How to Grow Corn
Corn picked and eaten fresh is about as good as it gets in gardening. Some people even boil the pot of water before picking their corn so they can eat it right away. The reward of fresh-grown corn awaits those willing to put in the extra work that growing a successful crop of corn takes. Learn how to grow corn with these ten tips.
10 Tips for How to Grow Corn
This crop also plays an important role in the Three Sisters Grow Bag Garden, a traditional companion planting method adapted for containers—learn how to incorporate it alongside beans and squash (or their alternatives) for best results.
1. Feed corn before and during the season
Corn requires rich fertile soil to meet its heavy nitrogen demands. Apply at least an inch of compost to your beds before planting. After planting, fertilize corn when the first leaves emerge and then weekly with fish emulsion. When the silks begin to appear, give plants a foliar feeding of a kelp fertilizer.
2. Choose a sunny spot for planting corn
Corn is best grown in full sun. Plant corn where it won’t shade other crops as it grows.
3. Plant corn seeds directly in the garden
Corn does not transplant well; plant corn seeds directly in the garden. Sow seeds 1 inch deep and about 8 inches apart. For hot weather plantings (such as a monsoon planting in Arizona), plant seeds up to 2 inches deep.
Keep soil moist after planting and cover with tulle or netting to protect young seedlings from birds. Remove the cover when seedlings are 4-6 inches tall.
Looking for non-GMO corn seeds? Click here.
For square foot gardening, plant 3-4 corn per square foot.
To grow corn in containers, plant corn in containers that are at least 12 inches deep. Hand-pollination will be required.
Looking for a more productive way to grow corn in small spaces? Try growing it as part of a Three Sisters garden in raised beds, where beans and squash help support the corn and improve the soil.
Tall corn stalks can serve as a living trellis for cucumber vines. Learn more about this and other beneficial pairings in the cucumber companion planting guide.
Corn varieties to try:
- Sweet Golden Bantam – Sweet, yellow, early corn.
- Strawberry Popcorn – 4 foot stalks with 2-4 ears of corn. Makes delicious popcorn.
4. How to grow corn? Plant corn at the right time
Wait to plant corn until soil temperatures reach 60℉ in the spring. Plant seeds every 2 weeks for a continual harvest. If you’re growing more than one type of corn, stagger the planting dates by at least 2 weeks so the corn doesn’t cross-pollinate.
In the low desert of Arizona, plant corn from mid-February through March. Long-time farmers in Arizona say planting on March 1st is ideal. Plant again with the monsoons in late July through August.
5. Plant enough corn to ensure pollination
Corn is wind-pollinated and is best grown in blocks rather than rows in all but the largest home gardens. Planting at least a 4’x 4’ block of corn helps ensure better pollination.
To avoid cross-pollination, plant different varieties of corn at least 10 days apart or space at least 25 feet apart in the garden.
6. How to grow corn? Give growing corn plenty of water
Corn has relatively shallow roots and needs regular water throughout the growing season. Water is most critical when corn is tasselling. Water stress during pollination can result in spotty pollination.
7. Give corn support as it grows
Tall stalks and shallow roots mean corn can tip and fall in the wind easily. Hilling dirt up around the roots of the corn can help. Drive stakes at the ends of the beds and run twine between stakes to give corn support.
In the low desert of Arizona, the monsoon planting of corn will definitely benefit from being staked during the higher winds of monsoon season.
8. Keep an eye out for common corn pests and diseases
Corn is a favorite of many pests. Prevention is usually the best defense. Plant disease-resistant varieties, encourage beneficial insects, and rotate where you plant corn each year. If cutworms were a problem in past years, drench the soil with parasitic nematodes a couple of weeks before planting.
Use floating row-cover to help prevent damage from birds, corn borers, or slugs. Check leaves for small holes regularly. If you find holes, spray with Bt each week as long as new holes appear. If worms have been an issue, place a few drops of mineral oil into the tip of each ear after the silk turns brown.
9. Consider hand-pollinating corn to ensure plump full ears
Patchy spots in harvested corn indicate poor pollination. Each silk is connected to a kernel of corn and must receive pollen. Collect pollen from several tassels, and sprinkle on the silks when they first emerge. Pay special attention to corn on the outside edges of the bed. Repeat this process a time or two for best results.
10. Harvest corn at the right time
Check daily for mature ears once the silks begin to turn brown. Look for plump and full ears. When you puncture a kernel, the juice should be milky. Clear juice means corn is not quite ready. Corn quickly loses its sweet flavor after being harvested. Harvest early in the morning when temperatures are cool, and store in the fridge in husks until it’s time to eat.
Do you have more questions about how to grow corn? Ask me in the comments.
Do you have some tips about how to grow corn? I’d love to learn more. Please share in the comments.
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I’ve been following your blog and YouTube channel for a few months now and I’m so grateful for all the information you are sharing. I am in south Phoenix.
I am thinking of trying to grow corn this spring, I’ve never tried it before. Do you companion plant your corn? I’m interested in the corn, bean, squash combo. But wanted to know what you do here in the low desert. TIA
You can do the three sisters, but for corn to pollinate well it’s important to plant as much as you can in a single area. A companion planting that worked for me was to plant cowpeas in between the stalks once they were growing well. When the corn was finished the cowpeas took over the bed and grew well.
When growing corn in 4×4 raised bed how deep should the soil be?
Also is it too late in the season to plant?
Thanks
Hi Tori, We are at the end of the planting window and it has been a hot spring. I would wait for the next planting window with the monsoon moisture in late July or August. As far as planting depth, aim for a depth of at least 12 inches.
I grow corn in rows – at least 2-3 rows, the more the better. Rows are approx 2′ apart and plants 6″ apart. About 10-12 plants per row. I dig a furrow a few inches deep and run some fertiliser in the furrow and then mix it in the soil. Plant the seeds and cover over with soil and pat the soil down. Give a good watering and don’t water for 3-4 days.
When the plants are about 15″ high I place some more fertiliser along the rows each side and then hill the soil up the plant base. New roots will grow from the newly covered plant stalk. That gives the plants more stability.
When the tassels come out there is very fine pollen on them. Pollination usually happens over 5 days and generally around mid morning – 8am-12pm. You can run your closed fingers up the tassel and then rub over the silks to pollinate.
Corn takes approx 21 days from pollination to be ready to harvest,
@Mike Logan, Thank you so much, God bless!
What is the bt you said to spray with?
This is the one I use: https://amzn.to/3zb874X
Tassels on my corn plantsare spotty with black dirt-like spots……even the leaves has some black
like dirt……I live in northeastern Tn and bugs are plentiful…..tried using organic sprays but they do not work very well…..especially Japanese beetles…..what can I do about the above problems.
Thanks
Handpicking is the best defense against Japanese beetles. I’m not sure about the spots on the corn. Wish I cold be more helpful.
My corn stalks are developing only one ear each. Is that to be expected? I have been watering daily two staggered 7-minute soakings until ears showed up. Added a third 7-minute cycle. When we started hitting 90degrees and higher (103 expected for taody!) made it four 8-minute cycles. Using the moisture meter I use for houseplants, the soil registered wet on two cycles. I’ve stopped checking since increasing # of cycles. Only a few of the eats are getting any size to them and the biggest ears are on stalks I transplanted when I thinned. They had such nice roots I couldn’t bear to discard them! In the primary bed the stalks are about eight inches apart with about ten inches between rows and each row has its own drip line. The ears are puny (about five inches long) even after 4-5 five weeks. I didn’t think to write down just when they appeared, so that’s an estimate. The two beds are near each other, but the second bed gets a little less water and isn’t as dense as what I left in the first. A few of the ears on the transplants are about ten inches long. Could I be over-watering the first?
Oh, and I haven’t fertilized.
Corn is tricky for sure. It does sound like you are overwatering them. It’s best to water deeply, less often. They benefit from fertilizer as well.
My corn is not developing and has dead leaves. What can I do
What is your soil like? Is it getting too much water?
I sell local corn and corn from the south at Adam’s Fairacre’s Farm in the Hudson valley and grow corn in my back-yard so thanks for passing along the knowledge. Very helpful to myself and others as I believe produce is the future of our country and this planet after A.I. removes 75% of regular jobs…..
corns are heavey feeder.. I am wondering which fertilizer is best for the corn? Some of them said 21-0-0, other said acid fertilizer , etc..
In planting corn by hand do you place the tip of the kernel down or up
Thanks in advance
Hi. It doesn’t matter.
Is there a sweet, white or mottled corn you would suggest for the sw az area?
Look for short days to harvest varieties. You will have the best luck with those.