•  SU or Normal,High Sugar Varieties
  • Firm, creamy texture and hearty corn flavor. These varieties have been grown for many years. Sugars convert to starches quickly so best eaten quickly when ripe.
  • Sugar Levels 9-16%.
  • Isolate (250 to 300 ft. or by 3+ weeks maturity time) from SS corn varieties.
  • These include Heirloom varieties
• SE or Sugar Enhanced Hybrid Varieties
  • These very sweet varieties have superior tenderness, creamy texture and good corn flavor.
  • Higher sugar levels 14 to 35%. These hybrids will hold their quality for longer than a week.
  • Isolate (250 to 300 ft. or by 3+ weeks maturity time) from all SS and SU corn varieties.
• SS or Super Sweet Hybrid Varieties
  • Wow, extra Sweet flavor and crisp texture.
  • Even Higher Sugar content than SE and SU varieties 28 to 44%, slower conversion of sugars to starches = holding of more than a week.
  • Isolate (250 to 300 ft. or by 3+ weeks maturity time) from all SS, SU and synergistic corn varieties.

• Corn can be grown in any region, but the time it will take to mature depends on the amount of heat it gets.  Corn doesn't really hit its stride until the weather warms up. Depending on the varieties planted, two crops may be possible.  
• Corn likes well-worked, fertile soil with good drainage, and it must have full sun. Sow the seeds directly in the garden on the average date of last frost. Plant the seeds 2 to 4 inches apart in short rows forming a block rather than a single, long row.  Planting in clumps ensures pollination.  
• When the corn is about 6 inches tall, thin to 6 to 8 inches apart.   Corn is a heavy user of nitrogen. Fertilize in the spring, again when the corn is  8 inches tall, and again when the plants are 18 inches tall. Side-dress between the rows, using one-third of a pound of complete, well-balanced fertilizer on each side of a 10-foot-long row.  Hill soil around the plant roots at this time to help support the stalks.
• Watering is very important. Keep the soil evenly moist. Corn often grows so fast in hot weather that the leaves wilt because the roots can't keep the leaves supplied with moisture. Although corn requires much water, avoid getting water on the tassels. The pollen from the tassels must fall onto the corn silk to produce kernels, and if pollination does not occur, all that will grow is the cob. Weed early and keep the weeds cut back.

• Corn is very suseptible to seed rot.    Seed treatment with a fungicide can help, if need to plant in cooler soils.  Non-chemical steps to control seed rot include,  planting when soils are above 55 degrees F.  Try to avoid long cool spells after planting through emergence.  Do not over water.  Do not plant in water saturated soils.

 In one technique known as companion planting, the three crops are planted close together. Flat-topped mounds of soil are built for each cluster of crops. Each mound is about 1 ft high and 20 in wide, and several maize seeds are planted close together in the center of each mound.  In parts of the Atlantic Northeast, rotten fish or eel are buried in the mound with the maize seeds, to act as additional fertilizer where the soil is poor.  When the maize is 6 inches tall, beans and squash are planted around the maize, alternating between beans and squash.

The three crops benefit from each other. The maize provides a structure for the beans to climb, eliminating the need for poles. The beans provide the nitrogen to the soil that the other plants utilize and the squash spreads along the ground, monopolizing the sunlight to prevent weeds. The squash leaves act as a "living mulch," creating a microclimate to retain moisture in the soil, and the prickly hairs of the vine deter pests. Maize lacks the amino acids lysine and tryptophan, which the body needs to make proteins and niacin, but beans contain both and therefore together they provide a balanced diet. 

The three sisters planting method is featured on the reverse of new issues of the US Sacagawea dollar coin.