My partner wants me to grow a few sweetcorn plants. I'm not convinced as it means I'll have to dig another separate bed for them. We only need a couple of plants as it's only us that eat the cobs. This place has given me so many ideas already, so I thought I'd ask you knowledgeable folks some questions. My garden is south facing by the way.
How deep/wide does the bed need to be? How many cobs do you get per plant? Should I start them off indoors, and when? Any other tips would be gratefully received!
Grow sweetcorn in blocks, so they pollinate ok, otherwise you end up with patchy cobs! I've grown as few as 9 in a tub and got good pollination, so depends on your available area.
I start mine off in roottrainers about late April/May. Best tip I was ever given was to just push the seeds into the top of the soil, not to cover them. I got 100% germination doing this, will do again this year. ;D
We got a 1-2 cobs per plant.
I start mine off indoors in March, then move them to the mini-greenhouse as soon as we get some decent mild weather in April. I plant them out in June, but this year I may do it a bit earlier, under cloches. When planting out, it pays to bury the bottom couple of inches of the stem, as this gives the plant a bit of extra stability.
you can plant them in your main crop spud bed in a row once there about 4 inches high.
I plant mine in pots and then plant out end May/early june. 1-2 cobs per plant off Kelvedon Glory. I grow 50-100 plants and freeze them.
Derek :)
Winter squashes will grow very well underneath sweetcorn,I think they benefit each other
yep its a good companion you just have to be careful that your squash or pumpkin dont squash your sweetcorn :-)
Two cobs max on mine last year, you can fit them in anywhere into the rotation and are good companion plants. ;D ;D ;D
i got an average of 4 cobs on 20 swift plants last year.
Dont need to dig, just plant em in when they are about 8-12 inches tall and they will just grow! must admit they were the easiest things to grow last year for me!
Thanks for starting this thread Laney, we're hoping to grow some sweetcorn too so it's handy to hear everyone else's tips. I'm a bit disappointed to only be getting around 4 cobs per plant, but I suppose i'll be happy if I get anything this year lol! Good luck with yours, look forward to hearing how it's going x
6 to 7 per plant if you can protect them, ours were in the poly ;D
How many cobs?-one or two usually from most varieties-one tip -when you see those claw like roots on the surface then earth up a few inches-it does make a difference
What variety did you use Scousers to get 6 or 7 :o mine only produced 1 or 2 :( and grew to about six foot. ;D ;D ;D
Very pleased to see that it's an easy one.
I might have a chance then...
How do you feed? Are they a hungry crop?
Hiya, we grew Royalty and Tuxedo, ..we got 10 plants, 1 grew none, 3 got 7, the rest got 5 or 6 and a couple of small ones we used in stir fries , don't know which was which, I'm really bad at labelling ;D
Mine were 4 weeks late getting transplanted. Only got 3-4cobs from a total of 24 plants. Was not a happy bunny :(
oh, yes, forgot, they were all grown in the polytunnel and reached well over 8 feet tall, and I started them early :)
You gotta shake 'em, KT....shake 'em........spread the pollen. You should average 3/4 cobs per plant.
Did you read Derek's bit......50 to 100 plants.Ye G*od's.
To be honest, on my best year, after losses, my 100 was only 94 plants. I did have two fresh sweetcorn for breakfast every day at work for 4 weeks though, and a freezer full to boot.
Derek :)
One tip I got last year was, when sowing the sweetcorn seed, only lightly cover with compost.
In the past we had pressed the seed about a quarter to half an inch into the compost. Doing this we had a very poor germination rate. When we used the lightly covering method we had 100% germination rate.
valmarg
I did cover with compost, cant remember how lightly though, & I planted them 1ft apart as I was directed. Was this too far. Not sure if I wanna go with them again. They take loads of room though I know you can undercrop.
I plant on an 18 inch grid ...
Derek :)
I never plant under a foot apart, usually a bit mor than that. Farmers grow them spaced like carrots but that's chicken feed stuff. I don't like the plants rubbing together. Pollenation between plants is necessary but I wouldn't have thought a foot apart to far.
...and I've gone right off Derek........ :P
Quote from: kenkew on January 30, 2007, 21:42:42
...and I've gone right off Derek........ :P
Ah well, I have been known to have that effect ... :D
Keep the tips coming guys, you're inspiring me to get out there tomorrow and dig the bed for them. I was a bit dubious at first, but now I can almost taste them covered in butter.
Could anyone show me a picture of their plants, just so I can get an idea of bed size and spacings of mature plants?
Another tip when they are ready [when the juice is milky & the tassels brown] then don't pick them till you have the pan boiling on the stove [a slight exageration but leave them as long as you can] then cook them straight away. If you've never tasted them freshly picked you will be amazed - one of the things which really do taste completely different than from the supermarket.
Does barbequing them on my allotment, straight off the plant, onto the grille, also qualify? Either way, they were delicious !!!
Derek :)
PS irrespective of space and yield issues, sweetcorn are one of the high points of veg growing to me !
Eat 'em raw too. Yummy.
Having successfully grown sweetcorn in my garden for a few years, a couple of years ago I decided to try the mini-sweetcorn variety 'Minipops'. I used a 15" spacing either way and grew a block of 24 plants, taking up a total of just under 8ft by 5 ft, all under-and-between-planted with things like lettuce, radish, etc. The plants grew 8ft high and were absolutely heaving with corn - a great deal of which never even made it indoors (well, I had to keep trying them to check for ripeness)!
Last year I got the allotment so I did the same thing, with the same result. Now I can't imagine not growing sweetcorn. Highly recommended.
Get digging!
;D
I start mine off in the greenhouse in old bog rolls in early / mid may, then plant straight out (bog rolls included) in a grid about 12" apart when the plants average about 7" high. I water them quite a bit to begin with - and keep watering them if its really dry (like last year dann sauf)
I have planted direct in years past - but the last couple of years i've had problems with germination. If you do plant direct - plant a few spares just in case.
When their ready i pick the whole lot, boil for 2 minutes then put them in the freezer. I normally get 2 /3 per plant.
I have 3 types of sweetcorn to grow on the lottie this year. It will be my first attempt, so all this advice is great. Underplanting with winter squash is a great idea, as I only have a small plot, and space is precious.
cj :)
They seedlings don't like root disturbance so transplanting using paper pots is a good idea.
I have pics on paper pot making.
Loved my Sweetcorn last year, hoping for more cobs this year, I planted them in bio pots so they went straight in the ground no fuss. ;D ;D ;D
Please forgive my ignorance, but how do you "underplant" sweetcorn (I plant them in about a 1ft grid ) and would other types of veg be suitable in addition to squashe?
I leave out a corn plant and substitute a squash at apropriate intervals. I haven't tried underplanting them with anything else.
I planted long red onions in a row between the corn, it did quite well :)
Would swede grow between the rows?
My darling pest of a partner is hassling me for swede too, but I've got no more room. He's the only one that eats them.
:-X
I've told him he can dig this extra bed, if he wants the corn he'll have to work for it! ;D
I read in one of the organic books that by combining corn, beans (using the corn to grow up) and squashes are ideal companion crops and called the three sisters. It appears this planting was done by the red Indian's in days gone by. I am going to try this on the lottie this season.
Jitterbug
i tried the three sisters method last year jitterbug. it was a mixed success. i planted the sweetcorn and squashes at the same time (started in pots) and sowed three bean seeds at the base of each corn plant. the squashes and the corn romped away and grew very well but the beans never really got a look in. the summer was very dry but the squashes acted as a good mulch for the corn and i put loads of manure and compost in the ground before i planted as they need a lot of feeding. i think if you wanted the beans to succeed aswell it may be better to start them off in pots also and maybe to have a good amount of space between each corn plant so it doesnt get too congested. the beans are supposed to be good in this grouping as they add nitrogen to the soil whichis good for the other two crops which as i said are heavy feeders. an interesting experiment needs a bit of trial and error i think.
i plan on planting lettuce between mine this year... dont know if it will be good and bad. I know that my SC were very heavily rooted so i would think swede may be too big to plant under.
We lost all our sweetcorn to Badgers last year. This year we will have to try and make a strong barricade to grow them in. We had good germination, and nice strong plants last year, I was gutted to lose them all. :( :(
My first attempt at sweetcorn last year and not much success. Compared to neighbours mine were spindly and short with only one cob per plant if that, and then something ate the cobs before I could get them ripe? Are they hungry plants (I did give them chicken manure on planting) and those not in tunnels - do you protect your plants from mice/birds etc?
one bloke on ours built a 'fence, canes with plastic around to protect his from wind and cold, he seemed to do o.k. :)
Have any of you tried sowing direct and if so, what was the outcome?
I ask because of limited space for sowing in pots & nursery supervision at home and if sowing direct is possible - in our climate - I may be quids in and actually manage to grow some this year!
re..the germination bit ...I put the kernels on damp kitchen towel after a few days they stick their tongues out then onto the loo roll
stage, saves potting up duds
Quote from: markfield rover on February 02, 2007, 19:30:47
after a few days they stick their tongues out
love it marky! :P ;D
Last year there was someone on here who was protecting his cobs with milk cartons [or did I dream it ???]
Not exactly, MM. It was the use of pop/water bottles. Cut off the bottom, and slide over the corn cobs to keep away undesirables, ie stop tham being eaten by anything other than you!!
Jolly good idea - I shall start collecting them as I plan to grow more sweetcorn this year.