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growing 2 types of sweetcorn.

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  • growing 2 types of sweetcorn.

    Hi there.

    I bought some new sweetcorn seeds to plant out and then I discovered that I had some left in an old pack.
    The new variety is Ovation (F1 hybrid 'supersweet' variety) and the old seeds are nothern extra sweet.

    I am considering trying to grow both packs, but I am concerned about what I've read about unintended consequence of cross pollination.

    I'd be grateful for any advice.

  • #2
    I would definately prioritise your new seeds just because they are fresher. if you insist in growing them both i would plant them so that they were out of your main wind direction ...thats if you have one on your site..example..my wind pretty much always comes right to left, so i would put one block north and one block as south as possible if that makes sense? Im difinately no expert..this is my uneducated advice!

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    • #3
      I shouldn't worry, I'm sure this worry is only for the purists and we common
      people will not know any change in flavour. I have three packs of seeds and I'm just going to mix them all up ! ! ! Cheers, Tony.
      Semper in Excrementem Altitvdo Solvs Varivs.

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      • #4
        I agree with bretty, for the sake of 1.50 for a pack of seeds 3 months growing and what you could expect from the end result it seems a bit pointless chucking old seed in just to use it up

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        • #5
          Last year we grew Kelvedon glory and Sweet Nugget next to each other, the idea being to stagger the harvest. It worked well with the cropping being two to three weeks apart, the tassels from one not being ready until the other had set. Maybe if both were ready together things would have been different.
          Location ... Nottingham

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          • #6
            I think different varieties of the same 'type' are OK - so 2 lots of supersweet for example - but I've been told that mixing 'types' can lead to a bitterness. Could you grow one lot undercover in a greenhouse or something if you have one, to try to stop cross pollination?

            In terms of viability, I always pre-germinate my sweetcorn these days regardless of age because it keeps the mice from pinching the seed so readily! So you could try soaking the old stuff for a few days on a saucer with some kitchen roll kept soggy, and see if the seeds send out little tap roots like peas and broadies do. If so you could grow them on, if you choose to do so.
            Attached Files
            sigpicGardening in France rocks!

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            • #7
              Originally posted by Kleftiwallah View Post
              I shouldn't worry, I'm sure this worry is only for the purists and we common
              people will not know any change in flavour. I have three packs of seeds and I'm just going to mix them all up ! ! ! .
              I'll be interested to know what you think at the end of it. Folk on other forums that I read have done just that and had rock hard corns amongst the sweet ones in the resulting cobs. I have never tried mixing varieties - on the basis that I don't want to spend months growing a crop to then find that it is sub-par through something I could have avoided. Blight I can't do much about, whereas variety selection for best possible flavour is in my gift

              If they "flower" and pollinate at different times then they will be fine. Perhaps cut the tassels off the top after the early ones have pollinated and before the later ones show their silks
              K's Garden blog the story of the creation of our garden

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              • #8
                Thanks for all the replies.
                I've decided not to risk growing them together, as you all say it's not worth risking the good seeds I want to use up some old ones.

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                • #9
                  I ended up with two varieties and was tempted to use them but decided against it, instead I bought another packet to match one i have and next year will match the other one up. Better safe that sorry.
                  photo album of my garden in my profile http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...my+garden.html

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                  • #10
                    Originally posted by Bill HH View Post
                    I ended up with two varieties and was tempted to use them but decided against it, instead I bought another packet to match one i have and next year will match the other one up. .
                    Matching what all your plot neighbours are growing, on an allotment, is presumably more of a challenge - clubbing together to buy seed en-masse is perhaps one solution.

                    That does, however, cause me to waiver on how big an issue this is, as presumably all allotment holders growing multiple different varieties should have Cobs that are completely rubbish to eat ... I haven't heard that that is the case!

                    But ... either way its not an experiment I am prepared to spend time on to potentially discover that I can indeed grow rubbish cobs ...
                    K's Garden blog the story of the creation of our garden

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