Japonica Striped Corn
Zea mays
Certified Organic
Grown on Our Farm
The leaves of this highly ornamental variety put on an absolute show as they grow and mature, with bands of candy-cane pink and lime green and cream running races up and down the stalk. The plants make an excellent decorative border, especially fun interspersed with annual flowers and foliage plants, and the stalks can be harvested for short-vase-life bouquets. In the fall, the plants dry down to form striking cobs of deep-burgundy flint kernels which are themselves strikingly beautiful in autumn displays.
For the showiest leaves, be sure to provide greater spacing than normal for corn; the coloration seems to increase when the leaves have space to reach outward horizontally.
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Growing instructions
Product Details
| Days to Maturity | 75 days |
|---|---|
| Days to Germination | 5 to 10 days |
| Width at Maturity | 8 inches |
| Height at Maturity | 60 inches |
| Sun Conditions | Full Sun (8+ Hours Sun) |
| Planting Depth | 1 inch |
| Row Spacing | 36 inches |
| Plant Spacing | 12 inches |
I enjoyed growing Japonica . All the seeds germinated and the leaves put on a great show of various colors . We harvested about 30 ears of corn which were fun to pull back the husk and see what color the kernels would be . We had dark red , purplish , light red and 1 ear was a darker orange . We dried the ears with the husks pulled back and bunched and used them for decoration and gifts .I plan on growing Japonica again this year .
I'm rating exclusively as an ornamental because that's how it's packaged.
the leaves are VERY showy and it produces more ears of corn than expected. I planted them densely and they had no problem pollinating, not sure how they'd do in a row. very sturdy (we trellised pole beans on them) but unfortunately they were mowed down during a hurricane and didn't die but never fully recovered after that either. no serious pests other than ants on the cobs from the fallen stalks.
we chopped them down and used them for fall/halloween decorations once they seemed done. the kernels were all purplish or reddish and will last through Christmas or longer if you feel the need to keep them out as decoration that long.
in terms of edibility. we did try picking these at the milk stage to eat as sweet corn but we missed it and it hardened. my guess is your timing has to be impeccable to make it happen. I might try growing again and harvesting to make cornmeal/maza instead, but I want to give a sweeter variety a try. just know that some people promote this plant as an edible and you certainly can try but it's an uphill battle IMO.