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Produce => Edible Plants => Topic started by: glow777 on October 17, 2006, 08:09:35

Title: Sweetcorn rotation
Post by: glow777 on October 17, 2006, 08:09:35
Does sweetcorn have to be rotated?

I have the perfect spot for growing sweetcorn - well actually its a pretty bad spot but its a small square that catches littlte light unless the plants are tall, and the wind whirls round ideal for pollination its not great for much else.  I had a decent yield of corn from this spot last year.
Is there any reason why I shouldnt just heavily manure the area, forget rotation and go with the corn again?
Title: Re: Sweetcorn rotation
Post by: supersprout on October 17, 2006, 08:13:48
None that I know of glow if your sweetcorn was healthy. Maybe grow some nitrogen fixing green manure over winter - clover, tares - so the sweetcorn have plenty of food at their roots and weeds are suppressed?
Title: Re: Sweetcorn rotation
Post by: caroline7758 on October 17, 2006, 09:21:54
Sneaking in on your thread to ask another sweetcorn question. Do you put the stems and roots on the compost heap, or are they too woody? I'm going to make some ladybird house from some of the stems, as recommended by Bob Flowerdew, but not sure about the rest.
Title: Re: Sweetcorn rotation
Post by: manicscousers on October 17, 2006, 09:41:39
we put everything apart from the stems and seed heads on the compost heap, lovely big leaves, chop some of the stems up for insect houses and bash the rest up and compost them as well, hope that helps
Title: Re: Sweetcorn rotation
Post by: Barnowl on October 17, 2006, 09:42:37
This came up on an earlier thread. I think the consensus was that you can compost (if they were healthy) but first it's best to chop them up or run them over with car or both
Title: Re: Sweetcorn rotation
Post by: manicscousers on October 17, 2006, 09:57:14
I'm not with it this morning, I was reading about sunflowers and then went into this item, so al the comments I made were for sunflowers,still did the same for sweetcorn, apart from the seed heads :P
Title: Re: Sweetcorn rotation
Post by: supersprout on October 17, 2006, 10:24:40
Quote from: caroline7758 on October 17, 2006, 09:21:54
Sneaking in on your thread to ask another sweetcorn question. Do you put the stems and roots on the compost heap, or are they too woody? I'm going to make some ladybird house from some of the stems, as recommended by Bob Flowerdew, but not sure about the rest.

agree, chop, mash, shred, crush or ladybird nests :)
it's organic - I just strew it on the plot as mulch so it should be fine in the compost heap! :P
Title: Re: Sweetcorn rotation
Post by: glow777 on October 17, 2006, 19:53:15
we use ours as a feature in the chicken run. Otherwise known as a big pile of sticks for the hens to  hunt insects in!