Corn Salad is a largely unknown leafy vegetable that has a long history in Europe, where it is know variously as mache, vit, fetticus, and so on. Harvest individual leaves or whole rosettes. These are small, but succulent and tasty. Corn salad is very nice on its own or mixed in with other salad greens. It is an excellent match for baby chard and arugula leaves. Below are some of our top tips on how to grow corn salad from seed.
Difficulty Easy
Latin:Valerianella locusta Family: Caprifoliaceae
Season & Zone Season: Cool season Exposure: Full sun to partial shade Zone:May overwinter in Zones 5 and up. Otherwise grown as an annual.
Timing Sow corn salad in early spring and again in September for fall and winter harvests. Ideal temperature: 5-18°C (45-65°F). Seeds sprout best in cool, moist soil. Seeds germinate in 7-21 days.
Starting Sow 3 seeds per inch 1cm (½”) deep in rows 30cm (12″) apart. Thin to 5cm (2”) apart.
Growing Grow in light, fertile soil with a pH range of 6.5-7.0. Corn salad grows best on fertilizer remaining in the bed after summer crops have been harvested, so it’s perfect for following any crop that ends in September, like bush beans or lettuce. Try filling a raised bed with corn salad for fall & winter harvests: Fifty feet of planted row will provide a big bowl of tender leaves harvested once a week.
Harvest Delicately bunch small groups of leaves together and cut with a sharp knife 2-5cm (1-2″) above the soil, so the plants can grow back. Or sow very densely, and gradually thin the plants throughout winter, cutting them at the soil line. Corn salad leaves frequently come in contact with soil, so rinse them thoroughly.
Seed Information In optimum conditions at least 75% of seeds will germinate. Usual seed life: 3 years. Per 100’ row: 3600 seeds, per acre: 257.4M seeds.
More formally, sow in drills 15cm apart with a row spacing of 30-45cm. Unlike lettuce which is sown on the surface, corn salad germinates best when lightly covered with 0.25-0.5cm of soil. Water well immediately after sowing, and continue with moderate watering for the plant's full life.
Grow in light, fertile soil with a pH range of 6.5-7.0. Corn salad grows best on fertilizer remaining in the bed after summer crops have been harvested, so it's perfect for following any crop that ends in September, like bush beans or lettuce.
For corn salad, the pinnacle time to transplant is when early summer winks hello, offering milder climes ideal for root establishment. Choose a spot with light, rich soil, and gently nestle corn salad into its new home, providing consistent moisture to ease its transition.
Excellent for overwintering when almost nothing else grows, corn salad is hardy in Canada zones 6 or higher. In colder regions, it is still a good producer with a little protection from the elements.
Corn salad will generally be ready for harvesting 40-70 days after germination. It's not a plant that can be kept in the ground long, as it's quick to bolt to seed, after which the leaves will turn tough, stringy, and bitter.
Ideal conditions include: indirect light, moderate temperatures, and humid atmosphere. They can tolerate some neglect, including low light levels and infrequent watering, though the plant may become unattractive as a result. Corn Plants are most easily damaged by excessive water and/or sunlight.
Corn — Corn is a domesticated plant that can tolerate relatively concentrated magnesium from Epsom salts within its plant tissue. The element is needed for their growth and production of cobs. Tomato — Apply Epsom salts just before tomatoes start to bloom when they need the most critical magnesium concentration.
"Corn salad" came by way of its name from its occurrence as a weed in grain fields: it's the salad green found growing among rows of corn. The plant is native to southern Europe but is widely found in both Europe and North America.
According to Myers, the hardiest vegetables that can withstand heavy frost of air temperatures below 28 include spinach, onions, garlic, leeks, rhubarb, rutabaga, broccoli, kohlrabi, kale, cabbage, collards, Brussels sprouts, corn salad, arugula, fava beans, radish, mustard greens, Austrian winter pea and turnip.
This plant is named “corn salad” because it, like its cultivated cousin in Europe, can be used as a salad green. Missouri botanist Julian Steyermark noted that the young basal rosettes “make an excellent salad, especially when prepared with olive oil and vinegar.”
While you can cut off the top and try potting it up (or sitting it in a glass of water) so it can develop roots, you can also cut a long segment of the cane and root as above, as well as leaving several inches of cane on the original plant in the original pot.
Fun fact: corn pollen can travel via wind from one neighbor to another, so if your neighbor is growing corn, it can actually cross pollinate if the wind is right.
You may need to transfer a corn plant to a larger container every two to three years. Species of Dracaena fragrans don't mind being slightly rootbound. However, the plant's growth will become stunted if roots fill the pot too much.
Corn is an annual. It sprouts from a seed in the spring, grows all summer and the plant dies in the fall. Perennial plants can live for many years. The grass and trees in the yard are perennials.
Air temperatures at or below 28 degrees Fahrenheit for just a few hours can kill corn outright, even when the growing point of the corn is below ground. Air temperatures above 28 degrees have a variable effect on young corn. Frost injury to corn can actually occur at temperatures well above freezing.
Corn is an annual crop that needs to be planted every year and can only be harvested once a year. Given its adequate growing conditions, corn can be produced between two and four ears depending on its variety. How much corn you are able to harvest successfully depends on the quality of care you give to your crops.
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