Photo courtesy slgckgc/Flickr

The article I wrote Saturday talked about OP and F1 codes used after a plant name.  OP refers to open-pollinated plants and F1 are hybrids.

You often see other letter codes after the name, and these also mean that the seed is a hybrid.  Here are the differences between three varieties of corn seed: su, se, and sh2.

Su is a normal sugary hybrid.  The flavor is sweet and creamy, and the ears don’t store very well.  Once you harvest these ears, you should eat them within a couple of days.  They tend not to cross-pollinate, so you don’t need to worry about it cross-pollinating with a neighbor’s crop.

Se is a sugary enhanced hybrid.  It has very tender, smooth kernels, and a buttery texture.  It has a longer harvest period than an su hybrid, and will also not cross-pollinate easily.

Sh2 is a supersweet hybrid with a gene that enhances the sweetness of the corn.  Kernels are firm, juicy and crisp.  Sh2 does not have as creamy a texture as se or su, but it holds its flavor for up to 10 days after harvest, making them a good choice for commercial growers.  Sh2 cross-pollinates easily with other corn varieties, so you need to plant it at least 25 feet away from other corn.

BTW, I noticed my neighbor’s forsythia bush was budded this morning!  Obviously this warm weather is having an effect!