Sweetcorn

[Spunky]

I've just dug the front garden up for some sweetcorn so would appreciate any advice lol
Ive got a five foot patch which I was going to either put a block of 9 or 12 in, is this enough for them to pollinate? I've bought two variety swift and sundance, they both seem very similar can anyone vouch for the better one?

[bretty666]

I cant vouch for either of those varieties . i had a bumper crop of earlybird last year. water them well. weed by hand and mound up the earth a little around the base of the stem. i found then pretty weak considering their stature.

[Spunky]

Thanks bretty I was thinking of cutting the bottoms off some morrisons buckets sliding them over the top upside down and filling them with compost to try and help with a bit of support, did you stake yours? I've been looking over the web and it seems a bit 50/50 of the people that do

[sparrow100]

I had 16 plants in a 4ft square space. Possibly a little tight, but I had 2 cobs off each (one big, one small). I didn't stake or earth up and they were very well anchored into the ground. My neighbours sheltered theirs with a windbreak to begin with, which helped theirs along faster. Am copying that this year.

[Kristen]

I've just dug the front garden up for some sweetcorn so would appreciate any advice lol
Ive got a five foot patch which I was going to either put a block of 9 or 12 in, is this enough for them to pollinate? I've bought two variety swift and sundance, they both seem very similar can anyone vouch for the better one?

9 is fine (so long as in a block, not a row). 12 would be better. You can encourage pollination by gently shaking the plants, when the wind is in the right direction that the pollen will drift towards the other plants, which may help get good pollination.

Not sure about planting two varieties though, cross pollination directly effects the kernels (for other plants it will effect the genetics of next year's plants, grown from saved-seed, but Sweetcorn [alone??] effects the seeds in the kernels that you eat [this year]).

Seed companies usually say "Its OK to plant different varieties of the same TYPE" but I've seen posts on the forums, over the years, where people have done that and got Heinz 57 output with a mix of Sweet and not-so-sweet corns on a single cob

I suggest you play safe and only plant one variety. Get your neighbours to plant the same one too (For allotment folk it may be worthwhile clubbing together with neighbouring plot holders to buy a single variety, in bulk - e.g. from Moles Seeds if your allotment association doesn't sell seed)

I have grown Swift for years, and been very happy with it. Almost never got more than one cob per plant. Dunno about Sundance.

[poly]

I've grown both and had decent crops, both tasted good

Sundance F1 is a su type of sweet corn, meaning it's the older type of s'corn. They are easier to germinate than some of the other types and usually fair well in our uk climate. The sugars do start to turn to starch quite quickly once picked, so best to eat the cobs as soon after picking as possible.

Lark F1 is a tendersweet type, the seeds will be shrunken in comparison to Sundance. They need a little more cosseting to get them started appreciating warm temperatures and not overly wet compost for germination. Once they get going they are fairly quick to mature. They are a modern type of sweet corn and the sugars are much slower to turn to starch once picked.

As mentioned in previous post, Tendersweets and su varieties should not be grown alongside each other at the same time or cross pollinated cobs may be starchy and tough.

[Nik]

Don't plant them yet though - I'd wait til first week of May at least.

[Spunky]

Thanks all nik do you mean sow or plant out? I think we've settled on having a go at swift apparently it's a dwarf variety and I need all the help I can get because it's east facing and I need to get other veg in behind them!

[Kristen]

They'll only need 3 weeks from sowing to planting out (if all goes well). So sow them 3 weeks before you want to plant them out ...

I would reckon planting out at the end of May will avoid late frosts and generally chilly nights - so 1st May sowing is about right I reckon.

If you have plenty of seed you could do half a week, or two even, earlier and if we have a mild May they will survive - but if not you can then replace them with your second sowing.

[Florence Fennel]

First time for me for sweetcorn. I'm interested to find that it's only 3 weeks from sowing to planting out, that's speedy! I'm afraid I'll have to pot on because the patch I want to use is still populated with other veg.

[Kristen]

I'm interested to find that it's only 3 weeks from sowing to planting out, that's speedy! I'm afraid I'll have to pot on because the patch I want to use is still populated with other veg.

It doesn't like root disturbance much (I grow mine in tall, thin, newspaper pots and plant that whole), and thus I think it best to get it out sooner rather than later. Its also a fast growing plant.

That might need a bit of thought if you are going to have to grow it on / pot it on for a while.

[realfood]

They should not be planted out before the last frosts for your area, unless you give them cloche protection.

[Bill HH]

I grew mine last year in a quite windy spot so as they were in a block I stuck a cane in each corner then tied canes around the block at about half the height of the corn, This gave them all the support they needed and was quick and easy.

[14ftSunflower]

This year, we started a crop of swift indoors at the start of March. They seem to be growing well in 5" pots my unheated greenhouse and are around 1ft tall, but does anyone know if and how starting them off in pots will affect their growth (will early planting mean early/big yields, and will 2 months in pots slow their growth because the roots may be restricted?)

[Kristen]

does anyone know if and how starting them off in pots will affect their growth (will early planting mean early/big yields, and will 2 months in pots slow their growth because the roots may be restricted?)

My understanding is that Sweetcorn don't like much root disturbance and are shallow rooting, so I would expect them to be unhappy about being held-back in pots.

I plant mine into the greenhouse border for the early crop, and the later ones go straight outside (i.e. sown indoors, potted up and planted out when ready)