Painted Mountain Corn

Shucking the ears was like opening Christmas presents for me & the kids! We were never sure what colors would be inside! But the joy started long before that- we planted our block of corn in late June, too close together I think, and after the sprouts came up we had 2 weeks of cold heavy rain. The plants survived, and before long we had beautiful multicolored stalks and leaves. Green, white, pink, & purple! The silks on the darker ears were reddish purple; a deep violet- burgundy. Stunning and captivating! Each stalk had one full sized ear, which is slender in this variety, and about 8-10” long. Maybe we would have gotten more ears per stalk if we hadn’t planted so close together. We did not hand pollinate and the ears were not missing any kernels. We left the ears on until they were mostly dry and now they’re hanging to finish drying. I want to try nixtamalization for tortillas, even though this is not a dent corn. I hope it works because this is the corn I want to grow forever!

Agree that this corn sprouted super quick and vigorously. Planted around April and by late July started having some corn. Grew up about 5-6 ft tall. Got one cob of corn per plant, and the corn cobs were about the size of a tube of toothpaste. I would say these were incredibly easy to grow and they are very pretty. Not a dislike, but it is a bit more starchy than other corns (unless I didnt pick it at the right time...).

BREEDER’S RESPONSE TO: “Hoping for more colors. Did I do something wrong?” My guess is that you picked it far too early. The red and orange colors develop as the kernels mature from a tender vegetable into hard dry grain. Many new gardeners pick corn early like sweet corn when it is milky and soft. You must let it continue growing on the plant until the husks become dry and loosen. The kernels should be hard, so you cannot dent then with your fingernail. Painted Mtn. should always give you a variety of vivid colors, especially if you planted colored seeds.

I was expecting all these bright vivid colors.. but only got white corn or dark purple with white. However it was truly beautiful while growing! Not sure if I did something wrong?? It certainly was not a loss just not what I was hoping for, no orange or red colors.

I tried two packs of seeds, spread them in different areas of the garden and further out on the property. Some of the garden beds were very rich soil, some where native, some were store bought....I tried it all. They all germinated, but after just a few weeks they fizzled out and just died. I ordered another pack and waited until much cooler temps and the same thing happened. I'm not sure if it is because of our elevation (or lack there of), climate, or what the situation was but these did not do well for me here in Clayton (near Raleigh) NC.