No sweetcorn silks?

[jemma_charlie]

How do I know when my corn are ready?

Some of the silks have turned brown and fallen off so I opened up the leaf around it to find white corn and loads of silks.

Have I somehow killed them?

[SarzWix]

If the silks turn brown, it means they're ready to harvest, I think maybe you've let them go too far... They might be over-ripe and turning into maize now

[seasprout]

Sounds under ripe to me, not very well pollinated either, have you grown them in blocks or rows..??

[zazen999]

Are the corns smaller than you would expect?

I'd still leave them a while and check every week to see if they are progressing....I checked mine this morning and they were the same, albeit the silks haven't dropped off yet.

[jemma_charlie]

they look like mini corn although they are normal big corn, they are planted in blocks all of the flowers were out weeks before any silks appeared so they probably are underpolinated. when squeezed the juice comes out clear. not sure if that means under or over ripe though?

[seasprout]

Clear juice is not ready
Milky Juice is ripe.

You have the same problem as me, not enough sunshine. Be patient, rain has bashed them for too long.

Your location is not that far from me, corn in this vicinity wont be ready for a few more weeks yet.

[rustylady]

What variety are they Jemma?

[jemma_charlie]

incredible, (i read they were good for this area) and I can't remember the name of the other type

[timmyalex]

Would agree with the above. If clear juice then not ready. Ripe when milky juice and gone over when juice is thick and dark in colour.

This is my first time growing corn (Swift variety) and have 16 plants in a bed 4x4. However the male flowers have been out at least a couple of weeks but i've only one set of "whiskers". Does the male flower pollinate the female and then "whiskers" and the cob forms OR do the "whiskers" form and then the male pollinates them.?

[SarzWix]

The pollen has to fall onto the whiskers/silks for pollination to happen, I think...

I had this problem with my sweetcorn last year - the tops were out and blowing pollen around long before the silks were out I thought it was down to the variety (Northern Extra Sweet, 1st time I'd grown it) but I guess it could have been the rubbish weather.

Anyway, I just went round the plants collecting pollen from the few that had any left, and sharing it out between all the silks/cobs. I got partial pollination and so partially filled cobs. I think if I hadn't done that, I'd probably have had a dozen empty cobs!