Growing Sweet corn, also corn,maize

Zea mays, var. rugosa : Poaceae / the grass family

Jan F M A M J J A S O N Dec
P                 P P P

(Best months for growing Sweet corn in New Zealand - cool/mountain regions)

  • P = Sow seed

October: After risk of frost

  • Sow in garden. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed. Best planted at soil temperatures between 61°F and 95°F. (Show °C/cm)
  • Space plants: 8 - 12 inches apart
  • Harvest in 11-14 weeks.
  • Compatible with (can grow beside): All beans, cucumber, melons, peas, pumpkin, squash, amaranth
  • Avoid growing close to: Celery.

Your comments and tips

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20 May 09, David (Australia - temperate climate)
Dean: did you plant seed or seedling? If the sweet corn was planted too near dent corn then a cross could have occured. How long between harvest and consumption? (sugar (sweet)starts turning to starch (flour) as soon as you harvest) What variety?
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17 May 09, Kasha (Australia - temperate climate)
Dean a friend of mine advised me that sweetcorn will taste floury when grown out of season, when it is too cold something about them not ripening properly from the cold. I find if I grow corn during Autumn/Winter my corn stalk is stunted to under 1m and produces floury corn....YUK
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17 May 09, Jared (Australia - temperate climate)
Julie ' i have grown corn in blocks for better pollination and when you think its about time to harvest open the tip of the cob and pop one of the kernals if its clear its not ready if its gluggy and thick its over harvest but if its got a creamy white texture (which is not long after the silk goes brown) its time to roast him on the BBQ.
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16 Apr 09, Thomas (Australia - tropical climate)
Hello, does anyone know where I can buy sweet corn seeds for a tropical climate? I need to do a sample in Panama, Central America. Thank you in advance for any help. [email protected]
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03 Mar 09, Dean (Australia - temperate climate)
Hi. I've grown some beautiful sweet corn before, but this new crop(different house) looks awesome but tatses very flourery.Any suggetsions.
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01 Mar 09, anaura (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
hi I'mplanting corn for the first time , but the leaves are loosing colour and have small brown specs on I was a bit sloe at watering and it has been very hot can any one help . thanks
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22 Feb 09, Ian (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
Thanks Chris, they are in blocks, but what I may be doing wrong is that I am dusting the silk for grubs as soon as it pops out & maybe that is stopping the pollination.
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22 Feb 09, Chris (Australia - cool/mountain climate)
Ian, poor pollination can result in corn not forming completely. Could your corn be planted too far apart, or in rows instead of the recommended blocks? (See the comment from willo on 20th Jan). It could also be due to insufficient water.
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21 Feb 09, Ian (Australia - sub-tropical climate)
The corn does not form completely on the cob. Does anybody know why? Thanks.
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15 Feb 09, Julie (Australia - temperate climate)
We have tried to grow corn, but it comes out claggy when we go to eat it. It appears OK, but the texture isn't right. Anyone have any suggestions on what may cause this?
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Showing 411 - 420 of 432 comments
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my sweet corn last year had a mixture of 1-3 cobs per plant. its normal having more than 1 cob per plant but i found that they did not produce as much as one cob per plant and snaped of the smaller ones so as to get a better havest. I found that it had to do with how close they were together. my veriety worked best with 16 stalks per meatre square. bit late and i hope your havest went well. As for the reason, just like when you grow pumpcin you can have several friuts on a vine or one the plant puts its energy equally in to however many friuts there are. when there is only one it gets much bigger than when there are multipual pumpcins however you get more pumpcins if you let them grow multipual ones per vine. some verietys just natraly have more or less friuts per vine and you as the gardener get to chose how many the plant grows or how big they can get.

- Ferran

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