How to Grow:
Corn can be planted outdoors after the last spring frost and throughout the summer up until 14 weeks before your first fall frost. You can see specific dates for your location using our FREE iOS, Android, and Universal Web App.
Corn seeds are planted 1-2 inches deep, 4 per square foot, in full sun. Take care to notice what plants are around the area as well, see the companion plant section below. Corn typically sprouts within 5-10 days. Water weekly, more often in hot weather.
Companion Plants:
Companion planting is a vital part of organic gardening. Companion plants assist in the growth of others by attracting beneficial insects, repelling pests, or providing nutrients, shade, or support. There are also plants that do not like being next to each other. Some plants get too tall and can provide too much shade for your plant. Sometimes certain plants attract the same pests, so it is important to try and separate these.
| Good | Bad | |
| Acorn Squash | Mustard Greens | Eggplant |
| Arugula | Nasturtiums | Tomatoes (Bush & Vine) |
| Beans (Bush & Pole) | Oregano | |
| Butternut Squash | Peas | |
| Cabbage | Potatoes | |
| Cantaloupe | Pumpkin | |
| Cucumbers | Southern Peas (Black-Eyed Peas) | |
| Dill | Spaghetti Squash | |
| Goji Berries | Spinach | |
| Honeydew | Summer Squash (Zucchini) | |
| Lettuce | Sunflowers | |
| Luffa (Loofah) | Tarragon | |
| Marigolds | Watermelon | |
| Marjoram | ||
See companion plants for 80+ foods in our FREE iOS, Android, and Universal Web app!
Pests:
Pests can be one of the most difficult challenges you face in the garden. We strive to grow food without the use of pesticide and luckily there are natural solutions for most of these nasty pests! The pests listed below are common ones for corn:
- Birds
- Corn Borers
- Corn Earworms
- Cucumber Beetles
- Cutworms
- Earwigs
- Flea Beetles
- Grasshoppers
- Groundhogs (Woodchucks)
- Harlequin Bugs
- Japanese Beetles (June Bugs)
- Raccoons
- Squirrels
- Stinkbugs
- Wireworms
Learn more about how to manage pests and attract beneficial insects in our FREE iOS, Android, and Universal Web App!
Harvesting:
Cooking & Eating!
Learn more about growing over 80 different foods, including how to manage various pests in our FREE iOS, Android, or new Universal Web App!
3 thoughts on “Corn: How to Grow and When to Plant in Your Backyard or Patio Garden!”
I was surprised by how many small parcel of manually harvested corn there were in Oklahoma. I do not remember seeing large crops of it, but there were many small cornfields scattered about. There may have been large crops that were harvested and gone by the time we got there. The small parcels that I saw were still standing because they had been manually harvested. I do not know what it was for, but it must have been for small markets. It got my attention because corn is only grown here as a large irrigated crop. I did not investigate how it was grown in Oklahoma.