too late for sweetcorn?

Started by Squash64, June 17, 2014, 15:37:38

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Squash64

I've just found lots of packets of sweetcorn seed.  Is it too late to sow them?
Betty
Walsall Road Allotments
Birmingham



allotment website:-
www.growit.btck.co.uk

Squash64

Betty
Walsall Road Allotments
Birmingham



allotment website:-
www.growit.btck.co.uk

goodlife

Well...if we get mild and long autumn...you have chance getting some crop out of them.
I would not start them anymore unless growing for sake of greenery..

Squash64

Quote from: goodlife on June 17, 2014, 16:13:56
Well...if we get mild and long autumn...you have chance getting some crop out of them.
I would not start them anymore unless growing for sake of greenery..

I'll save them till next year.  Thanks  :wave:
Betty
Walsall Road Allotments
Birmingham



allotment website:-
www.growit.btck.co.uk

gavinjconway

If you have an early variety you can get away with it... just..

Last year I sowed some emergency EarliBird seed on 7 June as I lost some before planting out..  I planted them out on 30 June and had a great crop.. but we had a good summer as well.
Now a member of the 10 Ton club.... (over 10 ton per acre)    2013  harvested 588 Kg from 165 sq mt..      see my web blog at...  http://www.gavinconway.net

markfield rover

I do remember seeing Carol Kline growing them as "micro greens" I did try this  and boy they were sweet!!!

telboy

I have always believed that sweet corn germination reduces year by year. Is it worth keeping the seed?
Eskimo Nel was a great Inuit.

gavinjconway

Quote from: telboy on June 22, 2014, 22:00:30
I have always believed that sweet corn germination reduces year by year. Is it worth keeping the seed?

I would keep them and get them started early enough to get in more if they dont germinate..
Now a member of the 10 Ton club.... (over 10 ton per acre)    2013  harvested 588 Kg from 165 sq mt..      see my web blog at...  http://www.gavinconway.net

ancellsfarmer

Quote from: telboy on June 22, 2014, 22:00:30
I have always believed that sweet corn germination reduces year by year. Is it worth keeping the seed?
Yes, statistically all seeds age and become less viable over time. However conditions of storage are the critical factor. Generally, the larger the seed, the longer it may last. Was it not the case that cereals found in the Pyramids grew when planted several thousand years later?
Under the Seeds Act 1920, seed for sale had to meet declared minimum percentage germination, These days they are not so keen to make such claims. Unsold seed from pictorial packets goes back to source for repacking after blending with new seed....
Freelance cultivator qualified within the University of Life.

Robert_Brenchley

Cereals from the Pyramids didn't grow; the conditions in the tombs are unsuitable for seed storage for one thing. But an ancient Judean date seed did grow.

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/11/1122_051122_old_seed_2.html

Sweet corn seed is short-lived, so if you want to save it, it's probably best in the freezer. Even the most short-lived seeds last for years that way.

ancellsfarmer

Freelance cultivator qualified within the University of Life.

Robert_Brenchley

Note the weasel word 'claimed'. We've got 'mummy peas' which were supposedly found in Egyptian tombs in the early 19th Century, and varieties like 'King Tut', and 'Tutankhamun' which allegedly originated from Tutankhamun's tomb. Once grown out, of course, they looked like any other variety of the time. It was a tourist scam; weathy Englishmen would pay to see mummies unwrapped, and pay again for peas 'discovered' in the process. Since the grain does appear to have come from that part of the world, it's likely to have been 'found' in a similar way.

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