If I were in your position, I'd pick a short ear (or the shortest I could find), give it the thumb test and look at the liquid, then eat the corn. If it tastes ripe, then it's ripe when mixed clear/milky.

I don't know the answer to your question, but tasting the corn directly is the surest way to find out if it's ready. Unless you've planted a really small amount of corn, you can spare an ear for "field testing".

Corn only stays at the milky stage about a week, so I'd quickly follow Game Bird's advice and try an ear and see if it is ready to harvest.

If you keep waiting for the milk to get less clear and more milky, you run the risk of your kernels getting doughy and overmature which affects the flavor and texture.

In general, the milk can vary in the degree of whitish color, although I won't say I've ever seen one that is partly milky and partly clear....generally, when I check, mine are either milky or clear. It is just that some varieties seem milkier than others. I don't harvest based solely on the color of the fluid. Generally, corn that is at the right milk stage also will have plump, full kernels and dried cornsilks, but the kernels will not be tough or doughy. Also, if you keep records on a garden calendar or in a garden journal, you'll observe that corn is normally ready to pick approx. 18-22 days after silking.

I go by the raccoon test myself, and I am saying this mostly tongue-in-cheek. Raccoons like corn in the early-milk stage whereas most gardeners harvest in the full milk stage. The difference? About 2 or 3 days. So, once the raccoons start picking your corn and eating it at night, the proper time for harvesting is 2 or 3 days later. Of course, this only works (a) if you have raccoons, and (b) if you have a large enough corn crop that the raccoons cannot eat it all in three nights.

George may be better able to address partially milky corn.

Dawn

Another indicator of ripe corn is the angle of the corn cob to the stalk. As it gets ripe it begins to droop away from the stalk until it can be almost at a right angle. But the taste test is the best way.

we harvested the last of out merit corn today. we have been eating on it for over a week, we put 58 ears in the freezer today, we got a total of 90 ears from a small area in the garden. I was hoping it would start being in the doughy stage, because that is how I like it, but it is still in the milky stage. I have read merit holds the milky stage longer than others, altho this is the first year I have grown it, I belive the longer "Ready Stage Idea". I said I would not grow it again, but I may be over ruled.

I go by how full the ear looks, and feels, and the look of the silk. Its hard for me to wait too long bcause the wife will be picking it before I am ready. I just eat the milky stuff, wipe my chin, and pretend it is the best stuff I have ever eaten. Larry

My corn has turned into a disaster. I grew Stowell's Sweet Corn. These were the best looking and most healthy corn plants I have ever had. A deep lush green, 6-8' tall, and lots of ears. The silk has been drying up so last night I pulled a couple of the larger ears and peeled back the husks and found VERY POOR POLLINATION!!. I had very sporadic kernels. What a disappointment. My corn was tasseling during the very hot weather so I guess pollination got interrupted.

WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT.

Guess I will try again for fall. I will get some seed in the groung this weekend.

Bruce G.

Bruce,

I am sure you're correct and I hate that your corn proved to be such a big disappointment.

My Texas Honey June pollinated very well, but the Country Gentleman shoepeg corn was more affected by the heat. This was a hard spring corn year--as you know--and we can thank the weather for messing up our crops.

Maybe you'll have better luck with a fall corn crop. I won't plant mine until August because we stay really hot really late here in southern OK and I don't trust the weather.

Dawn

Bruce,
I also hate to hear your disappointment and I feel you brother. Corn is not easy on the micro scale. I am a city gardener so I have limited space. My corn plat is 12 x 14 and I consider 90%+ pollinated kernels good results. I assume you did plant your corn in a block as that will help up the %. I also will take a tassel from stunted plants and give it a shake over good plant silks. This may be a silly Witch Doctor ritual but like I say I am a city gardener so I have to go to strange lengths to get stuff pollinated. I personally grow early corn and not the tall varieties. I can plant them thicker and feel it helps to pollinate the block. All in all you win some and lose some. Sounds like youÂre a loser this year in corn. I was too with the long wet spell we had, but I replanted drowned plants and my second run ended up good. I am a loser this year in squash, however. I had just cleared a stripped cucumber beetle infestation, and then SVB manifested as the real culprit and is now wiping me out. The Lord gives more than enough in the end.

Hobo,
I no longer play the milky not milky game with corn. After many a sleepless night I conceded to it and raised its ear in victory over me. I now go by silk color for my sanity. Others I know go by timer (day since silks). When the silks are a somewhat uniform golden brown (on average) I harvest. By golden brown I mean like somewhere between fried catfish and fried chicken, if that helps clear it up. Good luck!

Christopher
S. OKC