How to Grow, Harvest, and Dry Ornamental Corn for Your Kitchen
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Have you ever wondered how to grow your own beautiful, colorful ornamental corn? In this post, I will be sharing how to plant, care for, harvest, and dry delicious ornamental and popcorn. In all of my time as a farmer and gardener, growing Indian corn has been my favorite of all! Each ear is beautiful and unique, and it’s so fun to open them and see what you might find.
What is Ornamental Corn?
During the fall months, you will begin to see beautiful bundles of ornamental corn, or “Indian corn,” decorating storefronts and people’s front porches. It’s often sold at grocery stores, garden centers, farmer’s markets, roadside stands, craft shows, and speciality shops as seasonal decor. But it’s actually edible and grown, mainly, for cornmeal, corn flour, and popcorn!
Ornamental corn comes in all sizes and colors. It’s one of the most beautiful vegetables, in my opinion, and each ear is as unique as a flower. Some ears are small (less than 6 inches) and others can be extremely long (12 or more inches long).
How long Does it Take to Grow Ornamental Corn?
With each unique variety comes a unique number of days until maturity. For the most part, it takes an average of 80 to 115 days for ornamental corn to reach maturity and be ready for harvesting.
You will need to research your gardening zone before planting to figure out when it is best to plant your corn and if you will have a long enough season for it to grow!
How to Plant Ornamental Corn:
It’s incredibly easy to plant ornamental corn, and it generally grows well without much effort or need for extensive care. Learn how to plant Indian corn with the steps below.
where to Plant Ornamental Corn:
All corn needs to be planted in a spot that receives full sun exposure (6 to 8 hours per day of direct sunlight). The soil should be well-draining and have consistent moisture. Corn takes in a lot of water, so you will want to use mulch and organic matter such as compost to help retain as much moisture as possible. You can grow corn in raised beds, too, though you need to be sure that they are large enough to plant the amount of rows you need for proper cross pollination.
When to Plant Ornamental Corn:
It’s time to plant corn when the soil temperature is at least 60° F (16° C), sometimes even warmer for certain varieties. You can usually find this information the seed packet! Corn is highly sensitive to frost, so make sure that you are past your last spring frost date before sowing corn outdoors. You can start corn indoors before planting it out, but it will need a larger pot such as a 4-inch pot to properly root.
If you are in zone 5b like me, ornamental corn can be planted somewhere between early April and mid May.
How to Plant Ornamental Corn:
To plant your corn, prepare the soil with any amendments it may need and a healthy dose of compost.
Sow the seeds 1 to 1 1/2 inches deep. Space the plants 8 to 10 inches apart in rows that are 30 to 36 inches apart. To properly pollinate and produce ears that are fully formed, corn must be planted in blocks of at least 4 rows.
If you are planning to grow sweet corn as well, then you will need to isolate the ornamental corn from it. This can easily be done by planting the ornamental corn at least 250 feet away from the sweet corn. It can also help to plant other things in between the two cultivars, such as pumpkins or squash. You can also avoid cross pollination by staggering the plantings so that the different types of corn do not tassel at the same time! This is generally safe by planting them about 14 days apart.
Caring for Ornamental Corn:
Corn is fairly easy to grow, and it does not require a lot of care. In fact, all of the corn that was grown in these photos was never watered! We relied completely on rain throughout the season, though I would not recommend this method!
Water Consistently. Even though I just mentioned that I never watered my corn, my advice to you as a Master Gardener would be to watch your corn carefully and water as needed. The more water corn receives (when it needs it!), the fatter and juicier the ears will be. Corn has shallow roots, and it can become easily distressed by drought (especially with ornamental varieties that are not genetically modified to deal with drought). In general, it’s suggested to give corn 2-inches of water per week.
Mulch for Moisture Retention. To help the plant to retain as much water as possible, you can mulch around the plants. Use straw, grass clippings, or shredded leaves.
Cover Aerial Roots. While corn is growing, you will notice that it produces roots that protrude out of the ground. These roots do not soak up water, but rather help stabilize the plant so that it does not fall over. You can mound up the soil or mulch over these roots, if you want, to help stabilize the plant further. They can be left alone, too.
Weed Regularly. It’s always helpful to weed around your crops so that the water and nutrients in the soil goes to your plants and not the weeds. It’s essential to weed around corn when it is young so that it receives the sunlight necessary to establish itself without the weeds taking over! Because it has shallow roots, it’s not recommended to hoe around corn for risk of uprooting the plants. You will want to weed corn by hand, then mulch heavily to prevent more growth. The weeds should stay down once the corn gets taller as they create shade around them.
Hand Pollinate. Corn does well pollinating on its own, as it is wind pollinated. When corn sends up its tassels, the wind blows the pollen from the tassels between each stalk, landing on the silks that poke out of the ears of corn. Each silk is linked to one corn kernel! You can help by simply taking a walk through the corn and gently shaking the plants. This will increase the chance that each silk gets pollinated!
When to Harvest Ornamental Corn:
Ornamental corn is ready to harvest when the stalks are fully dried out. This is usually in the fall, which is why you see Indian corn for sale during the harvest season!
If you are unsure if the ears are ready to harvest, gently pull down the husk. Press into the kernels with your fingernail. If the kernels are hard and your nail does not leave a mark or cut in the kernel, they are ready to pick. If you can still break the kernel with your fingernail, and the corn feels soft, it needs to mature longer.
How to Dry Ornamental Corn:
When the corn is ready to harvest, simply pull the ears off of the stalk in a swift, downward motion. Once they are fully dried, the corn stalks do have a tendency to snap in half! If you are planning to use the stalks in your autumn decor, be cautious of accidentally breaking them while harvesting the corn.
Gather all of the ears into a large basket and find a spot where you can sit comfortably to begin tying up the stalks to dry.
You will want to tie the stalks as soon as possible. Even though the plant is dry, it will dry out even more over the weeks after harvesting. The husk on the ear of corn is still bendable in the hours after picking, but it will become dry and difficult to bend within about 24 to 48 hours. This makes pulling the husk back and tying it more difficult, and you are more likely to break the husks if you wait.
Step One: Pull back the husk on the ears of corn, fully exposing the entire ear of corn. Be careful not to pull too hard so that you do not accidentally pull off the husk entirely. Pull out all of the dried silk and any other goodies you find inside, like insects and debris.
Step Two: Look for any imperfections on your ears that will not make it through the drying process, like ears that only have a handful of kernels on them, molded kernels, or insect damage. Some damage is okay, such as only a few kernels at the very top are moldy but the rest of the ear looks great. Simply snap off the moldy or damaged end and compost it.
Step Three: Once all of the corn is opened, gather the corn into bundles of 3. Tie the bundles together with twine tied around the middle of the husks. Tie the ends of the twine into a loop so that you can hang the corn.
Step Four: Hang the corn in a place dry location that is well ventilated and out of direct sunlight. If you live in a place that’s not overly humid and rainy, you can hang the corn outside. I prefer to do this because it takes up a lot of room in my house! Otherwise, I would just hang it in my kitchen or somewhere upstairs (the basement is too moist!).
Leave the corn to fully dry out for about 2 to 3 weeks. You will know that it is done drying when the kernels have shrunken and you can see spacing in between the kernels. Another test to make sure that the corn is fully dry is by testing the cob. The cob should be bone dry before the corn is ready to store!
How to Store Ornamental Corn:
After the drying period, it’s time to store the corn for winter! You can choose to leave the kernels on the stalk or remove them and store them in jars. Ornamental corn is really fun to use in the kitchen and can be made into so many different things. Select the prettiest ears to keep for seeds to plant next year!
Shell the Corn. To remove the corn, the easiest way is to use a handheld corn sheller. You can sometimes purchase these at country stores or garden centers, but it’s easier to get one online. This tool will save your hands and fingertips the pain of shelling dozens of ears of corn! If you plan to do grow your own ornamental corn for a long time, you might consider investing in a Hand Crank Corn Sheller to save you time. Otherwise, you can simply pop the kernels off with your hands.
Separate the Varieties. Be sure to keep your corn varieties separated from each other. Different types of corn are better for different things, like cornmeal or popcorn. If you are wanting to make popcorn, different varieties pop at different times and sizes.
Storage Options. You can store the dried corn kernels in any airtight container, such as a mason jar with a lid or a plastic storage bin. The shelled corn can be stored for several years, if dried properly.
My Favorite Ornamental Corn Varieties:
I absolutely growing ornamental corn for its uniqueness and beauty! It’s such a special surprise opening each ear to see which colors are inside. I am absolutely obsessed with growing multi-colored corn! It’s like finding hidden gems. Here are my favorite varieties of Indian corn:
Glass Gem. This variety has become incredibly popular and well-known over the last decade as the rise of homesteaders and farmer’s markets have made it well-known. Glass Gem was bred by the late Carl Barnes, an Oklahoma Cherokee who dedicated his life to preserving this traditional Native American variety and others as well. The ears come in all different shades, from white to yellow to hot pink to blue to black. It’s absolutely gorgeous, and such a fun variety to grow!
Hopi Pink and Hopi Turquoise. This corn is a rare variety bred by the Hopi nation. It’s drought tolerant and bred for flour making. Both corns have muted shades of pink and blue, which are really unique and beautiful. This variety was a bit more difficult to grow than any of the others!
Mini Pink Popcorn and Mini Blue Popcorn. This is a really easy-to-grow variety of popcorn. The ears are about 3 to 5-inches long and have miniature kernels, which makes tender and flavorful popcorn!
Painted Mountain. This is another rainbow-like corn that is best for flour making over popping. This variety was bred in the mountains in Montana by farmer Dave Christensen from heirlooms grown by northern Native American tribes.
Strawberry Popcorn. So cute and delicate, this little popcorn variety got its name because it’s shaped like a red strawberry! The ears are only about 2 to 3-inches long.
Final Thoughts:
Whether you are new to planting ornamental corn, or simply looking for some new tips to help your plants prosper, I hope that you enjoyed this guide on how to grow, harvest, and dry Indian corn. It’s always such a pleasure to share my experiences in the garden with you, and share what I have learned in the last decade on my homestead. Ornamental corn is such a lovely addition to the home garden, and it brings joy to people’s faces when they see the beautifully colored ears on their porches in the fall!
xoxo Kayla
