How much corn to plant per person
Utah State University Extension plans on 10 to 15 feet of row per person for sweet corn eaten fresh and 40 to 55 feet per person if you also freeze or can it. At the middle of those ranges and 9 inches between plants, the calculator gives 17 plants per person for fresh eating and 64 with preserving.
With corn, plan by row length first: it decides how big a block you need.
Sweet corn for 1 to 6 people
| People | Fresh: row | Plants | Harvest | Fresh + preserving: row | Plants | Harvest |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 ft | 17 | 9 to 13 lb | 48 ft | 64 | 33 to 48 lb |
| 2 | 25 ft | 34 | 18 to 25 lb | 95 ft | 127 | 67 to 95 lb |
| 3 | 38 ft | 50 | 26 to 38 lb | 143 ft | 190 | 100 to 143 lb |
| 4 | 50 ft | 67 | 35 to 50 lb | 190 ft | 254 | 133 to 190 lb |
| 5 | 63 ft | 84 | 44 to 63 lb | 238 ft | 317 | 166 to 238 lb |
| 6 | 75 ft | 100 | 53 to 75 lb | 285 ft | 380 | 200 to 285 lb |
Plants are the row length at 9 inches apart, the middle of the 6 to 12 inch spacing, rounded up. The harvest uses Virginia Cooperative Extension's 7 to 10 pounds per 10 feet of row.
Turn row feet into a block
Long single rows pollinate poorly. Utah State recommends at least three or four short rows side by side. For a family of four eating fresh, 50 feet of row becomes four 12.5 ft rows, or five 10 ft rows, 24 to 36 inches apart. In a raised bed at 15 inches each way, the sweet corn spacing calculator fits 18 plants in a 4 × 8 bed, so 67 plants need nearly four beds.
Spread the harvest
Fresh-eating figures only make sense if the ears do not all ripen in the same week. Utah State suggests sowing every 10 to 14 days, so split the row feet over two or three sowings: for four people, 50 feet in two sowings of 25 feet. The succession planting planner gives the dates.
Other published figures agree: Texas A&M AgriLife's planning guide (E-289) gives 15 feet per person fresh and 50 feet for preserving.
Next steps
Find your sowing date with the sweet corn planting dates, and plan the whole vegetable garden for your household with the garden size calculator.