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Last edited on 17 Sep 2026. View history

corn Corn

Zea mays WD
Also known as maize (EN)

How to sow corn: Direct seed outdoors

Sun requirement for corn: Plant in Full Sun

Corn is a large grain plant, or tall grass, first domesticated about 10,000 years ago by indigenous peoples in Southern Mexico. The leafy stalk produces ears after pollination. Depending on the variety, the corn can be eaten fresh, or dried and ground into cornmeal.

44
plantings
11
harvests
8
seed packets
Growstuff is a free, community-run site for people who grow food. Keep track of what you plant and harvest, find seeds to swap, and see what is growing near you. Join to record your own corn.

Corn facts

Lifespan

Annual living and reproducing in a single year or less
17 weeks median lifespan
First harvest expected 15 weeks after planting
Last harvest expected 16 weeks after planting

Height × spread

290cm × 60cm

Row Spacing

76cm

Grown for

other harvested 6 times
Optimal temperature 18–33 °C
Absolute temperature 10–47 °C
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal rainfall 600–1200 mm/year
Absolute rainfall 400–1800 mm/year
FAO EcoCrop
Optimal soil pH 5–7
Absolute soil pH 4.5–8.5
FAO EcoCrop

Crop cycle

65–365 days
FAO EcoCrop

Max altitude

4000 m
FAO EcoCrop

Optimal light

very bright
FAO EcoCrop
What are growing degree days?

A plant grows with warmth, not with days. A growing degree day is one day's worth of useful warmth: how many degrees the day's average temperature is above the lowest temperature the crop grows at. Add them up from planting and you know how far along the crop is, whatever the calendar says.

Say that lowest temperature is 10°C. A day averaging 17°C gives 7 growing degree days. A day averaging 8°C gives none, as it is too cold for the crop to grow. That is why the same lettuce takes about 50 days in a summer and 90 in an autumn: it needs the same total warmth either way.

For corn, the FAO EcoCrop database gives a lowest growing temperature of 10°C and a shortest growing cycle of 65 days at its best temperature, about 1008 growing degree days to a first harvest.

Where you've told us where your garden is, we use this and the weather there to predict when your corn will be ready to harvest. We don't use it for how long a plant lives or when it finishes: we go by what members have logged for that.

Growing corn

  1. Dig compost into the bed 1 week before sowing
  2. Water regularly at sowing every week
  3. Thin the seedlings 2 weeks after sowing
  4. Weed between the plants 3 weeks after sowing every 2 weeks
  5. Mulch and hill soil round the stems 4 weeks after sowing
  6. Feed with a nitrogen fertiliser 5 weeks after sowing
  7. Pick the cobs at first harvest
  8. Pull out the stalks 2 weeks after first harvest

How members grow corn

Sunniness

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Planted from

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Harvested for

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Varieties of corn

Plant corn with

Photos

Corn crops

Corn plantings

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20200921_082320
by shiny
Sweet corn
Sweet corn
by shiny
IMG_20190329_191538
IMG_20190329_191538
by shiny
garden3
garden3
by mamagotcha

Corn harvests

2020-04-13_12-43-51
2020-04-13_12-43-51
by shiny
2020-04-13_12-43-44
2020-04-13_12-43-44
by shiny
IMG_20190327_111740
IMG_20190327_111740
by shiny
IMG_20180116_201728_729
IMG_20180116_201728_729
by shiny
2020-04-13_12-43-52
2020-04-13_12-43-52
by shiny

Corn seeds

IMG_20190914_154704
IMG_20190914_154704
by shiny
IMG_20190914_154624
IMG_20190914_154624
by shiny
IMG_20190914_154700
IMG_20190914_154700
by shiny
IMG_20190904_095329
IMG_20190904_095329
by shiny

Video

Where corn grow

Only plantings by members who have set their locations are shown.

What people are saying about corn

time to compost

by shiny,

If you grow a pumpkin underneath your corn then now's a good time to shovel on some extra compost, or add fertilizer. Both these plants really like lots of fertilizer.

pumpkin pumpkins corn corn
Read more

How to save seeds

by shiny,

Beans, peas and corn: remove husks and allow seeds to dry out – this may take a couple of weeks, then remove casings and store.

Pumpkins and melons: seeds need to be washed and set aside to dry for a week or so before …

beans peas corn corn pumpkin pumpkins melon melons lettuce lettuces celery celery parsnip parsnips carrot carrots leek leeks onions radicchio radicchio cucumbers tomatoes zucchini zucchini capsicum capsica
Read more
Image of corn

Who's planted corn

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Corn harvests

View all corn harvests

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Find corn seeds

Nutritional data

A summary of nutritional data per 100g for Corn, fresh on cob, raw.

Energy 366.0 kJ
Protein 3.6 g
Fat, total 1.8 g
Carbohydrate 12.5 g
- Sugars 5.4 g
Fibre 3.8 g
Sodium 19.0 mg

Ecological requirements

Data from the FAO EcoCrop database for Zea mays L.

Family / Taxonomy Liliopsida
Commelinidae
Cyperales
Gramineae
Optimal soil depth medium (50-150 cm)
Optimal soil fertility high
Optimal soil salinity low (<4 dS/m)

Learn more about corn

Resources outside Growstuff.