Hello,

How do you know when to harvest corn? The stuff I've read talks about
moisture content. What exactly is that? How do I measure it without
buying a scientific device? Or is there another way? I've got a
backyard garden, with about 15 corn plants. I'm not going to buy
expensive farm equipment for a garden this size.

I've also heard people say that you can just open up an ear and look at
it. What do I look for? When?

The seed was called "90-day corn". But it's growing in partial shade,
so I expect it to will take longer than 90 days.

When responding, assume that I don't know what I'm talking about.

Thank you.

Ted Shoemaker, certified Gray Thumb

Madison, Wisconsin, US

USDA zone 4/5
AHS heat zone 4/5
Sunset zone 43

wrote in message
ups.com...
Hello,

How do you know when to harvest corn? The stuff I've read talks about
moisture content. What exactly is that? How do I measure it without
buying a scientific device? Or is there another way? I've got a
backyard garden, with about 15 corn plants. I'm not going to buy
expensive farm equipment for a garden this size.

I've also heard people say that you can just open up an ear and look at
it. What do I look for? When?

The seed was called "90-day corn". But it's growing in partial shade,
so I expect it to will take longer than 90 days.

When responding, assume that I don't know what I'm talking about.

Thank you.

Ted Shoemaker, certified Gray Thumb

Madison, Wisconsin, US

USDA zone 4/5
AHS heat zone 4/5
Sunset zone 43


Nothing necessary except fingers and eyes. When the tassles are completely
brown, it's ready to eat. If you begin gently squeezing the cobs as they
develop, you will also be able to tell when the kernels are ready all the
way to the top. Never peel back the husks to check development. Where
they're peeled back, no kernels will develop.

" wrote in
ups.com:

Hello,

How do you know when to harvest corn? The stuff I've read talks about
moisture content. What exactly is that? How do I measure it without
buying a scientific device? Or is there another way? I've got a
backyard garden, with about 15 corn plants. I'm not going to buy
expensive farm equipment for a garden this size.



I always thought it was when the silk withered but, hey, don't go by me. I
check moisture content by pressing my thumbnail into a kernel and seeing if
the juice squirts into my eye.

wrote:

Hello,

How do you know when to harvest corn? The stuff I've read talks about
moisture content. What exactly is that? How do I measure it without
buying a scientific device? Or is there another way? I've got a
backyard garden, with about 15 corn plants. I'm not going to buy
expensive farm equipment for a garden this size.

I've also heard people say that you can just open up an ear and look at
it. What do I look for? When?

The seed was called "90-day corn". But it's growing in partial shade,
so I expect it to will take longer than 90 days.

When responding, assume that I don't know what I'm talking about.

Thank you.

Ted Shoemaker, certified Gray Thumb

Madison, Wisconsin, US

USDA zone 4/5
AHS heat zone 4/5
Sunset zone 43


you need an elephant.



Carl


--
to reply, change ( .not) to ( .net)

How do you know when to harvest corn? The stuff I've read talks about
moisture content. What exactly is that? How do I measure it without
buying a scientific device? Or is there another way? I've got a
backyard garden, with about 15 corn plants. I'm not going to buy
expensive farm equipment for a garden this size.

I think you're thinking of harvesting field corn, which is allowed to dry down
before combining. Did it say something about 15% moisture? If so, you're
talking fully matured corn, not sweetcorn, which is eaten quite young.

I've also heard people say that you can just open up an ear and look at
it. What do I look for? When?

Actually, sweetcorn tends to be at its best about 2 days after the rackety-
goons get it. g

A fairly reliable indicator for folks who know *nothing* about sweetcorn
is to harvest about 20 days after the silks appear. Other clues are that
the silks are starting to brown almost all the way to the cob, the ear
has started to firm up in its husks, and the kernels toward the "open" end
of the cob start feeling fairly good sized (the very tip rarely fills out
completely). However, if your corn isn't getting 6 hrs of sun a day,
or if the pollination was poor, those are not going to be quite as reliable
indications as if it were grown under "standard" conditions.

The real test is to open the husks a bit and punch a kernel with a thumbnail.
If you get a milky fluid out, it's pretty much ready to eat. If you get
something that looks pretty doughy, it's past prime (you get about 1 week
of the milk stage at summer temps for most corns.)

There are some pictures here that might be helpful:
http://www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/corn/...fill-0717.html
You want the "R3" stage.

Even more helpful would be to stop by a local farmstand, farmers market, or
grocery store with a knowledgeable produce manager, and ask them to help you
choose some corn, and show you what you're looking for. (I'm an Iowan
transplanted to Oregon, and I seem to amaze folks by sorting ears of
various maturities without having to open the husks -- it really just takes
some experience, and once you've learned, it's like riding a bicycle.)

Unless you've planted SE or Supersweet corns, it's good to harvest just before
you cook it -- within an hour or so of cooking. It's not necessary to start
the water boiling before you go out to pick and run back with the harvest,
shucking as you go, but that's sure good corn when you do. g

Kay

Carl 1 Lucky Texan wrote:

you need an elephant.

Thanks, everyone, for the good advice. As for the elephant, YOU feed
him!

Ted Shoemaker

Kay Lancaster wrote:

How do you know when to harvest corn? The stuff I've read talks about
moisture content. What exactly is that? How do I measure it without
buying a scientific device? Or is there another way? I've got a
backyard garden, with about 15 corn plants. I'm not going to buy
expensive farm equipment for a garden this size.


I think you're thinking of harvesting field corn, which is allowed to dry down
before combining. Did it say something about 15% moisture? If so, you're
talking fully matured corn, not sweetcorn, which is eaten quite young.

I've also heard people say that you can just open up an ear and look at
it. What do I look for? When?


Actually, sweetcorn tends to be at its best about 2 days after the rackety-
goons get it. g

A fairly reliable indicator for folks who know *nothing* about sweetcorn
is to harvest about 20 days after the silks appear. Other clues are that
the silks are starting to brown almost all the way to the cob, the ear
has started to firm up in its husks, and the kernels toward the "open" end
of the cob start feeling fairly good sized (the very tip rarely fills out
completely). However, if your corn isn't getting 6 hrs of sun a day,
or if the pollination was poor, those are not going to be quite as reliable
indications as if it were grown under "standard" conditions.

The real test is to open the husks a bit and punch a kernel with a thumbnail.
If you get a milky fluid out, it's pretty much ready to eat. If you get
something that looks pretty doughy, it's past prime (you get about 1 week
of the milk stage at summer temps for most corns.)

There are some pictures here that might be helpful:
http://www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/corn/...fill-0717.html
You want the "R3" stage.

Even more helpful would be to stop by a local farmstand, farmers market, or
grocery store with a knowledgeable produce manager, and ask them to help you
choose some corn, and show you what you're looking for. (I'm an Iowan
transplanted to Oregon, and I seem to amaze folks by sorting ears of
various maturities without having to open the husks -- it really just takes
some experience, and once you've learned, it's like riding a bicycle.)

Unless you've planted SE or Supersweet corns, it's good to harvest just before
you cook it -- within an hour or so of cooking. It's not necessary to start
the water boiling before you go out to pick and run back with the harvest,
shucking as you go, but that's sure good corn when you do. g

Kay

Another corn question - The corn that I grew this year had some cobs
with bare areas with few or no kernels. Is this because of poor
pollination? This corn patch is a square of 16 plants, 4 rows of 4 each.
three rows were Golden Bantam, one row was a butter and sugar hybrid
called Epi d'Or (I live in France, hence the French variety name.)

I also wondered - why is corn planted in hills? Fields of corn are
obviously not, but all home gardeners I know plant corn in hills. Is it
to give the roots an easier time in looser dirt?

Thanks.

horselover wrote:


Another corn question - The corn that I grew this year had some cobs
with bare areas with few or no kernels. Is this because of poor
pollination?

Probably yes. The tassels have one silk for every potential kernel. If
a silk is not pollinated, that kernel will not develop, while nearby
kernels that were pollinated will develop.

This corn patch is a square of 16 plants, 4 rows of 4 each.
three rows were Golden Bantam, one row was a butter and sugar hybrid
called Epi d'Or (I live in France, hence the French variety name.)

I also wondered - why is corn planted in hills? Fields of corn are
obviously not, but all home gardeners I know plant corn in hills. Is it
to give the roots an easier time in looser dirt?

Since pollination is so important, I plant in hills so each of the
stalks in the hill will have an opportunity to pollinate all the others.
I have also had good results with rows (like three rows planted close
together, with pathways between the groups of three so we can week and
harvest). A single long row would probably not achieve decent pollination.

I have also stopped planting multiple varieties in my small garden, as
some hybrids do not get along at all with others, and I have read that
if a SE hybrid cross pollinates with a non SE variety, you will end up
with field corn, and I don't have a horse to eat that.

I had decent results this year with two plantings separated by three
weeks and my tomato plants. That gave a longer period of harvest, but
some beast started visiting our corn when it was almost ripe, so my wife
picked the remaining ears before they were perfectly ripe, rather than
letting the beast get them.

I had read that the French don't eat corn, considering it a food for
animals. That's their loss, if you ask me.

Thanks.

horselover wrote:


Another corn question - The corn that I grew this year had some cobs
with bare areas with few or no kernels. Is this because of poor
pollination?

Incomplete pollination. Each kernel must be pollinated through its
"silk" which is actually its stigma and style which receive the pollen
and transport it to the ovaries (immature kernels).

This corn patch is a square of 16 plants, 4 rows of 4 each.
three rows were Golden Bantam, one row was a butter and sugar hybrid
called Epi d'Or (I live in France, hence the French variety name.)

This is the reason for poor pollination. You are restricting the
ability of each variety to pollinate other like plants. You would be
better off with 4 hills. Where each hill was a small square of the 4
similar plants. The Golden Bantam should have pollinated the best since
there were more of them.

I also wondered - why is corn planted in hills? Fields of corn are
obviously not, but all home gardeners I know plant corn in hills. Is it
to give the roots an easier time in looser dirt?

Farmers use seed planters which are designed to plant rows. They plant
many rows of all the same variety so that pollination is not a problem.
If you look at a corn field, the rows on the outside of the field have
the poorest pollination. Most home gardeners use the hills to
facilitate pollination and harvesting. If the plants are optimal
distance apart, you will get 2 to 4 ears per plant and they will be
completely pollinated except in droughts when the silk sometimes dies
before pollination is complete. There must be adequate potassium in the
soil for healthy pollination also. Corn likes a fair amount of
fertilizer.

--
Pardon my spam deterrent; send email to
Cheers, Steve Henning in Reading, PA USA
http://home.earthlink.net/~rhodyman

On Sun, 03 Sep 2006 09:13:38 +0200, horselover wrote:


Another corn question - The corn that I grew this year had some cobs
with bare areas with few or no kernels. Is this because of poor
pollination? This corn patch is a square of 16 plants, 4 rows of 4 each.
three rows were Golden Bantam, one row was a butter and sugar hybrid
called Epi d'Or (I live in France, hence the French variety name.)

Poor pollination. You might try hand pollinating, as you're growing so
few plants of each cultivar. To do this, watch for the pollen starting
to be released from the tassels -- in most cultivars, this happens about
two days before the silks are ready. Break off a couple of the tassels
and brush the tassels that are shedding pollen all over the silks. Repeat
every day for about 8 days (break off some fresh tassels each time, so
the pollen should be nicely viable), and you should see good pollination.

If you don't want your corn to mature all at once, you can also plant
serially... one row this week, one row the next, etc., etc.

Another cause of poor pollination is heat damage just before the tassels
are mature. Pollen formation is quite heat sensitive, so temps much over
100oF/38oC can do some real damage if the heat comes at the wrong time in
the growth cycle.

I also wondered - why is corn planted in hills? Fields of corn are
obviously not, but all home gardeners I know plant corn in hills. Is it
to give the roots an easier time in looser dirt?

There's probably some advantage to it for early plantings in areas with
lots of spring moisture. Sweet corn is much more sensitive to some of the
soil fungi, and because it tends to need more heat to emerge than field
corn does, if you plant it in a hill, there's 1) good drainage to help
keep the soil fungi somewhat suppressed and 2)the hill is a smaller
amount of soil, so heats faster in the daytime. That's the reason most
sweet corn seed sold here is treated with a fungicide. All that said, I've
never bothered to hill corn when I lived in the midwest, and now that I
live in a cool Mediterranean climate, I plant in furrows with seeds I've
pre-sprouted on sand in the house -- I plant just as the radicle (first
root) is emerging.

Kay

Not@home wrote:



horselover wrote:


Another corn question - The corn that I grew this year had some cobs
with bare areas with few or no kernels. Is this because of poor
pollination?


Probably yes. The tassels have one silk for every potential kernel. If
a silk is not pollinated, that kernel will not develop, while nearby
kernels that were pollinated will develop.

This corn patch is a square of 16 plants, 4 rows of 4 each.

three rows were Golden Bantam, one row was a butter and sugar hybrid
called Epi d'Or (I live in France, hence the French variety name.)

I also wondered - why is corn planted in hills? Fields of corn are
obviously not, but all home gardeners I know plant corn in hills. Is
it to give the roots an easier time in looser dirt?


Since pollination is so important, I plant in hills so each of the
stalks in the hill will have an opportunity to pollinate all the others.

I guess I don't have the right mental picture of this - why would the
fact that the stalks are on hills make pollinating easier than if they
were planted at the same closeness but on flat ground?


I had read that the French don't eat corn, considering it a food for
animals. That's their loss, if you ask me.

Indeed! For a nation that's supposed to be so expert with food, they are
surprisingly clueless about corn. You do see it in the supermarket
occasionally but the ears are weeks old and tough as wood, and usually
moldy to boot. But in my experience the French are very conservative
about food and not eager to catch on to new ideas. Broccoli is a recent
addition to the veggies available, only showing up in the past ten
years, a native tells me.


Thanks.

Kay Lancaster wrote:

On Sun, 03 Sep 2006 09:13:38 +0200, horselover wrote:


Another corn question - The corn that I grew this year had some cobs
with bare areas with few or no kernels. Is this because of poor
pollination? This corn patch is a square of 16 plants, 4 rows of 4 each.
three rows were Golden Bantam, one row was a butter and sugar hybrid
called Epi d'Or (I live in France, hence the French variety name.)


Poor pollination. You might try hand pollinating, as you're growing so
few plants of each cultivar. To do this, watch for the pollen starting
to be released from the tassels -- in most cultivars, this happens about
two days before the silks are ready. Break off a couple of the tassels
and brush the tassels that are shedding pollen all over the silks. Repeat
every day for about 8 days (break off some fresh tassels each time, so
the pollen should be nicely viable), and you should see good pollination.

If you don't want your corn to mature all at once, you can also plant
serially... one row this week, one row the next, etc., etc.

Another cause of poor pollination is heat damage just before the tassels
are mature. Pollen formation is quite heat sensitive, so temps much over
100oF/38oC can do some real damage if the heat comes at the wrong time in
the growth cycle.


I also wondered - why is corn planted in hills? Fields of corn are
obviously not, but all home gardeners I know plant corn in hills. Is it
to give the roots an easier time in looser dirt?


There's probably some advantage to it for early plantings in areas with
lots of spring moisture. Sweet corn is much more sensitive to some of the
soil fungi, and because it tends to need more heat to emerge than field
corn does, if you plant it in a hill, there's 1) good drainage to help
keep the soil fungi somewhat suppressed and 2)the hill is a smaller
amount of soil, so heats faster in the daytime. That's the reason most
sweet corn seed sold here is treated with a fungicide. All that said, I've
never bothered to hill corn when I lived in the midwest, and now that I
live in a cool Mediterranean climate, I plant in furrows with seeds I've
pre-sprouted on sand in the house -- I plant just as the radicle (first
root) is emerging.

Kay

Thanks! You've answered all my questions - and I look forward to
planting corn again next year, assuming I can find a place. This year we
were able to use the garden space of some friends who were away all
summer. We have a small yard behind our house but a few hills of corn
would take over the whole place, and also it has high walls all around
and so doesn't get sun except for a few hours at mid day.

horselover wrote:
Not@home wrote:



horselover wrote:


Another corn question - The corn that I grew this year had some cobs
with bare areas with few or no kernels. Is this because of poor
pollination?


Probably yes. The tassels have one silk for every potential kernel.
If a silk is not pollinated, that kernel will not develop, while
nearby kernels that were pollinated will develop.

This corn patch is a square of 16 plants, 4 rows of 4 each.

three rows were Golden Bantam, one row was a butter and sugar hybrid
called Epi d'Or (I live in France, hence the French variety name.)

I also wondered - why is corn planted in hills? Fields of corn are
obviously not, but all home gardeners I know plant corn in hills. Is
it to give the roots an easier time in looser dirt?


Since pollination is so important, I plant in hills so each of the
stalks in the hill will have an opportunity to pollinate all the others.

I guess I don't have the right mental picture of this - why would the
fact that the stalks are on hills make pollinating easier than if they
were planted at the same closeness but on flat ground?

My parents planted in hills, but never said why. I know their garden
didn't have good drainage, so perhaps the reason was to avoid having the
seeds in standing water, as they didn't have the treated seeds available
then. Now, I just use the term to distinguish from planting in rows; by
the time I put the seed in the hills, and tamp down the dirt, the hills
are virtually flat. The closeness of the stalks is what is important
for good pollination.

Pull back the leaves, like pulling back a foreskin, and stick your
fingernail into a kernel. If it exudes a milky juice, it is ready to
harvest. Enjoy.
wrote in message
ups.com...
Hello,

How do you know when to harvest corn? The stuff I've read talks about
moisture content. What exactly is that? How do I measure it without
buying a scientific device? Or is there another way? I've got a
backyard garden, with about 15 corn plants. I'm not going to buy
expensive farm equipment for a garden this size.

I've also heard people say that you can just open up an ear and look at
it. What do I look for? When?

The seed was called "90-day corn". But it's growing in partial shade,
so I expect it to will take longer than 90 days.

When responding, assume that I don't know what I'm talking about.

Thank you.

Ted Shoemaker, certified Gray Thumb

Madison, Wisconsin, US

USDA zone 4/5
AHS heat zone 4/5
Sunset zone 43