My garden is doing pretty good this year; I am officially the zucchini Zen Master I suppose. I'm gonna be the cucumber king in about a week at this rate....!!!

My corn is doing very well; I have 3 varieties, and all are big this time, plants pushing 8ft. to the tops. They have 2-3 ears each. One of the ears is pretty close to ready on about half of the plants (Say 30-40 plants) but the secondary ears and the 3rd ears are smallish.

So, my question: Can you pull a single ear off a corn stalk without killing the plant? Will the smaller ears mature if you strip an ear off? I realize I can take them as baby corn, but I am hoping to get a lot of ears of a good size, and it looks like I might have it. Also; if I wait say a week or 2, and the primary big ear is not pulled, will it tend to dry out and sour a bit as I wait for the other ears to mature?

I am turning to you, because usually I get 1 good ear, and the other is a useless runt. But I did a lot of soil work and the corn is much healthier than usual this time around, and I am hopeful of getting a bit more than 1 ear per plant of a full size.

FWIW, the silk still looks good, gold to red, and not rotting or mildewed, if this is a helpful indicator.

Thank you much!! Paul.

Generally one ear per stalk is taken so the farmer won't notice the night roast n ear raid. :-)

On sweet corn in my garden I will pull one ear if both are not ready. No problems with one at a time. Do you use both hands to break the ear off?

I can break the ear off with one hand but I need log grabs to get the green beans to the house. Larry

Yep, you can pull an ear off without damaging the plant and the other ear or ears will still grow. That's great that you're getting such a good crop.

Corn will usually produce a couple of ears per stalk. As to your question about waiting a week or two to harvest the primary ear...don't do it. If it's ready now, pick it. Remember, your top ear will always ripen first. It will be fatter than the others and will start to lean away from the stalk...almost at a 90 degree angle. The others will ripen about 10 days later. If the silk is red, it's not ripe. If it's brown at the tip, it should be ready for picking.

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Pack light and cinch tight.

You mean you only get two ears (maybe three) from that whole stalk growing there??? An awful lot of wasted green stuff if you ask me.

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Forum consigliere

Well, you can smoke the silk, it shouldn't be a total waste.

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Oh well, what the hell.