Maize Day 2024 is on Thursday, November 28, 2024: how long does maize take to fully grow and be harvested?

Thursday, November 28, 2024 is Maize Day 2024. National Maize Day National Maize Day

Growing Degree Days or (CCD) and not 24 hour cycles determine how long it takes maize to mature. Corn grows between the temperatures of 50F and 86F. Above and below these temperatures the plant doesn't do much growing if anything. These temperatures are the basis of growth calculation. To calculate a GGD take the high and low temperature of the day. For example 47F and 55F. Ignore the 47F and call it 50F. Take the lower 50 and upper 55 and add them together for a total of 105F. Divide by 2 and get 52. Take your base of 50 and subtract from 52 =2+ degrees. You had 2 growing degree days. Now in midsummer the high and low daily temperatures are 72 and 93F. 93 is above the optimum growing range of 86F. For the daily CCD use 86 and 72 as your base numbers. Add them together and you get 158. Using the formula, GGD= High temp =Low temp/2, your trasposition would read GGD= 86 +72 divided by 2 -50.. Or, 158/2-50 or, 79-50 orfinally 29 GGD. Different hybrids and types of corn need different GDD for maturation. 1360 is a common correlation for maturity. this is usually from leaf break to maturation. However, each seed manufacturer will have their own chart. Make sure they are using the low of 50 and high of 86 or the 50/86 calculations. If not, they will be glad to help you on your calculations. Some states, like Ohio, make the GGD on a daily basis readily available. You can do it yourself with a high low thermometer to find a particular GGD for a given day. If it takes 1360 GGDs you know now how to calculate using daily average charts for your area to make a good estimation of how many real days in comparison to GGD days it will take for your corn to be ready for harvest. Insect growth follows CCD also. The corn borer has a maturation cycle of 207 CCD days. Corn's fifth leaf day is the same. A farmer looking at his corn and seeing the fifth leaf knows it's time to spray for core borers. Here in Northern Indianq, my red Raspberries summer ripen and the Japanese beetles emerge on the same day.

How long does maize take to mature?

In agriculture there are a number of cultivars with a different number of days to maturity. There are short season cultivars and long season that take more days to mature.

Short season plants can take as little as 45 days to produce harvestable grain but most cultivars produce harvestable crop in 50 - 55 days. Long season hybrids produce grain as early as 80 days.

Why is maize historically the predominate food of Zulu people?

No, maize is not native to Africa. The Aztecs and Mayans cultivated it in numerous varieties throughout central and southern Mexico.

After European contact with the Americas in the late 15th and early 16th centuries, explorers and traders carried maize back to Europe and introduced it to other countries through trade. Maize spread to the rest of the world due to its popularity and ability to grow in diverse climates.

Remember the Cape was very important on the sea route from Europe to the spices of India and the East.

Apparently maize reached South Africa as early as 1655

Having migrated from the north, the Bantu people settled themselves in South Africa around 1000 AD at the end of the Southern Migration. Using for those days sophisticated iron tools, they introduced agriculture in South Africa, practising the cultivation of a variety of crops such as maize, sorghum, millet and vegetables amongst others and keeping herds of domesticated cattle.