sweetcorn - in pots???

Megansmum

Thanks everyone for that, i am going to give it a try in pots. I have bought some fothergill seeds this year as last years were wilkos own and didn't grow very big.... probably my fault too with the erratic watering, but i will do better this year as they will be in the garden!!:D

MookieSnuffles

Hey up!
Currently studying horticulture for RHS at the moment, and funnily enough this came up in class the other week!
Sweetcorn straight from plant to cook pot is well worth the effort as the sugar are only just turning to starch, tastes like nothing in store!

CAN be grown very well in pots, you'll need to reseach a vigorous F1 variety though to get high yeld.

Sweetcorn are VERY hungry feeders and like plenty of water, so some rotted manure in bottom of pot is advisable and possibly some newspaper as well to act as a water rentention base that will eventually rot away.

Other posters are correct as there isn't a very high yield of sweetcorn compared to other plants and it can make it seem like it isn't woth it, so to maximise space would also advise giving the "three sisters" method of growing a go - I did it last year with sweet peas and squash and this year Im trying it with runner beans and a waltham squash.

A large half barrell with sweetcorn plant in it, then grown a vine plant up the sweetcorn and plant another plant underneath that is low growing that will appreciate a little shade.

So sweetcorn, runner beans and salad crop such as rocket. You'll need to keep cropping both the rocket and runner beans to stop them for stealing space and nutrients, but since your using them technicallly as a filler crop its not too much of an issue. (the maunuring and the newspaper will be an added bonus for a plant such as runner beans too, and leaving the roots in the compost of the runners for next year will be worth the effort!)

If you are using a large enough barrel wind blowing over shouldn't be an issue with the weight of the compost, just to make sure add some heavy stones, the plants won't mind wrapping their roots around them for support as long as they're still getting enough moisture and nutrients from the rest of the compost.

Sweetcorn MUST be planted in a minimum block of three, hence the suggestion of a large half barrell, which you already know that they are wind pollinated, but for the love of god make sure you are not downwind from another neighbour growing sweetcorn, or you will end up with a hybridized monstrousity!:rotfl:

And I really do wish you good luck! Sense of pride and acheivement from your own veggies is amazing, and is well worth the digging, the watering, the composting and battling the slugs! (GRRR!)

Mookie x

Megansmum

MookieSnuffles wrote: »

Hey up!

CAN be grown very well in pots, you'll need to reseach a vigorous F1 variety though to get high yeld.

And I really do wish you good luck! Sense of pride and acheivement from your own veggies is amazing, and is well worth the digging, the watering, the composting and battling the slugs! (GRRR!)

Mookie x

Thank you SO much for all that advise mookie. Last year the seeds I bought only had 5 in the pack (so not much room for error on my part!).

This year i have Sweet bounty F1, which has 35 seeds in the pack! I am really excited about doing sweetcorn this year, and i will sow some inside from March and later do some straight out in may.

Fingers crossed!!

Thanks again. x

alliwantistosave

Thanks OP

Me and my OH were only discussing this earlier as we are going to try growing sweetcorn for the 1st time this year.

Great advice Mookie thank you very much and good luck with your studies

Megansmum

In other threads on here some are saying wait until the end of the sowing advice on the packs before sowing...

Should i wait before sowing sweetcorn or is it safe to sow indoors now? I don't want to kill them off when they go outside, do they go out after the frosts have DEFINITELY finished?

Any advice gratefully received - i am starting to get more confused by the day on here!!

gazza975526570

Megansmum wrote: »

In other threads on here some are saying wait until the end of the sowing advice on the packs before sowing...

Should i wait before sowing sweetcorn or is it safe to sow indoors now? I don't want to kill them off when they go outside, do they go out after the frosts have DEFINITELY finished?

Any advice gratefully received - i am starting to get more confused by the day on here!!

Id wait a little longer before sowing your sweetcorn to be honest.

Only things id be doing now are all year round caulis, cabbage, early carrots, leeks and thats about it unless you are sowing in a greenhouse then you can likely get away with some more.

Primrose

Apart from the possible risk of pots being blown over, unless they are very big and very heavy, I suspect the cost of compost for them would probably outweight the saving you might make on growing your own. This is an equation that many people overlook when growing their own veg in containers.

valk_scot

Megansmum wrote: »

In other threads on here some are saying wait until the end of the sowing advice on the packs before sowing...

Should i wait before sowing sweetcorn or is it safe to sow indoors now? I don't want to kill them off when they go outside, do they go out after the frosts have DEFINITELY finished?

Any advice gratefully received - i am starting to get more confused by the day on here!!

Well, I plant my sweetcorn outside in early June, so I won't be starting them off in the propagator till mid-end of April, shouldn't think. They come on really fast in a propagator so six or seven weeks before the planting out date should be right. And young sweetcorn really don't like frost or even just cold weather.