Sweetcorn ∗ The 10 best planting and care tips

Characteristics

Scientific name: Zea mays
Family: Sweet grasses (Poaceae)
Synonyms: sweet corn, sweet corn
Occurrence: America, Europe, Africa, Asia
Growth: annual, herbaceous, summer green
Growth height: 60 cm to 300 cm
Flower: monoecious, separating sexes
Flowering period: July to September
fruit: cobs 10 cm to 40 cm long
Harvest time: late July to October
Maturity for consumption: milk maturity
Shelf life: 1 to 3 days (chilled)

Where does corn grow?

Corn plants come from South America and have been cultivated since the 16th century. grown in Europe for centuries. The heat-loving summer grain began its triumphal march on the European continent in Spain and Italy. The first growing areas in Germany were in the mild winter Rhineland and in Baden. A century later, corn had established itself as a nutritious and inexpensive crop. Today, corn grows everywhere around the world where a frost-free, warm, sunny cultivation period of at least 100 days can be guaranteed.

What does the flower look like?

Maize plants are monoecious and have separate sexes. This means that each plant bears male and female flowers. The flowers sit in different tiers on the monumental stem and differ significantly in appearance. The flowers are characterized by the following characteristics sweetcorn out of:

Male flowers: inconspicuous, terminal, yellowish-purple panicles
Female flowers: stalked spadix with green bracts, lateral in leaf axils
Pollination: wind transport

In the course of the flowering period, long stigmas, the so-called styles, grow from the female flower bulbs. These threads capture the male pollen.

When is candy corn ripe?

Protected by the bracts, the corn kernels form on the flask-shaped infructescence during the ripening period. Sweetcorn plants each produce one to three ears of corn, which can reach a length of up to 40 centimeters by the beginning of the harvest season. You can tell the perfect harvest time by the milk ripeness. At this stage, the scar threads have dried up brown-red. The corn kernels are golden yellow on the outside and soft on the inside. If you crush a grain, a white, milky liquid comes out. If in doubt, remove the husks from a sample corn cob and examine the corn kernels.

Did you know that corn varieties not only differ in terms of growth, ripening time and taste, but also in what form the corn kernels pop up in the popcorn machine? The knowledge magazine Galileo reveals the details:

Five secrets about popcorn

grow sweet corn

In the German hobby garden, the cultivation of pre-grown maize plants of early to medium-early varieties is recommended. For direct sowing outdoors, the Central European vegetation period is too short for a minimum cultivation period of 100 days. By preferring sweet corn under glass, you give the young corn plants a real head start in growth. Don't miss these quick guides:

Prefer candy corn

For the sowing of sweet corn, we recommend fresh, non-genetically modified seeds from a certified specialist dealer. Corn kernels from your own cultivation are only suitable for cultivation to a limited extent, because you can never be sure whether pollen from genetically manipulated maize plants from neighboring fields had a hand in it had. Only one variety of maize is grown at a time to ensure optimal fruit formation. How to properly sow sweetcorn:

Time window: mid-February to early March
seed pots(€7.00 at Amazon*) fill with coconut soil or mix vegetable soil with sand
Moisten the substrate with a fine shower
Plant a kernel of corn 4 to 5 cm deep in each pot
Cover seed pots with a transparent hood or plastic bag

At the half-shady window seat you keep them potting soil constantly slightly moist. Air the cover for half an hour every day to prevent mold from forming. Read the table below to see how long it takes to germinate.

Germination temperatures table

temperature	germination time
10 degrees centigrade	22 days
15 degrees centigrade	12 days
20 degrees centigrade	7 days
25 degrees centigrade	3 to 4 days

Once germination begins, you can remove the cover. Until the beginning of the planting season outdoors, please water regularly and do not administer any fertilizer.

Location

The following criteria characterize the perfect location for the cultivation of maize plants:

Full sun, warm and preferably sheltered from the wind
Nutrient-rich, sandy-loamy soil
Fresh, moist and well drained

In rural areas, there should be a distance of 300 to 500 meters between your corn plants and fields with fodder corn. Shorter distances harbor the risk of unwanted crossbreeding at the expense of harvest quality.

soil preparation

The secret of success in private corn cultivation is good soil preparation. Ideally, you should already tackle the following work in autumn of the previous year:

Remove harvest residues, stones, roots, pull weeds
Bed two spade dig deep, garden soil seven, Rake soil several times
3 to 5 l compost and 100 g per m² horn shavings(€9.00 at Amazon*) incorporate superficially
Irrigate bed area

One is an advantage green manure With meadow clover, peas, vetches or lupins. After mowing in spring, the legumes leave behind a nitrogen-rich soil with ideal conditions for the heavy feeder sweetcorn.

plant sweet corn

The planting season begins in early May. In rough conditions please wait until after the ice saints. In the cultivation of sweet corn, planting in blocks or as squares has proven to be excellent. How to properly plant sweet corn:

Harden early maize plants from mid/end of April for 14 days in a partially shaded location during the day
Soak potted root balls in water until bubbles stop bubbling
Dig planting pits with 1.5 times the diameter of the root ball
Pot and plant corn plants
Planting distance in the row: 30 cm to 40 cm
Row spacing: 70 cm to 80 cm
Press and water the soil

A fleece cover protects the plants from late night frosts in the first few weeks. mulching With compost soil or leaves keep the roots warm.

digression

Dream Team Sweetcorn, Beans and Squash

if you a Create a vegetable patch, a triumvirate of sweetcorn, beans and pumpkin scores with unbeatable synergy effects. Corn plants serve as climbing aids for climbing beans. With their roots, beans enrich the soil with nitrogen for the heavy consumers sweet corn and squash. Squash plants provide ground cover for corn and beans, suppressing annoying weeds and protecting the soil from drying out.

Harvest sweet corn

Once the corn cobs have reached the stage of milk maturity, the harvest time begins. For early varieties, the starting signal is given at the end of July. To harvest, you can simply grasp the piston with your hand and twist it off. Peel off the bracts and enjoy the anticipation of the sugar-sweet culinary delight.

Stems and leaves dry up in the following weeks and are suitable for the compost heap. If you don't want to wait that long, you can cut the harvested corn plants down to the ground and shred the greens in the garden shredder to use as mulch material.

cultivate sweet corn

Pour, fertilize and pile up are the three supporting pillars in the uncomplicated care program. This is how you take care of sweet corn in an exemplary manner:

Pull weeds several times a week
Water when the soil surface has dried
When the stems are 30 cm tall, heap them up with compost
Fertilize with 100 g in mid-July horn shavings(€9.00 at Amazon*) per m²
Additionally fertilize every 2 weeks with diluted nettle manure (10 parts water, 1 part manure)

It is important to note that the need for watering increases gradually with the beginning of the flowering period. If wet, cold late summer weather delays cob maturation, please remove the earth that has been piled up.

Diseases

The following diseases are to be expected in the cultivation of sweet corn:

Corn smut (Ustilago maydis)
Corn rust (Puccinia sorghi)
leaf spot disease (Helminthosporium sp.)

Corn ear smut is a fungal infection affecting corn plants only in Europe. Maize rust is caused by rust fungi and causes a lot of headaches, primarily in Central Europe. Leaf spot disease, which mainly occurs in maize cultivation, is also a fungal infection. So far, no effective control measures approved for the home garden are known.

Prepare candy corn

Many delicious recipes for the preparation of corn make our mouths water. Sweet or salty, grilled, roasted and fresh as a side salad - there is a suitable variation for every corn gourmet. Children and adults prefer to nibble the juicy, sweet corn kernels directly from the golden-yellow, precisely cooked cob. The most important questions about the best preparation receive a compact answer here:

how to cook In water with a pinch of sugar and a knob of good butter.
how long to cook Small cobs 10 minutes, large cobs 15 minutes.
When finished? When the corn kernels can be easily detached from the cob with a fork.

Preserving corn on the cob - tips

As soon as it is harvested, the sugar contained in sweet corn turns into starch. After just 24 hours, the sugar content has been reduced by half. The result is a floury, bland taste. Good reasons to preserve freshly harvested corn on the cob. How to do it:

One to three days: Wrap fresh corn on the cob in a damp cloth and place in the refrigerator.
Six to eight months: Blanch corn on the cob for 5 minutes, allow to cool, freeze in freezer bags.
One year and longer: push the bracts upwards, tie them into a tuft, hang the corn cobs upside down to dry.

Popular Varieties

The following selection introduces you to delicious corn varieties for private cultivation:

Golden Bantam: Premium variety, flowering period July to September, for consumption when freshly picked, growth height up to 200 cm.
Ashworth: very early variety, yellow corn cobs, good for cooler locations and small gardens, growth height up to 150 cm.
Nana: great popcorn variety, cobs up to 20 cm long, compact growth up to 150 cm in height.
damaun: Corn variety for impatient hobby gardeners with a ripening time of 85 to 95 days, delicious, extra sweet corn kernels.
Medzid: medium early, resistant to diseases, stable, sweet corn on the cob, 150 cm high.

FAQ

What is the difference between sweet corn and feed corn?

In contrast to feed corn, the corn kernels of sweet corn taste mildly sweet. The maize varieties grown as fodder maize take on a floury taste at the end of milk maturity, which intensifies on the way to dough maturity. The milk-ripe, freshly harvested corn kernels from sweet corn live up to their name.

Is Candy Corn Healthy?

Sweetcorn is a super healthy summer grain for the whole family. 100 grams of sweet corn contains a whopping 10 grams of fiber, 9 grams of protein, 16 grams of carbohydrates and 1 gram of fat. Furthermore, the corn kernels are packed with healthy minerals such as potassium, magnesium, calcium, iron and many vitamins. At a mere 87 calories per 100 grams, sweetcorn is a tasty treat that doesn't land on your hips.

How are freshly harvested corn cobs stored until ready to use?

Corn cobs from your own cultivation, from the weekly market or from the supermarket are best kept in the refrigerator. Wrapped in a damp kitchen towel, you slow down the process of converting sugar into starch for one to three days. For a longer shelf life, you can blanch and freeze the cobs.