Popcorn corn Strawberry is a very eye-catching, beautiful and stunning corn variety with small red cobs. It is an easy-to-grow variety that produces a large quantity of small very sweet-tasting cobs with irregularly placed kernels. The cobs grow 10 - 15 cm long. You can use this variety to make popcorn.
Harvest the cobs when the outside is completely yellow and dry to the touch. The kernels inside the cobs should be hard to the touch. Further allow to dry in a warm, moist room. Non hardy annual. Height: 100 - 120 cm.
Indoor sowing: middle of March
Outdoor sowing: May - June
Germination: 10 - 14 days
Germination temp. : 10 - 20°C
Sowing depth: 2½ cm
Transplanting outdoors: May
Plant distance: 45 - 50 cm
Plant position: very sunny and sheltered
Days till harvest: 80 - 90
Sow indoors, for an early harvest, from the middle of March. Sow 1 little seed per pot approx. 2½ cm deep. Provide a temperature of 10°C. Less makes no sense. A higher temperature provides a quicker and better germination. Keep the temperature as even as possible and don't let the temperature drop during the night. Harden the seedlings of, by putting them outside in the sun during the day for approx. 10 - 14 days from the beginning of May. Or by putting them in a cold frame. Transplant the plants on a very sunny plot with some shelter from the middle of May. Put the plants in blocks to assure a good germination. Pop corn is a wind pollinator.
Sow outdoors from the middle of May, when there's no danger of nightfrosts. Sow the pop corn in rows and blocks to assure a good pollination. Keep the plants 45 - 50 cm apart and sow in rows approx. 45 - 50 cm apart.
Let the cobs get completely yellow and dried out on the outside before you harvest them. The grains have to be competely hard. Hang the cobs in a warm, moist and ventilated room for a couple of weeks to dry out. Leave them hanging untill the cobs have a humidity of approx. 14 % in the grains. The grains need enough humidity to let them pop. Test a few grains to see if they pop. Moisten the grains eventually with a little bit of water and give them a good shake. Don't plant sweet corn in the same area as pop corn. Because the cross-pollination can have a negative effect on the quality of the corn.
