Hickory King White Corn

Check out our Corn Growing Guide to learn more about how to grow corn in your garden.

Hickory King White Corn is an heirloom field corn variety with super-sized plants, ears and kernels. This white, open-pollinated variety produces plants that can get as large as 12-13' tall. Each plant will produce two large ears, usually around 9-10" in length. Ears have tight husks which do a great job of protecting the ears from corn earworms and beetles. Due to the plant size, Hickory King White Corn should be grown on 10-12" plant spacing to give plants adequate room to grow. Plants do have a strong root structure which will support the tall foliage. Hickory King is a great variety for roasting ears when corn is still in the milking stage, but it also is very tasty when ground into corn meal and used for cornbread or grits.

Hickory King corn should be planted in the spring after the last frost date. Corn can be grown throughout the warmer months up until fall, as long as time is permitted for harvest before first frost. Succession planting is recommended with at least two plantings, one in early spring and one in late summer/early fall. Corn ear worm pressure will be greater in the warmer months, but this can be alleviated by applying spinosad to silks and tassels once they appear.

We recommend planting Hickory King corn using a walk-behind planter like our Hoss Garden Seeder. Once plants emerge, thin plants to 8-12" depending on adequate irrigation. If drip irrigation is used, in-row spacing may be as close as 8". If water is scarce, a wider in-row spacing will be necessary. For pollination purposes, corn should be planted in a square plot with rows on 30-36" spacing. Planting a few long rows will result in poor germination and absence of kernels on the cobs.

Hickory King White Corn Planting Information

Planting Method: direct seed

When to Plant: after last frost

Planting Depth: 1"

Seed Spacing: 10-12"

Row Spacing: 30-36"

Days to Maturity: 85/110

Disease Resistance: None