With spring just around the corner, the perennial debate about whether to grow open-pollinated (or heirloom) vegetables or hybrids is heating up again. Both have their pros and cons. In general, the open-pollinated are favored for unique qualities, mostly flavor, that are lost in the vigor of the hybrids bred to produce under less favorable conditions.
Sweet corn, however, is not one of those open-pollinated vegetables ever proclaimed as having better flavor. The vast majority of people prefer hybrid sweet corn of some type.
- Synergistic corn has 75% sugar enhanced kernels and 25% Supersweet kernels.
- Hybrid SE/se corn possess sugar enhanced traits and the conversion from sugar to starch in this corn is delayed, so the corn stays sweeter for longer after picking.
- Hybrid sh2 supersweet corn is some of the sweetest on the market.
- Hybrid sweet corn has been around for a long time. It’s just not as sweet as the others.
- Open-pollinated sweet corn varieties are the only ones recommended for seed saving. Golden Bantam and Stowell’s Evergreen are two of the most common.
I have grown both Golden Bantam and Stowell’s Evergreen, because, you know, they’re open-pollinated and every respectable prepper should only grow veggies that they can save seeds from. Yep, I fell for that nonsense to a degree. At the same time, we also grew some hybrids.
Nobody wanted to eat those open-pollinated corns. Nobody except the chickens. They got it all.
We have been spoiled with the various hybrids, so much so that we never ever want to grow any of the open-pollinated corns again, unless it’s for the animals, in which case we’d be better off growing field corn.
Until now. Damaun corn is the result of the first successful dehybridization of sh2 corn. As noted on the Territorial Seed website, it retains the best qualities of the hybrid, and at the same time since it is open-pollinated, you can save the seed. Baker Creek is another company carrying this new seed for the first time.
So you can bet your buttons Damaun corn will be growing in my garden this year. King of the Picky Eaters, who has grown some very fine sweet corn I might add, will be growing another hybrid variety or two, just in case Damaun doesn’t work for us. And it will help extend the harvest and give us corn over a longer period.
If you are convinced that open-pollinated seeds are the only way to go, Damaun corn is an alternative you may wish to consider. Golden Bantam and Stowell’s Evergreen have been around forever, but I look at them as being the best-looking horses in the glue factory. They’re better than nothing, but not by much. But if you wanted to be able to grow your own corn seed, it’s what you grow. You didn’t have much in the way of options until now.
If you do happen to grow some Damaun, please report your results for us to learn. I’ll be doing the same.
Links to related posts:
