The prime harvest time for sweet corn passes quickly, so gardeners need to know how to judge when to harvest to get the most from their crop.
Corn is ready to be picked as soon as the ears have completely filled out.
This goes for sweet corn and roasting ears. You can tell when this happens by feeling the end of an ear. If it's rounded or blunt rather than pointed, the ears are ready. The silks also dry up when the ears are almost ready to be picked. If you don't trust your judgment, you can pull back a bit of the husk and check to see if the ear looks well filled and the kernels are creamy yellow or white.