sweetcorn, how do you grow yours?

[lynda66]

last year i got 2 plants about a foot tall but i only planted in june, so this year decided to do a very early experiment,(as they apparently need a longish growing season) started in fibre pots, they are now in a storage box under a growlight and are a couple of inches tall, (still have loads of seeds if it doesn't work) and will transplant into the garden when they get bigger.

[jemma_charlie]

wow, lots of replies, thanks I'm going to search for the three sisters and see what that tells me. I hadnt thought of planting other plants at the base as i presumed they would be too shaded at the bottom.

Will definetly get myself a few seeds now

Thank you everyone for your advise and speedy responses

[gridgardener]

I soak my sweetcorn seed in water for 8 hours before planning out.
I plant my corn straight into ground since corn does not like it's roots disturbed.

[walshie]

The Three sisters is a cube of sweetcorn with marrow/squash/courgettes planted around the sweetcorn and a pod plant planted at the base of the sweetcorn which uses the sweetcorn as its cane.

The idea is that the courgette acts as a mulch, keeping weeds down and moisture in and the pods feed the sweetcorn by their ability to convert nitrogen in the air and transfer it to the soil.

you also save on space as the sweetcorn only uses air space as they grow tall and not out too much. the corn HAS to be planted in a grid fashion as they are pollenated by the air and not by insects so they pollenate each other.

Last year i grew sweetcorn for the first time and had really good results with the best tasting corn ever. this year i will be using the three sisters method.

[Comfreyfan]

I've never tried in containers - but I would imagine they would need plenty of depth.

Really fresh sweetcorn - picked and cooked within 10 minutes is amazing and can have all the space it wants in my growing plot! Last year I used some birthday cash to get root trainers - they were excellent and I had some very strong young plants for planting out. Even though it wasn't a particularly good season, still had excellent corn, grew it as part of 3 sisters and it turned a bit wild and difficult to reach everything - but I managed!

[smallblueplanet]

We grew Swift last year, 1st time we'd grown sweetcorn. Not a bad crop for saying. We grew Two Sisters - corn & squash underneath them, worked really well, wouldn't have wanted beans in there as well...

[Snadger]

Even in last years crap weather my Incredible F1 sweetcorn flourished.........and at 19p a packet from Netto's, didn't break the bank either.

One tip I can give is to throw the pan away! Pick corn and within five mins before sugar turns to starch....eat it raw from the cob. I can guarantee you will only see cooked sweetcorn as second best after that!

[Duronal]

i grew mine in a pot last year, two plants to a pot. The pot was 17" by 15" deep and chock full of compost. Watering was a problem but i expect you could over come this by putting in a shreded newspaper layer with grass clippings on top as a mulch.

[vegnut]

I planted mine in the old toilet roll tubes. They grew away very well, with no root disturbance. 18" apart in a block, and had 2 to 3 to each plant, even in the poor weather we had last year. Some never had corn all the way to the top, but again that was down to the high winds. Horizontal pollen isnt much cop really , although its great for your neighbour if theirs is in line with yours and the prevailing wind . The ones i grew were Lark f1

[Iamhanuman]

i'm planning sweetcorn too - have seeds for Earlibird F1
If I grew with french beans and courgettes to climb up, so you think that would work?
Maybe pumpkins at the base?
Four Sisters?
If they were in pots rather than the ground, could I arrange four pots in a square?

[pigletwillie]

I tried sweetcorn last year, planted in a block, but started off in modules. They did grow, but not very well. I got one reasonable cob from 16 plants. I would like to try again, but I think will look for a variety with a short growing season. Any suggestions from experience?

Try Swift or Lark both are excellent and are one of the very few F1 seeds that I buy. Plant in modules in April and plant out in mid may in blocks.

[poly]

I can recommend Swift and Lark too. Both grow well and taste fantastic raw or cooked. If the chooks are lucky they get some too!

Although this year I am trying Extra Tender and Sweet(cos it was 50p) along with a later sowing of Lark.

[oldie]

I grew Double Standard Bi-colour from Real Seed Catalogue. Started in loo rolls then planted out in block of 8. Got cobs from all and saved my own seed from the best ones.

[lyndap]

Start off in loo rolls,then plant out in bed with courgette and french beans.I usually grow extra tender and sweet sweetcorn(t&m) a variety of bush courgettes,and trail of tears french beans.

[pjh75]

I also grew Double Standard Bi-colour from Real Seed Catalogue quite successfully... started off 10 in modules on 3rd May, they all shot up and were planted in the ground in a block on 18th May. I got 1 to 3 cobs from each plant (first one on 24th August... think they were ready before that and I just didn't realise)... don't know if that's good or bad but I was impressed.

I had to stake a few of them, and gave them all a shake every now and then, but other than that they took care of themselves.