Sweetcorn · Centurion, Gauteng, South Africa

When to plant sweetcorn in Centurion

Main outdoor window

12-26 Aug

The window this page is built around.

Timed from last spring frost

5 August

In Centurion, on your chosen risk.

Ready to pick

11 Oct - 20 Nov

If you plant at the start of the window.

The average last frost. Half of all years are later than this.

Cautious Balanced Bold

Step by step in Centurion

Each window is a range, not a single day. Earlier in the range buys you a longer season; later in it buys you a safer one.

Sow direct

12-26 Aug

One week after your last frost.

Harvest

11 Oct - 20 Nov

Sow in succession. A single sowing gives you a single glut. Sow a short row every 14 days through the window above and you get a steady supply instead.

Frost tolerance

Tender

Damaged below

0°C (32°F)

Days to maturity

60–100

Min soil temp

15°C (59°F)

Spacing

30 cm

Sowing depth

30 mm (1.2 in)

Sun

Full

Sweetcorn through the year

Against the frost risk in Centurion

Jan

Feb

Mar

Apr

May

Jun

Jul

Aug

Sep

Oct

Nov

Dec

Sweetcorn

Frost risk Sow direct Harvest Today

Why these dates

Seed rots in cold wet soil. Sowing a week after last frost into 15C soil beats sowing on the frost date into 10C soil almost every time.

Seedlings survive a very light frost if the growing point is still below soil level, but growth stalls. Mature plants are killed outright.

Seed packets and extension guides express timing as weeks either side of the last spring frost, because that is the only reference point that travels. Sweetcorn are timed for direct sowing 1 weeks after it, and this page simply resolves those offsets against the frost date computed for Centurion.

The median frost-free season here is 304 days, against 60 to 100 days to maturity for this crop counted from sowing. That margin is what decides whether a late sowing is worth attempting.

See every crop timed for Centurion →

Nearby

Sweetcorn in places close by

Pretoria 13 km Thembisa 16 km Randburg 32 km Benoni 39 km Boksburg 40 km Germiston 42 km

Also in Centurion

Other vegetables to time

Tomatoes tender Lettuce half hardy Potatoes half hardy Courgettes tender Sweet peppers tender Carrots hardy Cucumbers tender Green beans tender Peas hardy Garlic very hardy Chilli peppers tender

Growing sweetcorn in Centurion

When should I plant sweetcorn in Centurion?

Aim for 12-26 Aug in an average year. If you would rather not gamble on the weather, wait until 6-20 Sep - by then frost has finished in nine years out of ten.

When will sweetcorn be ready to harvest in Centurion?

Expect to start picking around 11 Oct - 20 Nov, based on 60 to 100 days to maturity from the planting date calculated for this location.

How much frost will sweetcorn tolerate?

Seedlings survive a very light frost if the growing point is still below soil level, but growth stalls. Mature plants are killed outright.