Earthing up Sweetcorn

[Digeroo]

There was a reference to Cornykev earthing up sweetcorn other day in the What did you do today thread.

What is this for? Can anyone explain this?  Should I be doing it?

[Digeroo]

[manicscousers]

we mulch up over the roots with well rotted manure, keeps the moisture in..if outside, i think it would help when it's windy  :)

[Digeroo]

I have mulched the roots, managed to use contaminated manure so it has upset their companion beans.  Rather windy spot so have had to stake them. 

[muddylou]

I have mulched the roots, managed to use contaminated manure so it has upset their companion beans.  Rather windy spot so have had to stake them. 

One if the old boys at our site plants his sweetcorn between parallel ridges.
When the plants are a couple of feet high, he uses the earth from the ridges to earth up to stop the wind blowing them over. It does work as some of my corn leaned over in the last bit of wind we had and his didn't.

As an aside, someone told me today that as corn is a grass, if it is left bent over it will eventually straighten itself, I don't know how true this is though.

[Digeroo]

I think I might give that a go next year.    Might see if I can find some space soil to pile up the stem a bit.

[cleo]

Bob Flowerdew gave this tip some years ago,you earth up when you start to see the `hen`s foot` roots show. What ever the reason it does make a difference to the eventual crop

[Robert_Brenchley]

If they fall flat they will sort of pick themselves up, but with a right-angle bend in the stem. I start them in a seed tray, then pot them up, and plant them right down the bottom of the pot. So the 'hen's foot' roots are buried right from the start. It's important to bury them for the sake of stability if nothing else.

[Digeroo]

I grew mine in pots and then put them out with plastic bottles over  for protection, and then earthed up the plastic bottles to stop them being blown over, so when the plastic was removed they would have had a small amount of earthing up.  Then they got the dreaded manure mulch.  I have not seen any hen's feet so will have a look.

I have managed to keep them uptight so far with bean canes. But I want those for my next batch of beans.

Thanks for the advice folks. 

[cornykev]

Some of the blokes on our site earth up like with spuds but what I do is similar to mulching, like a big mulch of compost well watered and packed into a mound, so keep the moisture in and to steady them in the wind.    ;D ;D ;D

[Digeroo]

I think that I must have buried mine quite deep in the first place.  No hens feet visible, thohg one or two seem to be producing a root from further up the stem.  Most of them have finally started producing females, and in fact most have two.  But there has been a lot of wind so rather worried that the pollen has been blown away.

Side shoots starting to produce males as well.

[cornykev]

Theres not much chance of the pollen being blown away, I always give my tops a good shake to aid the pollenation.    ;D ;D ;D