Dryland CornHow To Buy & Save Hopi Drought Tolerant Corn Seeds
When buying seeds it is a good idea to check who, where, how, and under what conditions they were grown. In 2 or 3 generations corn will show results of a lack of selection or selection for undesirable traits. Selective pressure for drought tolerance or deep planting must be maintained or the plants in the population will start to lose these traits. Information provided by vendors usually only includes the strain's 'original' characteristics, planting suggestions, uses, organic status, GMO status, use by date, and germination rate. Almost always, the germination rate of purchased seeds (despite supposed testing) is lower than those of in-house saved seeds. When buying new seeds it is best to grow out a smaller isolated test batch and save seeds for larger planting in the second year. This allows you generate more planting material and to determine if the purchased seed is true to type before mixing it with your existing population. In subsequent years it is a good idea to add a 5-10% of these new tested seeds to maintain population diversity.
We do not grow sweet corn, popcorn, or flint corn because they either do not store as well, are harder to process, and/or don't want them to cross with soft flour corn varieties we currently grow. We got a few really beautiful corn from the Hopi White and Hopi Pink this year but will have to grow them out next year before they are made available. We have a limit supply of blue and blue/grey/maroon chinmarked corn from 2023 which would be most suitable for the Columbia Basin and Intermountain Northwest.
Where to Buy Hopi Corn Seeds?
- Native Seeds Search (restricted supply)
- Rare Seeds aka Bakers Creek (several nice types)
- Beyond Organic Seeds (maybe no longer in business)
- Rich Farm Garden (may cancel orders)
I bought Hopi White, Concha White, Smoik Hu:n, Kikam Hu:n, Wikti from Native Seeds Search, and most purchases are limited to 3 packets of 50 seeds each type. Last year they had Hopi White available for a short time but it is currently only available through Native American Seed Request.
I have bought various types from Bakers Creek some of which did not do well in my 2023 experiment due to poor planting and last I checked they have 3 types available.
I got my first Hopi Blue Corn seeds from Beyond Organic which I believe was located in Western Oregon but the website is now linked to another company. I chose Beyond Organic because at the time I was testing various drought tolerant crops and their Hopi Blue Corn seed was the cheapest by the pound. I have grown this for several years and it is a drought tolerant soft flour corn than grows 5-7 feet tall with mostly blue kernels with the occasional white, yellow, dark purple tinged blue, or maroon/grey chinmarked kernels.
I got my first Hopi Pink and Hopi White corn seeds from Rich Farm Garden. The Anasazi corn I got from this supplier didn't germinate and I didn't request a refund for such a small quantity. Last year I ordered 10 more packets of Hopi Pink from them and after 6 weeks I politely asked about my order and they cancelled it, no reason given.
I bought several hundred Hopi Pink seeds from an Etsy seller VCOO and planted these in 2024 next to my previous years Hopi Pink. but when planting I noticed the seeds were slightly darker compared to my own Hopi Pink kernels (it is more difficult to tell when looking at individual kernels). These plants produced kernels that were very simlilar to Wikti and not Hopi Pink.
What is a Variety or Strain?
A variety in many cases means a clone. A plant that has better tasting fruit, larger fruit, or produces more is propagated asexually by cutting or tissue culture to make identical copies that will be exactly the same as the original plant. A strain is typically a crop produced from seeds that has consistent growth and fruiting or production characteristics. These crops have been bred within an isolated population with many generations of back crossing so that farmers get consistent results. If a variety is produced in a particular region, group, or individual it may be called an heirloom, eg a superior strain or plant that is handed down many generations. These varieties change due to genetic pressures of natural and artificial selection so are not exactly the same over time and heirloom seeds preserved in a seed bank for a long time will not be the same as the same heirloom grown out every year by farmers or gardeners. Michael Kotutwa Johnson makes this point when he says that the Hopi do not have a seed bank because the seeds need to be grown out every year so they are able to adapt to changing conditions.
What is a Landrace Variety?
A landrace is generally an older, closer to wild, variety with more variability in the population and a greater diversity of genes and resulting phenotypes. Hopi Corn varieties are older and more genetically diverse than commercial hybrids with some Hopi varieties having unusual morphological traits like a partially formed tassel structure near the tip of the ear(s), kernels on the tassel, and ears with a tassel at the top (tassel ear).
What is a Hybrid?
A hybrid is where two known strains or heirloom varieties are crossed to get an improved variety. Since strains and heirloom varieties are somewhat inbred the hybrid is sometimes better than either parent, this is called hybrid vigor. These first generation hybrids will not breed true since if AA x BB are crossed the result would be all AB but crossing again AB x AB you would get AA, AB, and BB. This would happen for the several thousand of genes in the organism and the result would be a wide range of observable characteristics or phenotypes. If AA, AB, and BB were backcrossed again many times it would create a new strain.
What is Inbreeding Depression?
Genetic diversity in corn is an important consideration when saving seeds as inbreeding will result in an abundance of progeny with 2 copies of defective or lethal genes. This is called inbreeding depression and occurs when a breeding population is too small. In corn a minimum of 100 parents or 100 ears of corn is recommended for saving seeds for the next generation. Other strategies to avoid inbreeding depression would be to save a few seeds from each year and use a combination seeds from different years for each planting. Also adding 5-10% of new planting material from outside sources (of the same heirloom type of course) each year is sufficient to avoid inbreeding depression. In short save at least 100 of the best ears of corn to plant in the future and do not plant all of those the next year but save some to mix in future years. If fewer seeds are needed save 1/4 of the kernels from each of 100 ears for each variety.
How Does Cross Pollination & Genetic Recombination Affect Seed Saving?
If more than one variety of corn is grown and seeds saved it is important to keep the varieties separted by at least 300 feet to reduce the chances of cross pollination, though occaisional cross pollination can occur at much greater distances. Cross pollination in corn of different colors produces cobs with mixed colored kernels and it is not necessary to grow out the next generation to see the effect. This is called the Xenia effect. If the color difference is noticable, the kernels that look fully like the mother plant can be separated and the progeny will still be pure and true to type. If the colors are not noticably different or have a similar tone there is no way to know if cross pollination has occured. Other than kernel color, corn can vary in height, starchiness, preferred elevation, habit, and many other characteristics. These other characteristics are coded for by genes that are randomly sorted during meiosis when pollen and eggs are formed independent of the loci (genes plural) coding for color. If a white cob was cross pollinated with blue and missed because it was only faintly blue, it would grow into a hybrid. When this hybrid forms of pollen and eggs all characteristics would be randomly mixed and some eggs and pollen would get the genes for white kernels but also, for example, the genes for blue corn height, root structure, preferred elevation, and/or flour texture. This hybrid would then cross pollinate the unhybridized corn in the same field. Some kernels from the resulting cross would be white but not they are not Hopi White, but instead another hybrid with kernels that have Hopi White color mixed with other characteristics from the blue parent. The other characteristics, such as root structure, might not be immediately noticable. The kernels can still be sorted for color and Hopi White like characteristics but the strain is no longer true to type.
In 2024 I had a few hybrids in both my Hopi Pink and Hopi Blue fields because I had missed some of the 2023 kernels that were only faintly blue. I purchased new Hopi Pink seeds to solve that issue. In 2024 half of the Hopi White field was planted with new seeds, and most of these didn't have any blue kernels solving that problem. It is always a good idea to plant newly aquired seed separately to verify if it is true type. After harvest I realized there were areas of both fields with no parental hybrids (ears 50:50) and no blue kernels. The occaisional blue kernel would indicate the ear had been partially pollinated by nearby parental hybrids, and ears with no blue indicates they are still true to type and can be saved. Strains will change with time so strain purity is less important than growing what grows well and yields a sufficient amount of a usable product.
What is Genetic Drift?
Even without hybridization genes gradually aquire mutations which build up over time and these mutations are combined in various ways in a popuation to adapt to environmental pressures. In addition to "Hopi Blue Corn" there are specific varieties of Hopi Blue sold which I believe are locally/regionally adapted heirloom types cultivated by specific groups, clans, families, or farms. If these varieties are grown in another area for several generations they will not be the same as the original. Since the climatic conditions, soil, and cultivation methods are no longer exactly the same, natural and artificial selection will change the characteristics of the population. For buyers reference it is always a good idea to label seeds with strain's original origin, as well as the date and location grown.
What is Protected Designation of Origin?
Traditionally produced products can be protected by "Protected Designation Of Origin" and can only be labeled with the officially recognized name of the product if they are produced in the traditional way by farmers/manufactuers in the designated region. This concept could be taken to an unreasonable extreme such that everyone who buys an apple has to pay extra to the community that originally improved the apple from it's wild ancestor. In the reasonable case products should be clearly labeled so that consumers know if they are getting the real PDO or a derivative "copy" product that may or may not be the same quality as the original but is almost always less expensive or more easily obtainable. In this case it is fair to make a feta style cheese that tastes exactly like feta from your backyard goats, but not so fair to sell it as "Greek Feta" or even "Feta" without at least labeling it as "contains no sheep milk" and "Made In America" for example. It might also be illegal to use the word "Feta" in the name depending on regional laws.
What is GMO & non-GMO Seed?
The preferred and traditional method to transfer desirable traits from one organism to another is to cross them and select the resulting hybrids for the desired traits of each parent. These are the processes of plant breeding and artificial selection. It is not natural but is generally accepted as safe since it has been practiced for thousands of years. Within the last 30 years scientists have developed methods to transfer desirable traits from one organism to another by genetic manipulation. The advantage is that desirable traits can be transfered from separate species or organisms that can't be crossed naturally. DNA from genes confering desirable traits is/are identified, isolated and spliced using restriction enzymes into a bacterial plasmid, grown and copied many times, and then cells from the target organism are transformed with the plasmid. Researchers use antibiotic resistance genes so that only bacteria containing plasmids containing the desired genes grow. Those containing unspliced plasmid die. Transformation is where holes created in the cell wall and/or membrane by freezing and some of the DNA makes its way into the nucleus and gets inserted into the genome. Again antibiotic resistance and/or herbicide tolerance is used to select for transformants which are grown up to develop further into a new strain. A lot of work goes into this process since even after initial transformation the changes/resistance might not be stable or passed on to progeny seed. GMO is widespread, they have even spliced chitinase (enzyme that disolves insect exoskeleton) into poplar trees to make them resistant to pests. Poplar trees are used to make paper so GMO paper. A lot of feed and biofuel corn produced in the US is GMO. It is now commonly believed that food from GMO organsims pose a health or genetic risk and should be avoided. First of concern is that the antibiotic resistance genes will be transfered and to pathogenic bacteria making diseases caused by these bacteria untreatable. Secondly some of the genes used to confer herbicide resistance to crop plants has been transferred to weeds, making the herbicide less effective and prompting farmers to use more herbicide(s). A more immediate concern is that using GMO herbicide resistant crops allows farmers to spray herbicides while the crops are actively growing and these chemicals build up over time and end up in consumer products causing health problems. There is also a concern that fragments of genes used to make GMO organism might end in our gut bacteria or in human germ line DNA (sperm and eggs). The long term effects of GMO products on the human genome and our future generations is not known.
Herbicides, Pesticides, Fertilizer, & Feeding the Soil
We use diatomacous earth as needed to reduce insect populations and do not use any herbicides. We do use chemical fertilizers since in reality they are the same ingredients as in organic fertilizer and it makes little difference to the plants. Inorganic fertilizer and soil health are not necessarily mutually exclusive and I don't wholly ascribe to the "feed the soil" school. It doesn't make sense to take food (like molasses) created by photosynthesis and put it into the soil as a source of carbon for plants so they can photosynthesize. Though it might be viable way to jump start a garden with poor soil initially, it isn't natural in the long term to feed the soil with sugar and increase bacterial and fungal populations to unsustainable levels. If properly fed plants can get both carbon and in some cases nitrogen from the air and also create symbiotic relationships with soil microbes. It requires resources to make food so it is better that food is used directly for human and livestock consumption. Our plan as of 2024 is to plant selected areas of our property with alfalfa and use the hay as an organic fertlizer/mulch for the corn.
How to Select Seeds For Future Planting?
We keep seeds that are true to type, are extra productive, or that have kernels with an unusual or attractive color. Most of the corn we grow is flour corn so we discard dented corn and shiny (flint) corn unless it is as flint type like Kikam Hu:n. It is also a good idea to reject ears that have aphids inside, that have split kernels, or that have corn smut (assuming you don't want to harvest Huitlacoche).
It is a good idea to plant kernels from highly productive plants together in hills to slect for this trait. In the second year all plants in a hill with be from the same parent on one side and if they all produce well, the kernels should be saved and labeled for next year planting. This will weed out selfish male plants.
What are Selfish Male Plants?
It is common for some Hopi corn plants to make a tassel with no ears and we unofficially dub them "selfish male plants". This might be due to genetics or growing conditions. Planting too closely can result in delayed emergence and the shaded weaker plants may not produce ears and will suck nutrients from nearby larger stalks. Thin hills to get proper plant density and remove the weakest seedlings so all plants in the same hill are of similar size. For saving seeds, choose hills where all plants produce ears.
Dryland Hopi Corn 2024
Dryland Hopi Corn Experiment 2023