Cornsilk to Ripening Time

Last year I read somewhere, maybe here, that all varieties of sweet corn are at their prime for harvesting so-many days after the silk first appears. I don't know if that was right or not, but I intended to remember it and see how it works as a guide this season.

Now I've forgotten how many days it was, and I don't know where I read it. Is anyone here familiar with such a "rule of thumb"?

I'll use my usual method of watching the kernels close after the silk dries up and seeing if there's "milk" inside when one is popped with a thumbnail - I know when they're ready that way. Still, I wish I remember what I read about that.

Cornsilks first started to appear on my Delectable corn six days ago, and I've just finished applying Sevin to the silks for the second time. I'm trying to at least minimize the earworms again this year - I've never raised sweet corn without some earworm damage.

Your method is best. Timing has too many variables. Different varieties develop at different rates, even climate and weather can affect growth rates.

I agree with Farmerdill. Your method is the best way to determine ripness.

OK, ripening time for sweet corn varies a LOT.

We just harvested 119 ears of Delectable sweet corn, 65 days after planting. I've got a note from two years ago that says I harvested Delectable at 78 days and it was just right, and a seed catalog says it's an 80-day corn.

Because of our extremely hot summer, I think, production wasn't as good as in the past. Only one plant had two usable ears, and usually about 1/3 of them have a second ear. That gave us 119 ears from 115 feet of rows, with the seeds planted 9" apart. Might as well figure one ear per foot - not too good.

But yeah, I've got to watch it close. This batch came in 15 days or so early and I caught it just right. It's tender and juicy and the quality is real good.

Oz I agree with Frank who agrees with Farmer Dill lol. The fable around here is 21 days from silk to ripe.I don't have a clue if it's true, I watch the silk and when it starts drying up and the ear feels like a handfull its ripe.I can use the hand squeeze method in the dark and do pretty good.

"The fable around here is 21 days from silk to ripe."
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The fable might be pretty true.

In my first post above, on July 18, I said cornsilk had appeared six days before. So, if the silk appeared around July 12 and the corn was just right on Aug. 4 - that was 23 days. Pretty close.

I'll continue to use your method to know for sure when to pick sweet corn, but I'll try to keep 21 days (3 weeks) in mind to know when it oughta be real close. Surely I can remember that next year - 21 days.

Well, maybe I'll remember to go back and look up this thread anyway. lol

Funny, I just googled this very info Sunday. I once had a great "growing corn" website linked but can't find it. Anyway, after reading several sites the best I got from them was "17-21 days".

I feel that gives me a good enough idea as to when to start checking. And most likely many varieties will fall into that time frame.

I agree though, I betcha some of those big roasting ears/field corn may take a bit longer since they need to plump up so much and have so many extra rows of kernels, or maybe that doesn't come into play. I sure know rain does though!

Shoe (counting the days to fresh sweet corn)

Shoe, my wife and I have fun harvesting sweet corn 'cause we've got it down to a science. We've developed a good system through experience.

We've got a big fenced backyard, and just outside our backyard is our barn, and just past that the vegetable garden. I start by putting our patio table and two chairs on the grass just off our paved patio. Then I rig up a propane bottle, propane cooker, and 7 1/2 gallon stainless steel pot of water on the patio and get it heating (this is the same rig I brew beer with).

I get that boiling, then take a wheelbarrow to the garden and pick two dozen ears of corn. My wife and I sit at the table on the grass and shuck those and I cut off any ends damaged by earworms. Into the boiling pot the ears go, and I time them thru a three-minute boil. They go into the boiling water no more than 10 minutes after picking.

As the boil ends, we've got two big plastic bowls half-full of cold water ready and a dozen ears go in each. We carry those to the kitchen where my wife's got the sink full of ice water and ice cubes, and into the cold water they go. I leave her in the kitchen to put those in freezer bags on-the-cob and to set half aside for stripping the kernels off the cobs for freezing (we freeze half the ears each way, we leave the best quality ears on the cob). We've got a hand-held "corn stripper" thing that I use later on the ones we set aside, then we freeze the kernels in freezer bags the right size for a meal.

While she'd doing that kitchen stuff, I take the wheelbarrow full of corn shucks and dump it in the compost pile, then pick another two-dozen ears. My wife meets me at the patio table and we repeat the whole thing until we're done with the corn patch. It's amazing how much corn we can process in such a short time this way, and what good shape it's in with the sugars "fixed" by boiling so soon after picking. I'm telling about our method here 'cause it might help someone.

Oh, we put a few ears in the 'fridge for supper of course, and it sure is tender and sweet. I put the table and chairs out on the grass because they need hosing down afterward - sticky sugar everywhere! Our backyard boxer dog "Daisy Mae" loves our corn-harvest days because I share with her. When we run across a few poor quality ears that didn't pollinate well I boil those for her along with the others and set them aside. After they cool I give them to her one at a time, and it's fun to watch her eat it. She lays on the grass under her favorite tree and holds the ear of corn upright between her front paws. She turns it around and knaws all the kernels off without missing a one, just like a human, then she begs for another one. I guess I oughta offer her some butter and a salt shaker, huh? LOL

A few years back - my sister came down to visit mom. She brought her children with her from Alaska. One afternoon I made dinner for them - her children had never had corn on the cob before in their life. It was a bigger hit than the pasta sauce I slaved over.

Ozark, sounds like a great system to me! Teamwork sure makes things fun, eh?
I like freezing corn, too. I hope to be doing the same in a week or so.

I'm dogless right now, first time in nearly 30 years, but my dogs were all candidates for things from the garden. And they weren't shy about it either.

Howdy, Dyson, nice to see ya! You made good memories for those kids! Good goin'!

Shoe

Shoe, What have you been doing all summer? June is sweet corn harvest time. Just planted a lb of Silver Queen for fall harvest. Won't do any good if this drought does not break tho.

Howdy Farmerdill...

I almost wasn't going to plant corn this year but just couldn't stand not having at least a small patch. I was thrown from a tractor a end of May (I think!) and landed on a stump; no fun and although I walked bent over like a question mark for five weeks I still maintained a garden, greenhouse, and never missed a mkt day. I'm all better now though, just perturbed I don't heal up as fast as we used to!

My corn started showing silks this past Sunday/Monday. Last night we had a quarter inch of rain, today while at the mkt, and standing in puddles for hours, I came home and the rain gauge showed just over an inch and a half of rain. Perfect timing for my corn, eh? I foresee a nice late crop coming in. (Well, later than June anyway.)

I don't think I have time to plant more corn so have sown more cowpeas to fill the freezer. Soon I'll be setting out Brassicas, and might set some Brussel's sprouts this weekend hoping to harvest before January this year! I think they'll handle the heat okay as long as they don't start showing "sprouts" till our cool weather kicks in. Think so?

Hope your drought goes on by soon. Fall may bring you some rain. With the price of corn seed these days I hope you get a harvest.

Shoe (growing some of your butterpea/willowleaf cross this year; deer got them last year)

This is our first year planting corn, a heritage seed that I can't remember the name of right now. Most of our ears are 50% undeveloped kernels. I read something about a mosaic virus. Does that sound right, or maybe not watered or amended enough? Any ideas? We did get a few good ears that are very good. No bugs or worms either, except aphids on 1 or 2 stalks. Thank out there, experts!! :D

"Most of our ears are 50% undeveloped kernels."
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Most likely, that's caused by poor pollinization. Every strand of corn silk leads to a kernel, and a tiny grain of pollen has to land on each silk for the corresponding kernel to form. That's why it's important to plant corn in a dense block with the plants as close together as the variety allows. I've even been known to walk the rows tapping cornstalks when the silks first appear, making sure a cloud of pollen from the tassels comes down on every ear.

Edited to add: I'm retired out of San Bernardino County, we lived in Fontana for many years. Sweet corn was harder to grow there because the nights are cool even in the summer. Sometimes I'd have a good corn crop, but often not, and those cool nights may be part of your problem.

This message was edited Aug 11, 2011 3:54 PM