal density, plant corn individually 3' x 3' to 6' x 6' apart.
- Determine optimal plants per hill with a 9' x 9' hill spacing (2 - 7 plants per hill).
- Determine optimal hill spacing (too many variations to test in one year).
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 in corn, would reduce yield. Earless corn may be the result of a combination of both environmental and genetic factors. Breeding populations should be selected from corn stalks where all nearby stalks also produce ears to select against possible genetic components resulting in "earless stalks".
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. |
Planting Hopi Blue Corn For 2025
We usually plant Hopi Blue last and it seems like Hopi Blue takes longer to mature than other varieties but I am not yet sure it actually takes longer to mature. This year we are planting it first to make sure we get a harvest that dries down well in the field to preserve improve this variety. Improvements in in cultivation methods (decreased planting density) may improve yield and result in earlier dry down (in the field).
Some of the blue from last year has larger kernels and some had huge ears so we'll be trying to improve those, and will plant one area with special colors (yellow and green variants). We'll also designate one area to cross Hopi White - Grape (large blue/white Hopi cross) with the Hopi Blue large kernels. The idea is to create a Hopi corn hybrid with large kernels that may hasten root establishment before spring ground moisture either evaporates or infiltrates deeper into the ground. If at any point we run out of true-to-type Hopi Blue, we have Grade A+ Hopi Blue from previous years saved in the refigerator.
3.48 Acres Of Tilled Area Ready To Plant & A Generous Offer To Help Planting (April 21 2025)
It is planting time! We decided to take the minimum order of fertlizer and reduced the fertlizer application rate for an expected yield of 50 bushels / acre. This was enough fertlizer for 4 acres. We expanded 4 fields so the total area for planting is 3.48 acres.
We did not till or add fertlizer to the north field and may not plant it this year. If we do it will be a small experiment where we just drill a few holes, throw in some seeds, and cover without removing the spring vegetation. This area is being left untilled this year to provide a protective band and mitigate the effect of wind on tilled areas. Fields are organized so tilled and untilled areas alternate in a north south direction with predominate winds being from the north and south.
We found a local group interested in homesteading and a couple with tribal affilation interested in learning how to grow Hopi Corn without irrigation. They have generously agreed to help me plant in exchange for part of the produce. We'll be meeting today to discuss planting and will soak some seeds for planting tomorrow, April 22 2025.
This year we have decided to try a few different planting arrangements, measured in paces, to get a rough idea of what works best and leave more precise experiments for next year. It will take a long time to cover the 3.48 acres even without trying to do precise experiements. The goal is to maximize yield and minimize inputs not to optimize yield per acre (at least not yet).
Daily Corn Planting Plan
- April 21 2025. Soak 600 seeds. We'll start the bottom of the blue field with single planting one pace apart and switch to hill planting as we move up the hill. This will be about 9 sq. ft. per plant initially. In 2023 Field 1 was planted with about 3.8 sq. ft. per plant and this was clearly not enough space but if we aim for 42 bushels per acre, 8 sq. ft. per plant is the lowest density we should try. Using the calculator and putting 1 plant per hill with 36 inches plant and 36 inches row distances with a yield 0.45 lbs per plant yields 38 bushels. We'll also do part of this field with 12 sq. ft. per plant in hills. By the end of the day tomorrow we should have an idea of how much we can get done in an evening and adjust the next days planting accordingly.
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Corn Spacing & Yield Calculator
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Dryland Hopi Corn Experiment 2023
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