Topic: pre-chitting sweetcorn, pumpkin and winter squash

[Ant]

all I know is its a good job Sparklys in charge of planting otherwise nothing would be ready yet. Everytime I ask "have you planted so and so yet" it gets pointed to in its tray.

Ah well, back to digging and building (and kicking down) stuff for me  :)

[GrannieAnnie]

after reading something on here about f1 seeds don't come up 2nd year, I pre-chitted my sweetcorn seed..guess what? 32 sweetcorn all germinated, only need 12  :o ;D
also, tried one of our squash ones from last year, shooted in 3 days  :)

Wasn't it more that seed collected from F1's do germinate but don't come true to the genetics of the former F1 year?

[Jeannine]

Can I just add  to this discussion for the newbies out there.

I often hear about problems growing corn, personally I find it almost the easiest veggie to grow but  you have to  give it what it needs it will not be messed with!!It likes to be planted and GO with no obstructions. To get corn that grows well, with filled cobs right to the end that harvests at the right time we have to understand it's needs.

Sweetcorn is one of those veggies that has one or two little quirks. Number one is does not like to be transplanted, ideally it should be sown direct, but as it also needs warm soil, here in the UK we have to fool it. Usually it is planted direct from the middle of May till the end of the first week in June, the soil then would be a minimum 65f, and the supersweets need it even hotter.70f Planting in pots is the answer ...BUT.

There has to be maximum three weeks from planting in the pot to transplanting outside when the plant is still small and it doesn't realise it has been moved.

Therefore it needs to be planted in pots but it needs to be done in a way that won't disrupt it's internal time schedule.

With the old open pollinated varieties it is not so very important but with the modern hybrids this needs to be done no more than 3 weeks before the corn goes into the ground..two  is better.

Therefore if you decide to plant out in Mid may the seeds should be sown in three inch pots..1 only to a pot the last week in April. Don't try thinning them.

Seeds that are sown in pots earlier will grow beautifully, even to a foot tall but when planted out they will stop and sulk, and they can sulk for some time before they start to grow again. sometimes it never really recovers and although it grows on it never finishes it's cycle  properley so  unfilled cobs result, or the corn plant is weak and vunerable to problems.

In the meantime the seeds sown in pots later and planted out without upsetting the corn will take off and very often overtake the earlier planted corn.So there really is no advantage to planting earlier with them.

Pre chitting corn is fine, it separates the duds from the viable seeds, but soaking corn seeds is not such a good idea as they rot very easily. Tests done with soaked seeds versus not  have given better results with the nots. This especially is important with the supersweet varieties that need warmer ground and rot much easier, easy to tell them from the others as the corn seed is shrunken.

Corn seed is viable for 2 years, after that the germination drop quickly, many will still sprout but you will have to be prepared to sow more, this is were pre chitting is useful.

Seed saved from hybrid seeds will not grow true  you could get anything, this can be fun with squash for example but not corn as it could be the taste or texture that you lose. Therefore it it not a good decision to save seeds. This of course is not the case with those that were not hybrids in the first place.

Corn loses it's sweetness once picked but the modern varieties are bred to retain it which gives it more of a shelf life.

Older non hybrids need eating as soon as they are picked

Regular hybrid corn will last a good day, possibly two depending on the variety.

The Supersweets will last up to a week after picking before they start to go starchy, so it is important to know which you are sowing.

Corn will cross pollinate. I f you grow two kinds, ot your neighbour grows corn too you need to know what types. Corn that cross pollinates will be tough and starchy when you try to eat them.

It is the new Supersweets that need the isolation, either by distance or by harvesting time.

Corn is wind pollinated. the tassel that grows out of the top is the Dad, the corn grows from the sides, when Dad starts shaking it about in a good wind the pollen can get carried  some distance.

If you are growing more than 1 type and are not sure if they will cross or are safe,post the variety and I can tell you.

I know this post is moot to many growers out there as they already know these things, my comments are aimed at the newer growers, corn is one of my faves and I have been growing it for 40 years  so I have pretty much got used to it's moods.

 XX Jeannine

[Emagggie]

Wow! Thanks for the info Jeannine, that's brilliant. ;D ;D

[Crystalmoon]

Thank you so much Jeannine for all the info  ;D
Im a total newbie to growing anything & I almost started my corn off in pots today but was saved by your post. As my lottie is covered in snow today despite me being in the south east  :(  I will definitely leave sowing the corn until the end of the month  ;)

[littlebabybird]

:'(  and i thought i was doing so well, i have 12 beautiful 2" high s/corn plants growing indoors
ho hum, shall i bin them now or risk wasting the space, it seems so wrong to chuck them

[Magnolia]

Thanks for that. 

[tartonterro]

You will not be able to put your sweetcorn out into the ground till early June in Edinburgh. Even then, I use cloches in Glasgow for the first month.
You should be able to transfer them to a Greenhouse in April, a cold frame in May, before planting out in the ground.
You started a bit early for the North of the UK.
I am just about to start mine.

does it matter if its not a heated greenhouse, all i have is a "tent" greenhouse - one of the larger plastic heavy duty ones and its not exactly draft proof lol

[Jeannine]

LBL don't bin them,they will grow but it is not the easiest way.

Re the cold greenhouse,I would pop them in it only if you have to just now try and hang on another couple of weeks cos the weather is really daft right  now,if you do chuck something over the top at night if it gets really cold or get a very large clear container, like the black recycling boxes, but see through, and pop them in that inside the greenhouse. If it is a warm day lift them out, but put them back in if it gets really cold especially at night.It is like a greenjhouse in a greenhouse.

If left in the house they will romp away and out grow their pots really quickly.

The big problem wth corn and cold is getting it to germinate, it will rot rather than germinate if the soil is not warm enough.

With the lack of space we all have due to planting inside I am always thankful that the corn will wait.

When you do finally plant out remember they have a very shallow root system so weed around them carefully, when they are about 18 tall stop weeding them and leave them to it.

There is lots written about how much space and there are several ways to do it, all OK but you must plant them either in rows at least 4 or if that is too many plants plant a part row so you have 4 deep still, like a block.

XX Jeannine

[Lady of the Land]

Jeannine thank you for the great advice - I always have difficulty getting mine to germinate as they have often rotted. I will now follow your advice.

I am sowing lark swallow and swift - all sweet varieties, but one is early, one mid and one late season. I always sow at same time and plant at same time and pick as and when each sweetcorn  appears ready. Are these varieties ok to be planted next to each other so I can keep sweetcorn in one place on my allotments.

Thank you

[bupster]

Is it possible to sow a ground cover crop beneath the sweetcorn without introducing too much competition?

[Kea]

I found that when chitting my Kaboucha Squash 24 hours on a moist paper towel in the hot water cylinder cupboard was all it took.

[Jeannine]

Bupster, if you want something to grow under your corn I would go for winter squash, they will grow big  and the vines will smother aby weeds, if you are planting in rows I would pop a couple in at the end of the rows and train them to wind around the corn stalks along the ground that way the roots will be a the end and not competing with the corn. This is not the same as the 3 sisters method which involves interplanting as the spacing is differnt in that method.

XX Jeannine

[cornykev]

Sorry to keep you busy Jeannine, last year I didn't have a great crop of sweetcorn, I suspect I kept them in the pots for too long, the thing is the weather was so windy they stayed in the pots for another few weeks. When you say three weeks, is that from sowing or when the seedling appears because even in a plastic bag mine seem to take ages to germinate, sorry for all the questions, you can put your feet up now for the rest of the evening.  :-*    ;D ;D ;D

[Robert_Brenchley]

I interplant squashes with corn and both appear to be quite happy.

[PurpleHeather]

so's mine but only about half an inch  ;D

too soon. they will get too big before you can put them out.

[Jeannine]

cornykev, count the day they break the soil as day one and then three weeks.They germinate quite quickly if given the right heat so watch them XX Jeannine

[manicscousers]

so's mine but only about half an inch  ;D

too soon. they will get too big before you can put them out.

they're going in the polytunnel, end april/beginning of may so will be right for us  :)

[Ant]

some of the sweetcorn have sprouted now. What size pots should I be putting these into to avoid some of the above problems?

[tartonterro]

just put some more in a plastic bag to chit - heres hoping