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Types of Sweet Corn

Normal sweet corn, abbreviated su, offers delicious, old-fashioned, sweet-corn flavor. Sugar in su corns quickly converts to starch, so su varieties should be prepared quickly once mature. Requires no isolation. Sugary Enhanced corns are shortened se and possess a gene that gives the kernel better sweetness, tenderness and a longer harvest period. Varieties with se only have su and se parents and are heterozygous. Varieties abbreviated se+ have two se parents and are called homozygous. They are even sweeter than the se’s! Isolate Sugary Enhanced types only from popcorn. Xtra Sweet, Shrunken or Super Sweet corns, abbreviated sh2, have the familiar ‘shrunken kernel’ that makes their flavor the sweetest yet, with a harvest time 10 days longer than types described above. Super Sweets must be isolated from all other corns so they cannot cross-pollinate with other types, making both corns inedible. Super Sweets must tassel at least 10 days before or after non-Super Sweets. Do this by planting at least 25 ft. from other corns, by staggering planting dates or by using varieties with differing maturities. Synergistics, abbreviated syn, yields ears with exquisite sweetness and keeping traits. A Synergistics ear, 75% se kernels and 25% sh2 kernels, is the best of both types, with the sweetest, tenderest, best keeping of all. Even sweeter is Synergistics+, like variety ‘Primus’ with 60% se kernels and 40% sh2 kernels. Synergistics can be grown with other syn, se and su types, but must be isolated from Super Sweets (sh2). Mirai® is a new class of sweet corn with revolutionary taste! Already the best-selling sweet corn in Japan, Mirai® is a 3-way cross of su, se and sh2 types to yield the best taste, flavor and texture of any sweet corn yet! Quality and sweetness holds for 6 weeks if refrigerated in the husk. Needs isolation from other corns. (Not available for 2019).