Growing corn without store bought seeds...

Question

Sorry if this sounds silly to the green thumbs out there, but can corn be grown from kernels off of a fresh cob?!

Answer 1

Most likely, no.  Even assuming you properly dry and remove the kernels, virtually all of the produce you buy in the store is a commercially produced hybrid.  It is bred for specific traits (drought tolerance, insect resistance, Round-Up ready, etc).  The down side of this breeding, it is not capable of reproducing its self.  For what it’s worth, I have had a little success planting other store purchased produce (spuds and tomatoes), but they have never done as well as packaged seed.  If you want to produce your own seed, find a source of heirloom seed (non-hybrid) which will let you keep growing and saving your own seed