When I started gardening, I only had the vaguest of understandings of different types of corn. My family had grown some hybrid sweet corn, and I knew that the popcorn they sold in the stores and the stuff people used as decorations in the fall were different. If you’re new to gardening or heirlooms, you might be in the same place. Browsing catalogs that offered heirloom and open-pollinated varieties of corn opened my eyes to the wide range of possibilities. It can be a bit overwhelming, so here are a few things to consider when selecting corn for the home garden.
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We carry two varieties of hybrid sweet corn at SESE. Hybrid sweet corn has the advantage of typically maturing all at once, which can be helpful for some farmers. Most hybrids have also been bred to be extra sweet and to hold their sweetness after being harvested. Hybrid corn also has weak seedling vigor and doesn’t perform well in cool soil. For good pollination and ear development, open-pollinated corn should be planted in blocks at least four rows wide.
Unlike hybrid sweet corn, open-pollinated varieties often don’t mature all at once and aren’t always uniform in size. This feature can be helpful for home gardeners looking to harvest over a more extended period. They also have a more old-fashioned corn flavor that many home gardeners and seed savers value. The seedlings tend to be more tolerant of insect damage and cool temperatures than their hybrid counterparts. Open-pollinated corn should be planted in blocks at least 5-6 rows wide for good pollination and ear development.
Unlike sweet corn, you harvest popcorn when it’s fully mature and dry. You’ll then need to dry it further for it to pop nicely. Popcorn can be removed from the ear by hand or with a sheller to make the process easier. Today, we mainly use popcorn for popping, but traditionally some Native Americans also ground popcorn to make bread.
All three of these broad categories are types of grain corn. However, they differ in climactic adaptation, kernel composition, kernel shape, and best culinary uses.
Flint corns are a traditional favorite of the northeast because they thrive in cold, wet climates. They have hard, pointed kernels and are a good choice for cooking methods that involve boiling, like making polenta or johnnycakes.
Dent corns are what we focus on at Southern Exposure. They are typically heirlooms of the southeast and midwest. They get their name from their tell-tale dent created by a flinty ring surrounding a floury center which sinks and creates the characteristic dent as it dries out. Heirloom dent corns make excellent cornbread, hominy, and roasting ears. Some old-timers prefer eating the starchy dent corns in the same manner as sweet corns.
Flour corns are commonly grown in the Southwest but have been grown in many areas. They have soft, rounded kernels and, as the name suggests, are typically ground into flour. Their soft kernels create fine flour that can be used like wheat flour and is excellent for baking.
Gourdseed our one of our oldest corns and dates back to at least . They were once commonly grown in southern Virginia and were used for feed, roasting, and flour. The plants are heavily stalked and bear ears having a large number of rows of thin, deep kernels. Some varieties were so easy to shell that it only took a light touch to the ear.
Gourdseed corns were grown until about before hybrids became popular. In , gourdseed corn won the Great Corn Contest sponsored by the American Agriculturist, yielding 255 bushels per acre. Because of interest in hybrid corn, gourdseed corns were virtually extinct by the s, but recently they have been found to be valuable because of their resistance to some diseases, notably southern leaf blight. After a year-long search for this disease-resistant variety, Dr. Brown, former president of Pioneer Hi-Bred rediscovered gourdseed corn on a Texas farm.
There’s so much more diversity to explore than just a few varieties of sweetcorn you’ll find at your local grocery store. I highly encourage anyone with the space to grow some of their own corn and experience the joy of tasting sweet and nutty cornbreads, colorful, buttery popcorns, or sweet corns with vibrant flavors and histories.
Page 1 of 5 of the Sweet Corn Guide
Author: Greg Baka
As a member of the grass family, and presumed to be the oldest cultivated crop, corn is relatively easy to grow. Corn simply needs warmth, moisture, sunlight, wind protection, a long growing season and deep, well-drained soil with plenty of organic matter.
Relax. It is not as complicated as it sounds.
Sweet Corn Basics
Corn is wind-pollinated. So, short rows next to each other are apt to grow more ears than one long row. The richer the soil, the closer together the plants may be. Four rows, 3 feet apart, and 5 feet long is an ideal garden size.
Image CreditCorn loses its sweetness after picking, so planting more than your family can consume is impractical unless freezing or canning the excess immediately. Running directly from the garden to the table with freshly picked produce is the best practice for sweet corn.
Corn takes up a lot of space for the amount of food produced (roughly 60 ears in a 100 foot row). However, planting corn has other benefits. All those nitrogen-rich leaves, stalks, husks and cobs make excellent garden mulch. Ground corn cobs are highly resistant to compaction, so the mulch remains loose even if your garden gets plenty of foot traffic.
Pole beans can be planted with corn, as beans use the stalks for support while fixing nitrogen in the soil for the corn. A win-win partnership!
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But first, one must decide which corn variety to plant.
Below are the five categories of sweet corn:
Sweet corn is available in a wide range of sweetness. If this is your first time planting sweet corn, we recommend the standard varieties. You can add the more sugary varieties next season if you find standard is not sweet enough.
The types listed above contain numerous varieties, each with their own maturity dates, sweetness and size. If this is your first time planting sweet corn, check with your local extension agency, community garden coalition or gardening friends to learn which varieties have been successful for them. Consider the length of your growing season, available space and taste preference.
The University of Illinois Extension Office provides a list of recommended sweet corn varieties.
Since corn is a tall crop, consider where to plant it to avoid shading other parts of the garden. Varieties vary greatly in height. Some early season varieties only reach 4 to 5 feet in height while later season varieties typically grow more than 7 feet tall.
Sweet corn matures in 60 to 100 days. This information will be spelled out on the seed packet or website. Garden catalogs and seed packets also provide zone charts to aid in determining the length of growing seasons.
Corn does best when the soil maintains a steady amount of moisture in the 50 to 75% range, or about 1 to 2 inches of water per week. (See our moisture table below.) Some varieties can withstand light drought conditions, although all varieties should have plenty of water when the cobs are forming. A layer of straw put on when the weather gets hot helps hold moisture for the developing corn.
Common soil amendments include compost, grass clippings, straw, shredded leaves, rotted manure and dried seaweed. Other organic materials such as spent garden plants, peels, and husks, chopped corn cobs and stalks, peanut shells, coffee grounds, wood ashes, feathers, shredded newspaper (a favorite among worms), pet hair, spoiled hay, and small pieces of cotton, wool or linen fabrics can be turned under to improve clay soil.
Wood chips, bark and sawdust also loosen soil, but will zap nitrogen (needed for decomposition) from the soil if applied too heavily. Pine needles are not recommended unless lime is also added to counteract the acid conditions produced as conifers decompose.
For fresh eating, plant a minimum of 10 to 15 plants per person. To extend the harvest, sow an early-maturing type every 2 weeks for 6 weeks. Or, plant early, mid-season, and late types at the same time. To avoid cross-pollination, separate different corn cultivars (especially supersweets) 400 or more yards apart or plant them so they tassel at least 2 weeks apart.
Corn seed is usually viable for just one year, so should be planted the year it is purchased. The average germination rate of sweet corn is 75%. Seed can be tested for germination as outlined below.
More information on environmental factors that effect seed germination is available here.
With a 50% germination rate, consider placing 2 seeds in each hole spaced 10-12 inches and then thinning to the best plants. Replant the few that do not sprout at all.
Now that you know a little bit about the different varieties, it is time to actually choose what corn you are going to plant. Take the time to read all the information on your seed packet or online prior to purchasing. That packet will provide you with information like days to maturity, days to germination, when to plant, and which growing zone that variety will grow best in. Be sure to safely store the empty packet at after planting so that you have information for choosing plants again next year.
If your soil is coarse to moderately coarse
If your soil is of a medium texture
If your soil is of a fine and very fine texture
Now that you know which sweet corn variety to plant, in our next article we will explain how to plant those seeds for maximum yield.
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