Select your climate zone Australia - cool/mountain Australia - sub-tropical Australia - temperate Australia - tropical New Zealand - cool/mountain New Zealand - sub-tropical New Zealand - temperate United Kingdom - temperate/cool United Kingdom - temperate/warm What is my climate zone?

Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
P	P	P					P	P	P	P	P

(Best months for planting Sweet corn in Australia - sub-tropical regions)

• Harvest in 80-100 days
• Sow in garden. Sow seed at a depth approximately three times the diameter of the seed.
• Best planted at soil temperatures between 16°C and 35°C.
• Space plants: 20-30cm

Frost tender Plant in 4 by 4 blocks to encourage germination Pick when the silky threads on the cobs turn brown or black. Part the top of the leaves and test for ripeness by pressing a grain with your fingernail. If it is milky, it is ready.

Early varieties ripen quickly and are sweeter when just picked.

Avoid planting coloured maize ( for drying) near sweetcorn as they will cross-pollinate and spoil the cobs on both.

Culinary hints - cooking and eating Sweet corn

Pick and cook within an hour. Remove the silks and outer leaves.
Best flavour if microwave about 4 minutes per cob.
Can be barbequed wrapped in foil
Cook large amounts in a stock pot until test soft.
Sprinkle with black pepper and dip in butter.

Your comments and tips

17 Jan 10 beth (Australia - temperate climate)

I planted my sweet corn in late November and it is currently about 1.5 metres high. I only had a minimal ammount of seeds so i planted them in a pot. I only have 1 stalk in the pot. Will it still be possible for my sweet corn to germinate and grow corn cobs because I only have the one stalk? If so how much corn can I expect to get from one stalk?

19 Jan 10 Jenny (Australia - temperate climate)

Hi, I have 5 corn stalks growing in which i have taken corn of each stalk. The corn is very nice to eat sweet as. Can someone please advise me once i have taken corn of the stalks does the corn continue to grow or do you only get that one lot, please advise as i would like to start pulling my corn out and growing something else that is in season if the corn will not continue to produce. Thanks heaps.

22 Jan 10 Chris (Australia - temperate climate)

Jenny, My experience has been one decent crop from a stalk however you may get side shoots that produce a weaker crop. Personally, i would look to pulling them out and preparing the soil for the next crop in the rotation

27 Jan 10 Evelyn (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Hi, I tried Digger's Club Golden Bantam corn this year and planted closer together than instructed in a raised metal bed. They did really well with good organic soil, compost and a bit of blood and bone and another biodynamic preparation (Kickalong fertilizer). Really healthy and the corn tasted fine. Not as nice as the sweeter corn varieties, a bit more starchy but still really good fresh from the garden.

01 Feb 10 Ray Whitton (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

I have grown my sweet corn fairly close together and thought I had done everything properly. Once again though I find that the kernels are well under developed....they are usually white and very, very small. I harvest them when the silk browns off as seems to be the rule but even then. I also have found that even watering every second day as we are only permitted in Canberra the leaves are still dying off. In fact the ones at the back of the crop nearest the galvanised iron fence are completely dead - anything to do with radiated heat? Thanks for comments.

04 Feb 10 Richy (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

how long does it take to grow sweet corn?

08 Feb 10 Leigh Geil (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

first time growing corn for me. Doing well but now I have heard that it's better to remove side shoots leaving only one main stalk? 4-5 cobs on each plant but plants are only 60cms high.

11 Feb 10 Jason (Australia - temperate climate)

Just seeking opinions on whether my current run of corn is 'normal'. Planted Sun & Snow corn the week before Christmas and it has gone completely nuts. The block seems to have topped out at 2.3mtrs in full tassel... but I have 3 to 4 extra tillers on each plant and they are producing tassels and silks completely independent to the centre stalk. 7 of them even have side tassels at the 2mtr marker. The cobs that are forming are averaging just over 20cm in length and between 6-7cm in width. I'm only new to growing and was completely wrapped when they took off. Is this a standard result or something alittle more special?

11 Feb 10 T (Australia - temperate climate)

Having grown baby sweetcorn for the first time, the silks are red in colour at the moment can someone inform me when is the right time to pick baby corn, is it the same rule as normal corn? where the silks should be brown?

26 Feb 10 Barb (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Hey Jason, your corn sound fantastic! I had a bad time with corn this year - male flowers came out in a heat wave before the female tassels were out and massive winds blew pollen away. So yield was down, but still v yummy! I'm tempted to stick in another crop now - hopefully not too late in the year.