How to Harvest Commercial Sweet Corn

Sweet corn, native to the Americas, is easily harvested if maintained and grown under healthy conditions. According to the National Garden Bureau, sweet corn has "a very high percentage of sugar and water in the composition, and at its prime kernels will be soft and succulent." Moisture and moderate temperatures are necessary components to harvesting great-tasting sweet corn---warm temperatures will produce cornstalks more readily than cooler temperatures. Corn that is full and plump is ready to be harvested. With practice, successful plantings can yield exceptional and continual harvests every planting season.

Instructions

1. Maintain the row appearance by keeping weed plants from suffocating the seeds. Use a gardening hoe to remove weeds and other plant debris, taking special care to not ruin the corn's root or stalk.

2. Fertilize sweet corn stalks when they grow to be 12 to 18 inches with manure or a quality fertilizer. Keep the rows watered well so that stalks don't become dehydrated and wither off.

3. Check to make sure that corn stalks are ready for harvest before extraction. Ears are fully developed generally three weeks after silk has emerged. Make sure that the sweet corn kernels are filled out and tightly packed. Carefully examine the kernels, checking to see if they are full and plump. You can also test its readiness by puncturing a hole in the stalk with a thumbnail and looking for a milky substance.

4. Sweet corn is normally ready to harvest two and a half to three weeks after pollination. Harvest the corn by firmly grasping the stalk, bending it down and then pulling it up in a twisting fashion.

5. Proper preservation is needed to maintain sweet corn's quality. Can, refrigerate or freeze to keep the sugary flavor from turning into starchy flavor.

References

• University of Illinois Extension: Watch Your Garden Grow Corn
• Coop Extension: Growing Sweet Corn
• National Garden Burea: Sweet Corn Fact Sheet