Manure and sweet corn - how long to wait?

[anthea]

Over the last few months I've been getting as much rotted horse manure as I can, and spreading it on my poor degraded soil (last year was my first year on my allotment). I was about to spread manure on the bed where I plan to put sweetcorn this summer, but yesterday I read not to plant sweetcorn in areas that have been recently manured.

Can anyone tell me please - what does 'recently' mean? If I put manure down now, will it be too recent? And even if it is a bit on the 'recent' side, is that worse than putting sweetcorn in poor depleted soil?

Any advice very welcome. Thanks
Anthea

[anthea]

[grawrc]

Anthea I'm no expert but I would put manure (if well rotted) down now. It will be at least another 3 months before you plant out sweetcorn.

[Tee Gee]

I'm with grawrc

[twinkletoes]

In my copy of the Complete Vegetable Gardener - it says best to sow nitrogen fixing crop to over winter. Dig this in and then spready a good few inches of compost over.  Doesn't say anything for or against putting down manure.
Twinkletoes

[Tee Gee]

The reason I dig in loads of manure in the autumn is to have a good supply of moisture around at all times when the plants are in full growth.

As with all hollow stemmed they need copious amounts of moisture after flower/fruit set.

For the record I never water them after I have planted them out (farmers don't so why should i?) hence the muck!!

[anthea]

Great, thanks to all of you. That's the answer I'd most like to hear - I'm very keen to be manuring so will keep going and hope the sweetcorn enjoy it.
:)

[cornykev]

As said above, sweetcorn grows fine on most soils which is why its generally put in any of the rotation beds to suit your needs. Don't forget not to manure your root beds.  ;D ;D ;D

[Thegoodlife]

as from a farming back ground sweet corn is a very greedy plant & with past experience ive found that if you make a bed like you would for marrows etc (dig a hole first mind) and put in plenty of muck veggie waste as you can  2 months before planting this will then aid moisture retension and also feed the plants as they grow this what ive been doing for 4 years & never had a failed crop yet.
You look at the dairy farms before they plant there forage maize the land is spread well with muck then a week before planting the maize they spread artificial fertilizer (npk mix). Why? i hear you ask!.
once they are in they stay there until late nov early dec. & inbetween they dont get any other feeding apart of what the farm has done prior to planting,The muck has two uses 1. water retension for them hot days & feeding & to establish a good root system, 2.it improves the soil for the next crop mostley a 1st year wheat & this will cut down on the fertilizer for the nxt year but i have seen some farms with a 2nd year maize on the same ground ,you just look at a field of maize this year and you will see the plant stands 7/8ft tall before harvesting it for forage feed.

[loopyloulou]

so where do you get the muck from then? and whens best to plant the corn? please :D

[Tee Gee]

so where do you get the muck from then?

From a local farmer or horse stables.

and whens best to plant the corn?

I don't sow mine until the end of April/beginning of May see here; http://tinyurl.com/35fevf