Ambrosia Corn

Zea mays 'Ambrosia'

vegetable

Ambrosia is a bicolor sugary-enhanced (se) sweet corn that has become a home-garden standard since the 1990s. The se gene gives tender, creamy kernels and a high sugar level that converts to starch more slowly than old-fashioned types, so picked ears stay sweet for several days. Ambrosia produces well-filled 8 in. ears with 16 rows of yellow and white kernels in about 75 days. As an se variety it does not require isolation from standard (su) corn the way supersweets do, which makes it easy to fit into a mixed garden.

✅ Plant alongside

Good neighbors that attract beneficial insects or deter pests

• Beans — Pole beans climb the cornstalks and fix nitrogen for this heavy feeder - the classic Three Sisters pairing
• Squash — Sprawling squash shades the soil, smothers weeds, and keeps roots cool around the corn
• Cucumber — Vining cucumbers use the ground layer and benefit from the corns light shade
• Pumpkin — Like squash, its broad leaves mulch the corn bed and deter raccoons with prickly vines

❌ Keep away from

🛡️ Pest & disease prevention

Proactive ways to stop trouble before it starts — tap a name with an arrow for its full guide

• Corn earworm →

  The top sweet-corn pest - apply a few drops of mineral oil (or Bt) to the silk of each ear a few days after silking to smother larvae as they enter the tip

• European corn borer →

  Destroy stalks after harvest where borers overwinter, and apply Bt to whorls early if you see shothole feeding

• Raccoons →

  A two-wire electric fence or a planting of prickly squash around the block is the only reliable defense as ears ripen

• Flea beetles →

  They can transmit bacterial wilt; protect seedlings with row cover until established

• Fall armyworm →

  Scout whorls for ragged feeding and treat with Bt while larvae are small

🌾 Harvest & storage

Ambrosia is ready about 18 to 21 days after the silks first appear, when the silks are brown and dry and the ear feels full and rounded to the tip. Do the thumbnail test: puncture a kernel - the juice should be milky, not clear (too early) or doughy (too late). Pick in the cool morning by twisting the ear down and off, and chill or cook it fast. The se gene holds sweetness longer than old types, but quality is still best within a couple of days.

🥗 Nutrition & benefits

Sweet corn supplies complex carbohydrates and fiber for energy along with B vitamins (especially thiamin and folate), vitamin C, magnesium, and potassium, at about 86 calories per 100 g. The yellow kernels are rich in the carotenoids lutein and zeaxanthin, which support eye health, and bicolor Ambrosia carries these in its yellow kernels. Eaten fresh off the stalk it has more vitamin C than corn that has sat in storage.