Sweetcorn Q......

[gazza1960]

Having recently given the thumbs up to Golden Bantam Variety I now find im asking about the later developing corns as they are either..................


Perfectly formed as in the middle one which have been the majority were pleased to say

The top one which seems stunted

or the bottom one which is elongated but the corns dont seem to have formed properly on the cob.

no big issue I guess but didnt know if its just end of season/variety symdrome or something else.

Gazza

[gazza1960]

[goodlife]

I can't give you proper answer...but some percentage of mine, regarless of the variety always make 'odd' looking cobs.
I don't think is anything to do with exact variety..or the time of the year. Cobs and begining of the seeds would have formed long time ago and once the pollination has occured..the amount of seeds each cob is able to produce is determined. After that is down to availability of water, nutrients and temperature. Genetics can play part in it too and not only with each variety's own genes..but cross pollination from other varieties may have play in it..it could be the seed you've sown wasn't 100% 'clean' to the type and got 'contaminated' by different pollen when originally grown by seed source.

[galina]

I agree with goodlife.  Top and middle look like nice and well pollinated Golden Bantams - nicely filled cobs - would not call the top one stunted at all.  The bottom one isn't true to type, but also well filled and no doubt excellent on the plate.

I think with the more variable vegetables, like sweetcorn, we are used to seeing great uniformity in the shops and this is not what happens on our plots.  What we don't see is the selection process before the shops get these alike looking corn cobs - half or more end up being stripped and frozen, because they are not pretty enough for 'corn on the cob'.

Apples too - they are all 'graded' to uniform size and colour by the farmers delivering to supermarkets.  In real life there are great variables. 

Nice looking corn, Gazza!

[louise stella]

That's down to pollination and cross breeding!  Will still taste nice!

[gavinjconway]

Gazza - Possible cross pollination... did you have any other types growing close or in the next door plots?

[gazza1960]

I think all 36 adjacent plots had some type of corn growing Gav,but last season it didnt affect the growth as it has this term.

Gazza