Best time to plant corn in Melbourne
Zea mays
Also called Maize, Sweet corn
Sow corn in Melbourne in Oct to Jan.
Corn is a big, sturdy grass whose female flower clusters become ears packed with kernels, the part that gets eaten. Sugar-rich sweet corn is the type grown for the table, while field corn goes to livestock and into products such as cornmeal. Most modern kernels are white or yellow, though other colours exist.
When to sow in Melbourne
Melbourne, VIC is in the cool zone. Its months for corn apply here without a frost adjustment.
Matches local guides.
Your local conditions can shift any months shown here, so treat them as a guide.
Frost in Melbourne
Frost usually arrives in Melbourne around mid June and finishes by late August. In about 1 year in 10 it comes as early as late May or as late as late September, so frost-tender crops are planned around those dates.
From the average of its 2 Bureau of Meteorology stations, 1991 to 2020, counting a night at 2°C or lower as a frost. Frost hollows and hillsides can shift these dates by weeks, so ask the growers at your garden too.
On a shared plot: suits a plot
Finishes in a season and stays within its space, so it suits most plots.
Growing details
- How to start
- Sow directly in the bed
- Sowing depth
- 4cm
- Plant spacing
- 60cm
- Row spacing
- 76cm
- Height
- 290cm
- Germination
- 5-15 days, in soil above 12°C (18°C for supersweet types)
- Time to harvest
- 75 days
- Frost
- Frost tender
- Sun
- Full sun
- Life cycle
- annual
These are typical figures, and varieties differ. Your seed packet takes priority.