Corn plant
Corn plant
A tall grain plant which produces ears of soft, edible seeds. While corn takes a long time to grow, it yields lots of food compared to other crops. Harvested corn takes a long time to spoil.
Base Stats
Stat Modifiers
All information here is up-to-date as of Alpha 17b.
The corn plant is a player-growable food crop with a high yield, but also long growing cycle. Corn can't be sown in hydroponics. A mature corn plant yields 27 pieces of corn.
Growing
Corn plants have a base growing time of 11.3 days, need a minimum soil fertility of 50%, and have a fertility sensitivity rating of 100%. The following table details how long it takes for corn plants to grow in each growable ground type, factoring in the plant resting time and being in ideal growing conditions:
| Ground Type | Gravel | Soil | Rich Soil | Hydroponics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fertility (%) | 70 | 100 | 140 | 230 |
| Grow Time (days) | 27.88 | 19.52 | 13.94 | - |
| Base Yield/day[1] | 0.97 | 1.38 | 1.94 | - |
- ↑ Per plant
Corn plants have the highest yield per day out of all growable food crops in the game when grown in rich soil; beating rice by around 2%. However, corn's minimal advantage over rice makes no real difference except in gravel, where potatoes still rule supreme - and rice in hydroponics also eclipses corn in rich soil.
Food Production
Corn's practically negligible yield per day advantage over rice, combined with corn's significantly longer growing cycle, makes corn arguably the least viable food crop in the game: inconsistent food supply, and the long growing cycle makes corn susceptible to crop loss (e.g. blight), and the latter will also be difficult to recover from.
The only real advantages that corn plants have over other food crops is that corn has a long shelf life, and corn plants are less labor-intensive for growers - but hauling labor is arguably higher since you're hauling huge amounts of food in one go, rather than smaller amounts of food over a longer period of time.
Therefore, it's only really advisable to use corn if you're experiencing a severe grower shortage in larger colonies, and if you're unable to make pemmican for whatever reason, or lack a freezer and aren't expecting to get one in a long time - although both are easily obtainable early-game anyway.
The following table shows how many corn plants it takes to sustain one colonist, but only factors in the nutritional value of the yield, and the yield per day:
| Ground Type | Gravel | Soil | Rich Soil | Hydroponics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raw | 34 | 24 | 17 | - |
| Lavish[1] | 21 | 15 | 11 | - |
| Paste | 13 | 9 | 7 | - |
| Fine[2] | 11 | 8 | 6 | - |
Economy
The corn plant's raw product is corn, which has a market value of 1.5 silver. The refined product with the largest profit margin is a fine meal, having a 37.14% profit margin. The following table details silver per day, per plant. It only factors in the 50% selling markdown, the market value of the products, and the yield per day:
| Ground Type | Gravel | Soil | Rich Soil | Hydroponics |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Raw | 0.73 | 1.04 | 1.45 | - |
| Refined[1] | 2.32 | 3.32 | 4.65 | - |
- ↑ Assuming a vegetarian ingredient bottleneck. Your mileage may vary.
- Domesticated plants
- Cocoa tree • Corn plant • Cotton plant • Devilstrand mushroom • Haygrass • Healroot • Hop plant • Potato plant • Psychoid plant • Rice plant • Smokeleaf plant • Strawberry plant • Tinctoria • Fibercorn
• Gauranlen pod • Nutrifungus • Toxipotato plant 
- Decorative plants
- Dandelions • Daylily • Rose • Bonsai tree
- Wild plants
- Agarilux • Agave • Alocasia • Ambrosia bush • Astragalus • Berry bush • Brambles • Bryolux • Bush • Chokevine • Clivia • Giant rafflesia • Glowstool • Grass • Low shrubs • Moss • Pincushion cactus • Tall grass • Wild healroot • Anima grass
• Gauranlen moss - Trees
- Bamboo tree • Birch tree • Cecropia tree • Cypress tree • Drago tree • Maple tree • Oak tree • Palm tree • Pine tree • Poplar tree • Saguaro cactus • Teak tree • Willow tree • Timbershroom • Gray pine tree • Pebble cactus • Rat palm tree • Witchwood tree
- Special
- Anima tree • Gauranlen tree • Polux tree • Harbinger tree
- Tree stumps
- Burned stump • Chopped stump (Gauranlen , Anima , Polux , Harbinger ) • Smashed stump (Gauranlen , Anima , Polux , Harbinger )