Premium ContentClick on Premium Content on the Featured navigation bar for information.
When financial services company Edward Jones introduced Our Iowa Magazine’s Tall Corn Contest this spring, Jim and Dolores Douglas of Huxley, Iowa, and LeRoy and Diane Cronk of White Oak, Iowa, decided to see just how tall they could grow the little corn seeds that came free in their April/May issue.
The Douglases, who have lived in Huxley for five decades, planted the seeds by their shed. When the corn was measured, it was 10 feet, 3 inches tall.
“We put the seeds in the ground for fun, and they just kept growing and growing,” Jim Douglas said. The Douglases didn’t do anything special to get the corn to grow, aside from having the soil fertilized the fall before planting. It was a good year for growing plants at the Douglas house, as they had tomato plants that reached 7 feet tall.
The Cronks were surprised to see just how tall their corn got. It measured 12 feet, 2 inches, and the stalks were 7 inches around. The Cronks were the local winners of the contest, but the overall winners, Mike and Tracey Myers of Williamsburg, Iowa, were able to grow their corn to 17 feet, 9 inches.
Magazine Editor Jerry Wiebel said the corn was a special variety.
“We imported some tropical varieties from Mexico and Brazil. Because of the daylight differences between Iowa and near the equator where it’s normally grown, this stuff just grew and grew and grew some more.”
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
