How to grow Corn?

These varities contain a shrunken gene that makes them very sweet. However they need to be isolated from other varieties while tasseling, or the resulting kernels will be tough and starchy.

These plants are grown specifically for decorating purposes. There are many types of ornamental corn, with a wide range of different sizes, colors, and husks.

Corn is one of the  few crops in which hybridization has made a big difference. Hybrids are superior to non-hybrids in that they mature more uniformly and are often sweeter. Unfortunately, you can't save the seed of a hybrid, as they don't come true to the type. While these varieties of corn hybridized seed, they are also organic.

There are relatively few open pollinated heirloom sweet corn varieties still available and they have pretty much disappeared from commercial growing because the newer hybrids stay sweet for much longer. However, some cooks maintain that sweetness isn't the only thing that makes for a great sweet corn and that the old open pollinated heirloom varieties have a superior flavor. If you grow them you just have to be more aware of their ripening, as they ripen all at once and don't maintain their sweetness for very long.

Corn flour is synonymous with cornmeal. Flour corn is made almost entirely of soft starch. The kernels are soft, mealy, and easy to grind. Within this type we also include 3 sub-types of Field Corn: Dent (including Gourdseed), Flint, and Soft.

Dent (Z. mays var. indentata): The kernels of this corn have a depression in the middle and their starch is a mixture of hard and soft. Almost 80% commercial corn is this type. Depending on when they are picked they can be used for cornmeal, hominy, roasting corn or sweet corn.

Gourdseed is an old type of dent corn once widely used for cornmeal and considered superior for cornbread. Gourdseed corns are some of our oldest corns, and were commonly grown in southern Virginia. The plants of gourdseed corn are heavily stalked and bear ears having a large number of rows of thin, deep kernels. These valuable corns originated from Indian gourdseed corn dating back to at least 1700. They were used for roasting ears, and for feed and flour.

Flint (Z. mays var. indurata): The very hard starch in the semi-translucent seeds earns this the name Flint corn. It grows well in cooler climates than other corns. It is used for cornmeal, though it is so hard it can be difficult to grind.

Soft (Z. mays var. amylacea): The seeds contain mostly soft starch. This type of corn is easily ground into meal and is commonly used for bread, tortillas, and corn chips.

Flour corn varieties can also be showy, which makes them good for decorating purposes, too. There are many types of corn that can be dried and displayed, with a wide range of different sizes, colors, and husks.

Pop Corn kernels have a very hard outer layer and a soft inner layer, a combination which makes them pop very well. They can also be used for cornmeal. Popcorn is a great crop for children to plant, as they get an extra special reward at the end of it.

Sugar enhanced corn varieties contain the sugary enhancer gene (su), and makes the kernels sweeter and more tender. In addition, the sugar is only slowly converted to starch after picking, so they remain sweet for longer. They do have a thinner kernel skin, and need to be handled a bit more carefully, but that also makes them more tender. These varieties don't need to be isolated from other varieties.

Corn is one of the  few crops in which hybridization has made a big difference. Hybrids are superior to non-hybrids in that they mature more uniformly and are often sweeter. Unfortunately, you can't save the seed of a hybrid, as they don't come true to the type. This type is sometimes referred to as Normal Sugary or (su), to differentiate it from other types now available.