Students for Stewardship The Cork Board
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Corn

Zea mays (ZEE-uh MAZE)

Family: Poaceae Unknown Herbaceous (3-15 ft)

Grows like sweet corn. Corn is a warm weather crop and should not be planted until the soil warms up to 60Β° F. It is one of the taller home garden crops, so locate it where it will not shade out other crops. Plant in full sun, in fertile, well-drained soil. Several rules apply to insure an adequate corn crop: Corn is wind pollinated, and to insure adequate pollination, sow seeds in several rows to form a square, or on hills with several plants in a circle. A minimum of 12 or more plants is usually necessary. Do not plant in one long row. Corn is a heavy feeder and must have ample nitrogen and water at all times, but water the soil, not the plant or pollination could suffer. Corn roots do not tolerate disturbance well, so when thinning corn, cut the excess sprouts instead of pulling them. Do the same with nearby weeds and after corn is established mulch to reduce weeds rather than cultivating around their roots and damaging them. Cross-pollination from other corn varieties can adversely affect some sweet corns, so follow cultivar label directions precisely to avoid pollen contamination from other corn. 5. Time of harvest is important for some sweet corns, so follow harvest directions carefully for the particular variety you are growing. Hard corns need to dry on the stalk, so harvest time is not a particular issue for them. Click here to see a calendar of planting schedules, time-to-harvest, and recommended spacing. Insects, Diseases, and Other Plant Problems: The Clemson Cooperative Extension Home and Garden Information Center has a factsheet on common sweet corn diseases as well as a factsheet on common insect pests and other problems. VIDEO Created by Laura Barth for "Vegetables, Herbs, Fruits, and Nuts," a plant identification course developed in partnership with Longwood Gardens.

Source: NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox ↗ NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox, 57 attributes.

How it fits the guild

Guild layer 4 - Herbaceous (3-15 ft) Optimal soil pH Acid (<6.0); Neutral (6.0-8.0)
See companions & conflicts ↓

Companions & Conflicts

Curated pairwise relationships between this plant and others in the library — who feeds whom, who competes, who confuses the pests. Green reads as a good pairing, red as one to avoid.

No curated interactions recorded for this species yet.

Also noted by NC State

Related species the NC State Plant Toolbox flags for this plant — look-alikes to tell apart, and plants that play a similar role in a planting. Ones we carry in the library are linked.

Often confused with Dracaena fragrans

Full plant profile

Growing Conditions
Plant type
Annual; Edible; Vegetable; Warm Season Vegetable
Life cycle
Annual
USDA zones
2a, 2b, 3a, 3b, 4a, 4b, 5a, 5b, 6a, 6b, 7a, 7b, 8a, 8b, 9a, 9b, 10a, 10b, 11a, 11b
Light
Full sun (6 or more hours of direct sunlight a day)
Soil texture
Clay; High Organic Matter; Loam (Silt)
Soil pH
Acid (<6.0); Neutral (6.0-8.0)
Soil drainage
Good Drainage
Available space
12 inches-3 feet
NC region
Coastal; Mountains; Piedmont
Mature size
Height: 5 ft. 0 in. - 8 ft. 0 in. | Width: 1 ft. 0 in. - 2 ft. 0 in.
Growth rate
Rapid
Maintenance
Medium
Canopy layer
4 - Herbaceous (3-15 ft)
Form & Appearance
Habit / form
Erect
Foliage
Deciduous
Leaf color
Variegated
Leaf type
Simple
Leaf arrangement
Alternate
Leaf shape
Lanceolate; Linear
Leaf margin
Entire; Undulate
Leaf feel
Smooth
Leaf value
Showy
Leaf size
> 6 inches long, 3-6 inches wide
Hairs present
No
Flower color
Gold/Yellow
Flower value
Edible
Flower form
Insignificant; Panicle; Spike
Flower size
< 1 inch
Bloom time
Summer
Fruit color
Gold/Yellow
Fruit type
Caryopsis
Fruit value
Edible; Showy
Fruit size
> 3 inches long, 1-3 inches wide
Wildlife & Ecology
Native status
Unknown
Origin
Mexico
Distribution
United States, Brazil, Mexico, France
Food & Medicine
Edible parts
Fruit
Harvest time
Fall
Fruit type
Caryopsis

Edibility

Edibile

Uses (ethnobotany)

Annual, Vegetable

Landscape Use
Landscape location
Meadow; Naturalized Area
Garden tags
#vegetable garden #vegetable #warm season vegetable #annual vegetable #summer annual #full sun tolerant #vhfn-v #vhfn #fall interest #early childhood #annual #child #children #preschool #early care #easy edibles #accent #hortcontest #edible
Problems & Resistance
Insect problems
European Corn Borer on Ornamentals; Insect and Related Pests of Vegetables; Pests of Sweet Corn
Disease problems
Gray Leaf Spot in Corn; Corn Ear Rots: Managing Mold and Mycotoxins; Lesion Nematode in Corn; Southern root-knot nematode in corn; Common Smut on Corn
Resistant to
Black Walnut
Propagation
Seed

Planted at Hunnicutt

Nobody’s planted this one yet.