How to grow corn cobs : from the corn planting period to the care to be given to the plant. How to grow corn in a pot or in the garden, when to harvest and how many cobs a plant produces.
In the article dedicated to growing popcorn corn , I explained to you that there is little difference between corn intended for the production of popcorn kernels and corn for the production of corn cobs or corn cobs , to be clear, those shown in the photo above that you can cook either boiled or roasted. What makes the difference is the variety, if you want to eat tasty corn cobs, you should choose seeds of sweeter varieties.
How many ears does a corn plant produce?
It is really difficult to give a rational and precise answer to this question. It all depends on the care, the growing conditions, the space available to the plant and, last but not least, the variety chosen. Let’s say that the production for each plant can start from a minimum of three – four cobs.
To significantly increase the production of cobs (a useful practice especially if you intend to grow corn in pots ) you can resort to manual pollination. You must carry out the pollination by hand and a week after the appearance of the flowers, choose a dry day, far from possible summer rains.
How to grow corn cobs in a pot
Corn can be grown in small spaces but not in small pots. If you want to grow corn in pots you will need large planters of at least 60 cm in length and 30 cm in width. In such a planter you can put only one plant. You can dare to grow two corn plants in a 120 cm planter, leaving 60 cm of space between each plant.
If you choose a compact growing sweet corn variety, you can further reduce the space: in this case you can leave 40 cm of space between one plant and another and choose a smaller planter. With a 90 x 20 cm planter you can easily grow two plants.
For the care to be given to corn plants you can follow the instructions in the next paragraph.
How to grow corn cobs in the garden
Sweet corn is perfect for cooking on the cob, either roasted or boiled.
To grow corn, it is necessary to operate with mild temperatures, so the sowing period depends on the seasonal trend.
When to sow corn ? Indicatively at the end of spring, when temperatures never fall below 12 – 15 °C. This is the temperature necessary for corn seeds to germinate.
Then, consider that the plant begins to flower only if temperatures are constantly around 18 °C while the formation of the panicles will only occur with the summer heat, that is, only with temperatures of at least 22 – 25 °C.
Now that we have clarified how to identify the best period for sowing corn based on your geographical location, let’s move on to the care to be given to the plant .
Corn belongs to the grass family and, as such, can adapt to any type of soil, just like many weeds! It does not require any special care, just a well-drained soil, preferably soft: before sowing, take care of a deep digging and copious irrigation.
How to sow corn
You can sow in a seedbed, to speed up germination, or in the open field. The seeds should be buried at a depth of 2 cm.
The distance between plants? It depends on the variety! Ideally, classic corn needs 30/40 cm of distance between one plant and another and 80/100 cm of distance between rows.
Growing corn cobs, tips
To increase the production of cobs, if the plant produces secondary shoots (those that start from the base of the stem), you will have to prune them, leaving only the main stem.
When to harvest corn cobs
How to understand when corn cobs are ready to eat? In this regard, you might be interested in the guide ” how to clean corn cobs ” where I also explain how to understand when to harvest the cobs (basically when the tuft becomes dark blond, not dry or red, but intense blond).
Variety of corn
As mentioned, there are varieties that are more productive and require a lot of space (usually, a corn plant can exceed 180 cm in height and, in the garden, requires a space of about 70×25 cm). Then there are varieties that differ in growth size and not only, also in flavor, sweetness, tenderness and color of the grains.
