Planting guide

When to plant sweetcorn

Sweet, tender cobs picked and eaten within minutes; plant in blocks for pollination. In Melbourne it goes in Sep–Jan.

Start as: Seed, sown in place
Ready in: 10–14 wks
Spacing: 30 cm
Depth: 3 cm
Sun: Full sun (6+ hours)
Water: Regular
Effort: Easy
Frost-tender: Yes, plant after the last frost

When it goes in

● means sweetcorn can go in that month, ○ means wait. Worked out from each town's climate zone and season, the way planting guides do it. Pick your town for the full list for that month.

Australian towns and cities
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Sydney	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Melbourne	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Brisbane	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Perth	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Adelaide	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Gold Coast	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Newcastle	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Sunshine Coast	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Canberra	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Central Coast	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Geelong	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Wollongong	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Hobart	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Townsville	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Cairns	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Toowoomba	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Darwin	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Ballarat	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mandurah	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bendigo	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Launceston	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Mackay	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Rockhampton	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Coffs Harbour	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Blue Mountains	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
Bunbury	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Bundaberg	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●	●
Alice Springs	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Mildura	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Port Macquarie	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●

Around the world
Town	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Auckland	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Wellington	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Christchurch	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●
London	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Manchester	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Edinburgh	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Dublin	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
New York City	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Los Angeles	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Chicago	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Seattle	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Austin	○	○	●	●	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Toronto	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Vancouver	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○
Cape Town	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Johannesburg	●	○	○	○	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	●
Singapore	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Mumbai	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
Paris	○	○	○	○	●	●	●	○	○	○	○	○
Berlin	○	○	○	○	●	●	○	○	○	○	○	○

How to plant sweetcorn

Sow seed 3 cm deep in a block of at least 4 rows.
Keep soil moist and feed when knee high.
Hill soil around the base for support.
Pick when silks brown and kernels squirt milky juice.

Sweetcorn varieties

Classic varieties are the reliable, widely grown ones. Adventurous ones are heirlooms, odd colours and rarities.

Golden Bantam Classicheirloom · sweet · 11–13 wksOld-time open-pollinated sweetcorn with great flavour
Honey and Cream Classicsweet · hybrid · 11–13 wksBi-colour kernels, sweet and tender
Balinese Adventurousheirloom · sweet · 12–14 wksOpen-pollinated sweet corn from Bali; Aussie favourite
Max Classicsweet · hybrid · 10–12 wksSweet yellow hybrid with strong germination
Glass Gem Adventurouscolourful · kid-favourite · heirloom · 14–17 wksJewel-coloured kernels; popped or kept as decoration
Painted Mountain Adventurouscolourful · cold-hardy · heirloom · 11–13 wksMulti-coloured flour corn that handles cool, short seasons
Blue Hopi Adventurousheirloom · colourful · 13–16 wksBlue flour corn for tortillas and polenta

Where to buy seeds

Search on The Diggers Club Search on Seeds of Plenty Search on Happy Valley Seeds Search on Amazon

Shop links may earn us a commission. It never changes what we recommend.

Shops shown are for Australia. The chooser picks shops for your country.

Good companions

Bean, Pumpkin, Cucumber

Sweetcorn by month

Jan · Feb · Mar · Apr · May · Jun · Jul · Aug · Sep · Oct · Nov · Dec

More to plant

Tomato · Capsicum · Chilli · Eggplant · Cucumber · Zucchini

Not sure sweetcorn is right for your space? Answer a few taps and see everything that can go in this week.

Find what else you can plant now