Question about Sweet Corn

I have about 3 dozen corn plants growing, they are a nice size of about 4 feet. I have ears developing nicely on the bottom parts of the plant. My question is that the corn silk coming from the end is turning brown. I have never grow corn before and wondered if it should do that as the ears are quite small yet. Also should I put something on them to prevent corn worms?
Thanks for any advice.
New to Corn
Gail

When the corn silk begins to brown and dry it has done its job. Some cultivars have very small ears genetically. others are smaller because of lack of nutrients, no way of telling with out knowing the cultivar. Corn worms can be deterred by putting a drop of mineral oil on the silks after they begin turning brown. Most is ready to harvest when the silks are completely brown, but you might want to gently open the tip of an ear and peek inside to make sure.

I have been fighting all the elements here...Sandy soil, (tried to amend but I am sure not enough.) And two months of drought. I water contantly, but the water runs thru tooo quick.. I will be preparing a new bed for vegetables this fall and if you could tell me what to put in the sandy soil, that would be helpful.

Thanks
Gail

I have a friend, who grew up on a farm just outside Dothan. To hear him tell it, it was a growers paradise. I currently live in the sandhills. Great to work but does not hold water or nutrients well so corn is not the happiest crop I grow. I add whatever organic material I can lay my hands on. I collect grass clippings and leaves in the area. Use it in the summer to sheet mulch, turn it down in the fall and plant a rye covercrop, which is turned down in the spring. I even sweep the leaves and pinestraw off a couple of country roads. There is usually sufficient rainfall, although the drought this year has really curtailed plant size. I don't have irrigation for the corn. If you have irrigation, one inch of water once a week is more than sufficient. Shallow watering causes more harm than good as the deep water seeking roots don't develop.

I am a first time gardener and I am planning on planting corn, can you tell me what kind of soil and area i should plant in and will it grow in a rocky field, also what is the best time of year to plant corn?

I like to plant the early sweet corn about two weeks before the last average frost date. I t is a heavy feeder so lots of nutrients are necessary, but it is not picky about soil type. About 3 months before first frost is late as would try planting. As long as the rocky soil is workable and you add fertilizer of some type, you should have no problems.

look water more and for the worms they are cut worms and find some 7 in one dust at wal-mart

About three years late with this based on the other posts, but this is my first summer growing sweet corn. We choose the Stowell's Evergreen variety, and the silk is pink. It's really pretty, but I've never heard of this or seen it before. Any idea what caused it? Thanks!

Lots of corn varieties have pink or red silks. Stowell's Evergreen is a long season ( 90day) variety and is only a little sweeter than field corn. One of the favorite market sweetcorns along with Country Genetleman/Shoepeg before WW II.