When should sweet corn be planted?
Sweet corn should be planted as early in the spring as possible. Whenever soil temperatures approach 68º F, seed should be planted 1 inch deep. Waiting for warmer soil temperatures will increase the chances for a better stand, but planting as early as possible will pay dividends at the end of the growing seasons. Early planted sweet corn will mature before the corn ear worm population becomes very large. Late planted sweet corn will have serious problems with corn ear worm infestations. Supersweet (sh-2) types do not emerge as well as the other types in cold soil.
News
Field corn is harvested after it has dried sufficiently, which means the husks are brown, not green like the husks of fresh sweet corn. (Photo by Kevin Hudson)
MISSISSIPPI STATE -- Just as Good Friday signals the time to get the spring garden in the ground, August's heat is the indication that it's time to plant the fall garden.
David Nagel, horticulture specialist with the Mississippi State University Extension Service, said now is the time to plant tomatoes, peppers, squash, sweet corn, peas and beans.
"Summer gardens typically wind down in early August when the temperatures start being consistently above 95 degrees," Nagel said. "That's when you clean the garden out and plant the fall garden."
By Norman Winter
MSU Horticulturist
Central Mississippi Research & Extension Center
I used to consider myself a real outdoor cooker until the other day when my 10-year-old son James asked if that was the first time I had cooked chicken. Have I been too busy for a decade?
That night I was cooking one of my grill favorites, corn on the cob with the shuck still on. There may not be finer eating in the whole world than corn on the cob with that smoke flavor.