Where to find popcorn seeds?

[Monomial]

My daughter (7 years old) is a big fan of popcorn and wants to make it herself. I explained to her that you can't just pop any ear of corn, that it has to be a special type of corn. This led to the inevitable question of how can we buy popcorn seed. Of course, I would love to let her explore her interest by growing the corn from seed and popping it herself, but I have never seen popcorn seed anywhere. Her suggestion of going to a popcorn seed store was cute but not particularly helpful.

So I thought I would ask the group. Does anyone know of a source for fresh popcorn seed? I don't need very much. This is just for a her to learn.

[Mrjlh]

Makro

[RichCor]

According to Wikipedia: Popcorn
 

Popcorn will pop when freshly harvested, but not well: its high moisture content leads to poor expansion and chewy pieces of popcorn. Kernels with a high moisture content are also susceptible to mold when stored. For these reasons, popcorn growers and distributors dry the kernels until they reach the moisture level at which they expand the most. This differs by variety and conditions, but is generally in the range of 14–15% moisture by weight. If the kernels are over-dried, the expansion rate will suffer and the percentage of kernels that pop at all will decline.

 

You CAN actually buy a dried corn cob (ear of corn) and stick it in a microwave and have it pop into popcorn.

 

Youtube: Popcorn on the Cob
 

 

 

As far as buying popping corn here in Thailand, I've only seen McGarrett brand popcorn occasionally in Tesco/Lotus, or the larger quantity bags, as already mentioned, in Makro.  

 

TOPS Markets will also carry the paperbag style microwave popcorn.

[rhythmworx]

Don't know how old she is but she might like to see this.

 

 

[Monomial]

On 1/19/2017 at 9:11 PM, RichCor said:

You CAN actually buy a dried corn cob (ear of corn) and stick it in a microwave and have it pop into popcorn.

 

Well, this is the issue. You can't buy just ANY ear of corn. You need an ear of variant everta or you will be sorely disappointed. If you put an ear of dried sweet corn in the microwave and expect it to pop, you aren't going to like the results.

 

So that was my question. Where can I buy seed to grow Zea mays everta?

 

I would be very surprised if I could plant those McGarret kernels and actually have them germinate. Has anyone ever done this before?

 

[rice555]

1 hour ago, Monomial said:

Well, this is the issue. You can't buy just ANY ear of corn. You need an ear of variant everta or you will be sorely disappointed. If you put an ear of dried sweet corn in the microwave and expect it to pop, you aren't going to like the results.

 

So that was my question. Where can I buy seed to grow Zea mays everta?

 

I would be very surprised if I could plant those McGarret kernels and actually have them germinate. Has anyone ever done this before?

 

Hello All, buy a bag and try to germinate  some , but most likely like it's a Hyb.

If you have family in the west, have them send you some or there are many O/L sources.

Don't grow popcorn near other OP corns at the same time because or cross pollination.

rice555 

[RichCor]

Sorry if I wasn't clear, though I had just posted the 'popcorn' kernel on the cob video. 

 

 

Really, GOOGLE is your frenemy here

A quick search and...

 

Is it possible to grow the corn kernels from commercial popcorn?

gardening.stackexchange

 

How to Grow Popcorn

wikihow

 

 

Though expect some commercial brands to sterilize their seeds/kernels or be a pollination hybrid just so others won't be able to grow their own copycat product.

 

:: ADDENDUM ::

 

Google Search for Popcorn Seed Thailand

 

AliExpress : Popcorn Seed   wow

 

 

[kickstart]

You can buy seed for popcorn ,my misses use to grow it as a kid ,use to keep the seed back and grow it again ,well pre- hybrid days.

She did say  not seen it for a while ,you need an old market type  shop, not many ,if any new shops will sell it .

เม็ดข้าวโพดค์้ว  , in Thai  .

Last year they was a thread on popcorn  maize.