Topic: Cape Gooseberry/Sweetcorn

[AlanP]

I have grown two cape goosberry plants in the polytunnel this year with great success, they have now been cut back to six inches. Will they come back next year or do I have to start again?

As we are on a windy site  >:(  I would like to try Sweetcorn in one of the polytunnels, has anyone tried this and if so which type?

So many questions   :)

[jennym]

The cape gooseberry can be a perennial if it's kept warm enough - don't know if your polytunnel is, but it's worth trying. I don't have cover, so sow mine fresh each year.

Sweetcorn - don't see the point in growing in a polytunnel - always start mine off in April in a sheltered place in root-trainers and plant out mid May. get a good crop each year. Also, they are wind pollinated, so not sure about pollination in a polytunnel?

[kenkew]

Ditto on JennyM's bit.

[jennym]

Out of interest, my cape gooseberry plants are grown outside, and still bearing fruit. I notice the patch on the allotment have been hit by the cold on the edges of the patch, but inside the patch the fruits are still ripening nicely, and I'm still picking them.
I have a couple in large pots in the back garden, which I moved close to the house recently - these have borne more fruit (despite no feeding) and show signs of finishing. I think I'll have a go at overwintering these in a tall cold frame on the allotment, nothing to lose!

[john_miller]

If you are on a windy site then a problem which you might encounter is the sweetcorn pollen being blown too far horizontally before it has sunk enough to land on the cob tassels. You may want to consider putting up a windbreak of some sort to reduce the speed of the wind over your plot. If you are going to grow runner beans up supports then this would probably be sufficent if it is placed on the windward side of your block of sweetcorn. By the time the corn is starting to flower the beans should be tall enough to provide shelter.

[AlanP]

Thats a good idea JM, I grow Borlotti beans up my 10ft "A" frame, so I think I will plant a block behind this, and maybe a dozen plants in one of the polytunnels to see how they compare.

Maybe this should go on a seperate thread, but has anyone tried growing Peanuts under cover, seem to remember something from years back that said they could be grown under glass.