How far apart should I plant sweetcorn?

45 cm apart in the row, with rows 45 cm apart. In a square foot garden, that's 4 per square.

What grows well with sweetcorn?

Runner bean, French bean, Squash, Courgette, Melon. Keep it away from tomato.

Sweetcorn

Zea mays · Sweet corn in the US

In a typical UK garden, sow indoors late March to late April, sow outside early May to mid-June, plant out early May to late May, and harvest mid-July to late October.

When to sow, plant and harvest

Frost dates

Last frost around 20 April, first frost around 31 October.

Sow indoors: late March to late April
Sow outdoors: early May to mid-June
Plant out: early May to late May
Harvest: mid-July to late October

Spacing: 45 cm apart, rows 45 cm apart
Square foot: 4 per square (30 cm squares)
Sowing depth: 2.5 cm
Ready in: 50 to 80 days from planting out
Grows to: 1.8 m
Hardiness: Tender: killed by any frost
Sun: Full sun
Crops for: About 3 weeks

Growing tip

Plant in a block rather than a single row so the wind can pollinate every cob.

Neighbours

Grows well with

Keep apart from

Tomato

Other are one crop rotation group. Try not to grow them where any of the family grew in the last two or three years. How crop rotation works

Guides

When to plant

Sweetcorn wants warm soil and a block, not a row

Sow sweetcorn indoors from late March to late April and plant out in May after the last frost, or sow outdoors from early May to mid-June. Plant in a block rather than a single row so the cobs pollinate well. They're ready from mid-July.

More other

Where these figures come from

Every crop in VegLog was checked against published growing advice. Dates are worked out from average frost dates, so they shift with your garden. For sweetcorn, we used:

Grow sweetcorn with VegLog

Add sweetcorn to a bed and VegLog reminds you when to sow, plant out and pick, timed to your own town's frost dates.