Sweetcorn - MERGED

Marisan

I have not grown baby corn,in fact,but it is just immature corn and I think you will be okay if you follow the same method of planting.Simon is correct in saying that baby corn is sugar-enhanced,so the liquid will be less creamy.

You should be harvesting baby corn earlier,the silky tassels will have formed but the cobs will not be filled out like normal sweetcorn.It's a bit trial and error with baby corn.

dandy-candy

I want to try growing sweetcorn this year as it is my younger son's favourite vegetable, I am just wondering a couple of things:

a) Can I grow another crop in between? I was wondering about Cauliflowers?

b) Do you only get 1 cob per plant? Sorry if that is a daft question but I really don't know the answer!

Thanks for any advice!

glamourpuss1979

i have tried it a few times none totally successful. i have to do it in my kitchen as outside is to cold an windy. anyway the cobs came but the whole plant was so badly infested with whitefly i had to chuck it...actually i put it outside and it blew away.. and the pepper plants...gutted! i had 3 cobs on each plant,you need a few together so they can pollonate

arkonite_babe

I'm trying some this year too, but I'm growing mine in a greenhouse. It says on my seed packet to plant in blocks not in straight rows for best cropping. It also says to stick to one variety for best results and no cross pollination.

I'll add your query to the existing thread on growing sweetcorn,

Lotus-eater

You can easily grow sweetcorn, you just have to remember it likes sheltered conditions and lots of manure in the soil.
Start them off by germinating the seeds on damp kitchen paper, transfer to loo rolls when they sprout and grow on in a frost free place, I keep mine inside until I am ready to put them outside.
But I do harden them off gently.

I sow just before the beginning of May and plant out late May.
As A-Babe says, you grow them in blocks and not rows, as they have to pollinate each other properly to get full cobs and they do that by wind power.
Normally you should get 1 - 2 cobs per plant.

I sow and plant lettuce before they go in, but when the sweetcorn plants go in, I stick in a couple of squash plants and let them grow underneath, it really works well.

Amarillo

I know that no one else will be as stupid as me but I think I had better post this just on the off chance some one is.

I planted a few plants a couple of years ago, not expecting much. But two grew very tall. I spent ages watching the tassels on the top for signs of a cob but nothing happened. Lost interest at that point. It was only when I was doing something later in the year that I found the pouches on the side of the stalk containing the cobs :rotfl:

Furpurse

It was my first year of growing veg last year as I inherited a huge veg garden. I started sweetcorn in the greenhouse and then moved them outside at the beginning of May into a patch that I had spread chicken manure pellets into first. I had 50 plants and they all had at least 2 cobs. I covered them with clear plastic bottles for the first few weeks of them being outside and this seemed to bring them on quite a bit.
Its quite an open plot in North Cheshire and it wasnt the best summer by a long stretch :rolleyes:
I bought the seeds from https://www.realseeds.co.uk Somebody on here recommended that site. The variety was "Double Standard"

I froze the cobs and they lasted until the end of Jan. Very tasty

Lotus-eater

That's good news furpurse, because I'm growing Double Standard this year, haven't grown it before, hope mine are as successful as yours.

Furpurse

I would definitely recommend covering them while they are small. I found that the birds enjoyed the leaves more than the slugs :mad:

harib0uk

I planted some sweet corn at the weekend with the little one, we have planted 9 seeds in peat pots, hoping that they will all germinate so we can have a 3x3 block, I'm going to put them one to a morrisons flower bucket so hopefully they will be ok. Will take on board the manuer and fish thing when I plant them out.

Great tip about putting some netting over them, didn't realise that the birs would peck at them... I'm now slightly worried for the plants I have in my mini green house, I've left it open today while i'm at work as it's a lovely day here.