Topic: Growing Tomatos Peppers and Sweetcorn for the 1st time

[baronvon]

Hi all

Great website.

1st post so be gentle :)


This year I decided to try and grow veggies for the 1st time.

I bought 1 tomato pack (3 types of cordon) 1 pepper pack (3 types again) and some F1 Sweetcorn

I later bought 2 bush toms (cherry toms ?) that are in hanging baskets (planted 1 month apart)

Purchased a large propagator (sp?) and was very pleased with results. Transfered 10 sweetcorn, 10 toms and 10 peppers to 3" pots. (binned the rest purely for space reasons)

After a good few weeks transfered to garden (pots on decking actualy)
Gave away a few and now I`m left with

5 sweetcorn, approx 5ft high with 2/3 husks on each.
5 toms (cordon) no idea what type as mixed them all up !! they are ranging from 2ft to 4 ft all flowering and some pea size fruit appearing.
5 peppers (again dont know what type) all flowering but some much more advanced than others.
2 bush toms, the older one must have 30-40 fruit on it (large marble size but still greeen) and lots of flowers size wise maybe 3 foot wide and 2 foot high.

I am watering regulary and feeding all plants with tomorite (sp?) 10mls per plant every week.

I`ll post pics tonight when I get home, I`m really looking for any tips (esp with toms and sweetcorn)

I`m concerned with lack of toms on the cordons plus I think I may have too many flowers on them.

Thanks

PS I`m near glasgow so weather not the best :(

 

[twinkletoes]

Welcome baronvon.  I'm useless at giving info - so will leave that to the knowledgeable others.  Keep up the good work - take it you are growing at home rather than an allotment?
twinkletoes

[baronvon]

hi

growing at home at present (apols to all however really struggled to find info on growing sweetcorn until I came across this site, hope its not an issue)

toying with an allotment however for next year depending on how successful I am this year.

Cheers

[twinkletoes]

baronvon - trust me you are amongst many many friends here so stay with us.  So many people with so much knowledge - makes your head spin!   
twinkletoes

[baronvon]

thanks, appreciated

[kt.]

Welcome.  Great forum.  Hope to hear more from you.

[weedgrower]

with your toms, spray the flowers once a week with water and also tap the main stem with a stick, this helps the flowers polinate. as for sweetcorn always plant in blocks rather than rows as they are wind polinated and they should be planted approx 15 inches apart. good luck

[baronvon]

thanks, the sweetcorn are actually in pots (8" i think) I`ve put them in a shape of 5 (as in how the number 5 is represented on a dice)

Cheers

[Barnowl]

Welcome to the forum. I started with herbs, then tomatoes then chillies and peppers in the back garden. Never thought of trying sweetcorn, especially in pots. Very avant garde and you've done well to get 3 ears per sweetcorn - 'figure 5' pollination obviously works.  :)

[baronvon]

ok heres the photos

theres a few, tell me if its too many

the big hanging tom





5 sweetcorn (ive moved them to photograph them)



if ive red right then i have to wait for these to turn brown ?



other toms









cheers

[baronvon]

ok, ive just dug out my sweetcor4n seed packet and found they are F1 minipops, when should they be harvested ?

cheers

[Barnowl]

Nice photos  - everything looks good and healthy.

Minipops are meant to produce those little cobs you get in stir fries etc. If you are sure they are minipops you should be harvesting them already to encourage further growth (see below). I'm sorry but I'm not an expert, so not sure what you should do now that they've started to swell.

Quote from Fothergills:
"A sweet and tasty variety, the whole cob is eaten raw or lightly steamed. Bred for use as mini-corn, they should be picked before the grains begin to swell. Thrives in most cultivated soils. Cooking Tips: eat raw in salads, lightly steam for tender whole cobs or slice lengthways to add to stir-fries.

When to plant: Spring and early Summer
How to grow: Sow in growing position late September preferably under cloches. Keep well watered, particularly at flowering time. Harvest: when tassels just show. Best when eaten immediately after picking. Pick regularly before fertilization occurs for heavier crops. Care: As cropping is intense, feed soils each growing season with slow release fertilizer (fast release can cause uneveness in the crop)"

[baronvon]

thanks for the reply.

stupid question but how do I remove them from the plant, do I litterally chop them off from the stem ??

cheers

[Rhubarb Thrasher]

your toms look much nicer than mine -"Touch and Go" for the second year running (turned out last year it was Go  ???)

for the sweetcorn -hold the stem with one hand to steady it and a sharp downward tug on the cob should pull it off. Minipops should be harvested small, as the centres get tough quickly. They're the only sweetcorn we grow

[Monika]

This year, I've grown some ornamental sweetcorn in my flowerbeds.

The cobs range in colours, purple, red, orange, etc. and people ask me if they are edible ..... and I don't know.

Can anyone tell me, please?

(Incidentally, I wouldn't bother with them again)

[baronvon]

Rhubarb Thrasher

what happens if I let the minipops grow full size. Do they taste ok ?

Cheers

[Rhubarb Thrasher]

i've no idea. We like em little.

[Jeannine]

Hi Baronvon, I would be very surprised if your sweetcorn got to a full head in those little pots sI I would advise you to harvest them as minis. If left I think you will get only partly pollinated cobs which will be half empty. To answer your question though, if mini cobs are left they will get to normal size and depending on the variety will have normal flavour, but many of the "mini cobs! are a type used for popcorn, so go starchy quite quickly when pulled.

Welcome to the forum, your toms look wonderful.


XX Jeannine

[baronvon]

Thanks Jeannine, the sweetcorn (husks) are about 10" long at present and rather firm in the centre to the touch, I`m going to try one tonight so I`ll photo the operation and post results later.

Fingers crossed the toms work out, I actually ate 2 last night from the big hanging tom (I think its a tumbling tom ?) only about a spherical 10p size but god they were lovely :) :)

Cheers

[Sinbad7]

Your containers look brilliant baronvon, I think you must have greenfingers. It  has to be an allotment for you next year.

Welcome to A4A.

Sinbad