Topic: question on mixing sweetcorn (again)

[N8R]

thanks to all (especially Jeannine) ;) thats  cleared it for me ...n8r...

[pookienoodle]

Wow Jeannine what awesome sweetcorn knowledge you have.
I have bought earlibird which is a supersweet ....I gather this is not the best choice for an allotment situation. :(
I may choose another variety and try to grow this in my back garden instead.

[Jeannine]

It  does need isolation.. if your neighbours are not growing corn you will be OK,  if they are and you can seperate by 25 feet it will be OK, or if yoiu can find out what they are growing and get the maturity dates, a difference of 10 days will keep you safe.

My neighbour on our lotties and I always grew diffent types, so he planted at one end of his lottie and I planted at the other, we were always OK. It was really funny actually because he was an excellent gardener with a plot to dream of, never a weed, everything in perfect rows.When I first got the lottie I approached him about corn and he said he wasn't going to grow it anymore as it was awful, we discussed the other person who had had my lottie, would you believe he too always complained about his corn..tactfully I explained about the differences, he reluctantly agreed to give it abother go, I told him to buy anything he fancied then tell me, he got an se type so I got a supersweet, wo both planted at extreme ends of our plots..his corn was lovely and so was mine..he was very gracious and was very grateful for his new knowledge, in fact he brought it up at a lottie meeting so other folks could help each oher..it was funny the next  year to see the position of the corn on the lotties LOl


If you buy another one, you could grow this one as a mini corn which would'nt interfere with anything.

XX Jeannine

[pookienoodle]

Thanks,
the nearest would be swift about 15 feet away.
where would I find the info on maturity dates please Jeannine?

[Jeannine]

Tell me the varieties and I can probably tell you. Usually it says on the packet on in the seed catalogue but UK stockists don't seem to do this as much.I would be quoting US dates bit it wouldn't matter as it is relative anyway.  By the way, Swift is also a supersweet so you can both plant as they don't need to be isolated from each other,you are safe!! XX Jeannine

[Ninnyscrops.]

Hi Jeannine, you've opened up the floodgates now  ;D

I'm hoping to grow Applause F1 on one half plot and Ambrosia (but from saved seed - my favourite) on the other half plot, bearing in mind the plots are only divided by an 8 foot path.

You're diagnosis is most welcome  ???

Ninny x

[pookienoodle]

Tell me the varieties and I can probably tell you. Usually it says on the packet on in the seed catalogue but UK stockists don't seem to do this as much.I would be quoting US dates bit it wouldn't matter as it is relative anyway.  By the way, Swift is also a supersweet so you can both plant as they don't need to be isolated from each other,you are safe!! XX Jeannine

Yeah! :) :) :)

[Jayb]

Me too please Jeannine,  I was going to grow Mirai Bicolour M302 and Extra Tender and Sweet, neither packet says to grow separately, but thought I'd ask the oracle  ;D I'm also planning on Clay Pot. I'm hoping you will make it all sound simple, the packets are not helpful ;D

[Jeannine]

Hi Jayb..Extra Tender and Sweet is a supersweet and I believe so is Mirai Biclolour M302, the reason I say believe is because there is a series os Mirai corns and they are all supersweets. could look into it with my uni connection if you need to be more sure, but I am pretty certain.

Re Clay Pot,well you have me there, off the top of my head I have never heard of it. I thought it was a gardening method for growing corn!!I know Hopi was popular for growing this way.  I will send on an e maill and see if I can find out for you though. You have me curious.

XX Jeannine

[Jayb]

Thanks, knowing they are both supersweets is a great help.  Sorry I should have added this http://store.irishseedsavers.ie/products/family/4/organic-seed/category/68/grains-including-linseed/item/311/clay-pot-corn/
I haven't been able to find anything else,  I'll sow the Claypot separately, I'm thinking they will be slower to mature too?

[Jeannine]

Ninny, sorry I missed you at first..

Applause is as Hybrid synergistic corn, it has 25% supersweet kernels and 75% sugar enhanced kernels so it gives the extra sweetness of a sugar enhanced. Personally  now I would definatley treat them as a supersweet and isolate, a few years ago I would have said the opposite.I t have to be truthful and tell you that some seedsman say it is OK  not to isolate and others say you must. Cruise the net a bit and read what you can to choose for yourself.I have heard too many folks complain about their corn which is why I changed my mind.I have grown this one but it was by chance isolated.

Ambrosia is a hybrid sugar enhanced bi colour corn..( not synergistic) What worries me is that your seeds are home saved so you have the problem of them not coming true from hybrid plus the mystery of not knowing what they may have been crossed with so I can't help you really. Ideally they should be isolated from everything to try to keep them pure if you are trying to de hybridise them , they might be fine or they could cause havoc, I have no means of knowing.Just out of curiosity what colour are the kernels you saved, the corn  should have had white and yellow kernels.

XX Jeannine

[Jeannine]

Jayb,,   Anasazzi seeds I do know about. They  were  definitely found  in caves  and probably were found in claypots which was the order of the day for storage. Me thinks there has been a bit of  horticulturist license used here!!  ;) I wonder what they call the beans which were found at the same time ;D


Anasazzi (several spellings) will be multi coloured corn , used for flour, or decoration now of course, long growing season, they are pretty tough by the way so will stand a bit of abuse re water ,manure etc. Need to be well dried to use for flour, will pop if dried sufficiently. I have never eaten one fresh but you might get away with it if you put the water on to boil before you go to pick them!!  Sorry couldn't resist using the old corn quote. I would have to try just for the heck of it.

Interesting..

I did find a multi coloured  very edible corn in a catalogue somewhere this year which temped me , I will have to find it as it was new to me.

XX Jeannine

[Ninnyscrops.]

I would have just taken them all off a couple of cobs and to be honest I think the white kernals were very few and far between on each cob!

On you're advice I'll only go with the Ambrosia seed, already sown, and see what pops up. (Anyone like any Applause - to be sown this year?)

Thank you for your help Jeannine.

Ninny x

[Jayb]

 ;D You mean they may not be from the originals!

Yes the seeds are multi coloured, I've not grown a 'corn' before and thought it sounded fun. I'll hopeful have a spot in the polytunnel for them. I could perhaps have a camp stove in the garden come harvest, save a few more seconds, may make all the difference  ;D

I did find a multi coloured  very edible corn in a catalogue somewhere this year which temped me , I will have to find it as it was new to me.

Wot like mine!

[Jeannine]

Irish Original maybe .. oh I 'me in trouble :o XX Jeannine

[OberonUK]

This is my first year of having a veg plot and so I'm very much a novice, hence likely to ask the MOST stupid questions, but that's how to learn. I had no idea about the dangers of mixing sweetcorn varieties so this thread both fascinates and terrifies! To add to the confusion I have been given two different packs of seeds - F1 Sweet Bounty and F1 Sundance but I'm struggling to find any online information about either. Sweet Bounty is a Super-Sweet variety and all I can find about Sundance is that it is 'standard'.  Obviously the simple answer is to just pick one, but if I do that I won't have learned anything. Will they work together or am I likely to end up with mutant cobs?

[Robert_Brenchley]

Or you could plant one now and the other in a few weeks' time (check how long they take first, the idea is to have them flowering at different times), plant them at opposite ends of the plot, and you should be OK.

[OberonUK]

Or you could plant one now and the other in a few weeks' time (check how long they take first, the idea is to have them flowering at different times), plant them at opposite ends of the plot, and you should be OK.

Thanks - I had thought of that but there are two problems; my plot isn't that big, only 6 x 20ft so nowhere is THAT far from anywhere else and also, I can't find any timings for the Sweet Bounty. Sundance is sowing to cropping 14-16 weeks but the Sweet Bounty has no such useful guidance. Think it may be one variety this year and the other next year! I don't want to do anything foolish to dampen my enthusiasm, so this sounds like one 'mistake' I can avoid making even if it means keeping one packet of seeds firmly closed!

[Jeannine]

Hi Oberonuk..sorry I missed this one.

 F! Sundance is a  all golden normal sugar  hybrid  corn, it is an early 79 days

F1 Sweet Bounty also an all golden  it is a supersweet, also an early and is  77 days .

You definitely could not plant these two together unless you can separate by distance.

If you are not surrounded by other corn growers may I suggest you plant the supersweet Sweet Bounty it is a very good corn for the UK weather. It is sweeter and has a longer shelf life than Sundance.

You could grow the second one Sundance as a mini corn, you would grow both together in the usual way but pick the Sundance when the cobs are tiny and before they start to tassle, this way they would be picked before they had a chance to pollinate the other one and you would be safe.

Sorry I didn't see this earlier.

XX Jeannine

[cornykev]

You'll get no rest now girl.   ;)       ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D