when is sweetcorn ripe

hamsterfan1

our corn has been our success story this year & we have a number of cobs on the plants - but how do we kno when they are ready to harvest

System

You can see a jolly green giant approaching ?

valk_scot

You should wait till the tassels go very brown and dry then open the leaf covering slightly to about 1/3 way down the cob and press your nail into a kernel. Milky fluid means the sweetcorn is still not ready so close the covering back up and leave it for a few days before picking. Little or no fluid means it's going past its best and should be used asap. Clear fluid means ripe. Don't worry if the cob isn't packed solid from end to end with neat rows of kernels like the supermarket stuff, that just means erratic pollination which is pretty well inevitable in a small garden block in the UK. The clear fluid means it's ready, so pick it and get it in the pot as soon as possible after picking.

Sambucus_Nigra

Sorry - that's wrong...milky fluid is ripe!

http://completegarden.wordpress.com/2008/08/24/growing-sweet-corn-and-how-you-know-when-to-harvest/

valk_scot

Sambucus_Nigra wrote: »

Sorry - that's wrong...milky fluid is ripe!

http://completegarden.wordpress.com/2008/08/24/growing-sweet-corn-and-how-you-know-when-to-harvest/

Not according to my books. It starts off that the whole kernel is like a bag of milky fluid and that's under ripe, then it goes transluscent (ripe) and then the kernel is finally solid with starch. You want to catch it when the kernels are as big as possible but just before they turn to starch and that's when the fluid changes from milky to transluscent. It's not a problem to eat them milky though, just that they won't be at full growth which is a bit of a waste. They'll also not taste of much.

Sambucus_Nigra

valk_scot wrote: »

Not according to my books. It starts off that the whole kernel is like a bag of milky fluid and that's under ripe, then it goes transluscent (ripe) and then the kernel is finally solid with starch. You want to catch it when the kernels are as big as possible but just before they turn to starch and that's when the fluid changes from milky to transluscent. It's not a problem to eat them milky though, just that they won't be at full growth which is a bit of a waste. They'll also not taste of much.

Which books? Can you find any reference online which says they are ripe when the fluid is clear? As I teach this I'd love the reference. I've never ever heard of harvesting when the fluid is clear.

Thanks in advance.

katkins78

From my experience and according to my books when the kernals are pierced and the fluid is milky the cob should be sweet and ready. A quick skim through the internet would seem to support this, apart from this article which suggests that supersweet varieties which a clear juice when mature. I've grown both supersweet and regular corn but always picked when at that 'milky' stage, I've not noticed a difference in the sweetness of the mature corn.
http://www.wisegeek.com/what-are-some-tips-for-growing-sweet-corn-in-the-garden.htm

Beetlemama

By the time we've ripped enough leaf off to see, we'd also exposed it to the rain and insects so we pick now when we've got curly dry looking silk.

good_advice

Hiya,I live in the south east and we have been eating our sweetcorn for a few weeks. Bumper crop this year and free with the birds eye free seeds promotion. We ate the ones in the green house first and are now chomping our way through the ones in the garden.

I just picked when the cobs looked fat and the tassels looked brown.
Took the corn off the cob by sliding a knife down and cooked in steamer.