Allotments 4 All

As mine were completely and utterly NAFF this year >:( ... I'll be good and not rubbish the seeds supplier !!

Please would you suggest to me which one I should grow!  My son was sooooooooo disappointed  :'(   Just shows that trying something new does not always work!!   :-X :-\

Last year I grew Applause F1 from Suttons which was very sweet and successful ... but I'm still open to suggestions .........   :) :) :)

I grew Sundance this year and got two or one to each plant but they were lovely cobs i have frozen a good few too:). Considering the weather we had this year I was pleased with them

Duke

I grew 'Extra Tender & Sweet' from T&M (cheapie packet from last years seed bonanza!) this year, and so far have had fantastic cobs, all fully filled and very sweet. I also grew 'Ovation', which did not grow so big, and some cobs have had black smut, so not as impressed.

Last year I grew non hybid varieties, but was disappointed with the pollination and the taste! :-\

I grow Sweet Nugget, Tuxedo and Kelvedon Glory

I find these give me a longer cropping season e.g. they tend to crop in the order written.

Ovation here... but if you've passed the smut on to mine I'll be cross Deb!!  :-X

Tried some new varieties this year but am having a bad year. Planted late and the weather was rubbish,  so not really a fair test, but am tempted to go back to Extra Tender & Sweet which were good in 2006 and 2007.

My choice is Swift and Lark, both extra tender and sweet types, which I have grown for several years in Glasgow with great success.
Even in this poor summer, I have grown the strongest and best cropping plants that I have ever had; an average of 2 big cobs and 1 small cob per plant, so far and still cropping.

Swift would be my choice, they did brilliantly this year.  The bicolour I also tried were rubbish :( I interplanted with sunflowers which grew at roughly the same speed and looked pretty good too.

Would go along with realfood and jlottie with Swift.  We have grown it for several years, and it produces lovely tasty cobs.

valmarg

well my minipops are seven foot tall this year and although a bit late have cropped well (5-8 small cobs per plant this year)and are fab for stirfries. Germinate well to
and for large cobs i really like indian summer but this year they werent to good i think becuae pollination was poor. so trying lark next year as it seems very popular.
x sunloving

First year for me, so not very successful as in pollination, but Lark was quick and very sweet and tasty, so I will replant them again next year. Alan Romans sells them cheaply (sorry for the plug there ;)

I am a bit comfused here. Are the dissapointments in the taste of the corn or is it the way it grew,or didn't grow.

I have seen several pictures of cobs on the forum all of which were only partially pollinated  or show erratic patterns of mishaped seeds and have wondered if that is common for the UK as folks seemed to be happy with it.

I didn't grow any corn this year,the first time in about 35 years so I am only guessing here, but I think this year has been a bad year for everything and it certainly hasn't been corn growing weather.

If I am right  there isn't a corn that can be suggested to grow in poor conditions.

Certainly there are tricks to getting corn going well that make a huge difference to the way it grows but nohing works in a rotten year.

Most of the seeds I grow I bring over from Canada, bred specifically for quick germination and cool summers but the one I bought the first year I was here which was bought in the UK was Bodacious, it grew very well , the cobs fat  were filled right to the tip and  it harvested 2 to plant, which is what I prefer.

If it is your first year growing, give it another chance, plant at the right time, and at the right temp, and use the correct spacings when planting out. Tap the plants to aid pollination, weed  carefully only till the plants are 18 inches high  then let them go. Don't buy a type that is considered a late, and the best tip is don't plant too early.They need to be out of their pots in three weeks or they will go to sleep.

If you want an old fashioned corn flavour buy a regular hybrid , if you prefer a  sweet corn buy a sugar enhanced type,  and if you want a very sweet corn buy a suoersweet variety,the kernels are softer and can be very sweet but they need much more heat to get going.

Good Luck next year.

XX Jeannine

My corn did very well this year, unlike my other tender veg. The only problem was poor germination of one variety which should have had some extra heat. It would help to know more, but its easy stuff to grow. Plant in mid-April, then pot up as soon as the seedlings get moving. Don't leave them to get rootbound; plant out in late May, and cover if needed. keep the young plants growing actively, put in planty of plants, in blocks so there's no shortage of pollen, and you won't go far wrong.

next years tip 'LARK' from tozer seeds. (it just did well in NIAB trials) ;)

I should have said, I grew Northern Extra Sweet and Kite.