What it is
Sweet Corn (Zea mays) is in the Poaceae (Grass) family. Plant in blocks, not rows, so wind can pollinate it. Nothing beats corn picked minutes before the pot.
How to grow it
It wants full sun, water it high at tasseling, and give it rich, nitrogen-hungry soil. Target a soil pH around 6.0–6.8. Space plants about 8–12 in apart. Expect roughly 65–90. Warm-season annual.
How it's used
Sweet Corn is used: boiled, grilled, roasted, frozen.
🔎 How to identify it
- Tall single grass stalk
- Tassel on top, silks from the ear
- Ears in the leaf joints
Edibility
How to grow & propagate sweet corn
Everything I've worked out about starting this one, keeping it alive through a Texas year, and turning one plant into many — free.
How to propagate sweet corn
Grasses and grains are sown where they grow — they germinate fast in warm soil and don't like having their roots disturbed. The ornamental and native bunchgrasses can also be divided in spring. For the grain types, plant in a block rather than a single row so wind-pollination fills out the heads.
Growing sweet corn in Texas
Give it full sun and rich, nitrogen-hungry soil. Match the spot to the plant and most of the battle is already won.
This one thrives in heat that flattens other plants, so it earns its space through a Texas summer. Get it established before the worst of July, keep water steady, and it'll produce when little else will.
Keep moisture even, especially while it's young — deep, less-frequent soaks build better roots than a daily sprinkle.
Harvesting
Figure on roughly 65–90 before you're harvesting. Harvest at peak and keep harvesting — most vegetables produce harder the more you pick, and one left to over-mature tells the plant its job is done. The part you're after: kernels.
Making more for free
Every seed we sell is open-pollinated, which means you can save your own from the best plants and it'll grow true next year. Let a few of your strongest plants finish and go to seed, dry it fully, and store it cool and dark. That's the whole point of heirlooms — buy once, grow forever.
Part of the free Texas Roots plant database, compiled by Jordan Polasek from his greenhouse in El Campo, Texas. Free to read and share. If it helped, the best thanks is to grow something.