[hurting back]

a while ago I asked what were the "suckers" coming out of the side of my sweet corns. Ii was told they were "tillers" and not to break them off but nothing would grow on them. Well, much to my surprise I have had sweetcorn grow from them. Admittedly not large one, but edible ones. is that unusual?

[Sally A]

Me too HB. I was quite surprised, they weren't a full cob, but it was worth stripping the individual kernals off the tiller and eating them.

[digital_biscuit]

i have just harvested my first two cobs and they are currently boiling! Looking forward to tasting the delights, although am not overly sure how good they will be as not sure when they should be harvested

[digital_biscuit]

Yum Yum Yum! They were lovely! One was prob a little overripe as the kernels were a bit tough, but other than they they were sweet and so so sooooo yum yum!!!

[theothermarg]

my sweetcorn is really odd this year loads of cobbs,most of them empty
and i think those things you called tillers. they appear to have a male fower on top and a few rows of corn beneath it  very odd
i have tried putting plastic bottles over the swollen cobb just before it ripens this year as for the last 2 years something has apparently run up the stem and not left me much :cry:  this seems to be working altho the bottles(neck cut off and slit down one side) do need ventilation but at last i am eating the corn and not feeding the local wildlife!!
marg

[DD.]

my sweetcorn is really odd this year loads of cobbs,most of them empty
and i think those things you called tillers. they appear to have a male fower on top and a few rows of corn beneath it  very odd
i have tried putting plastic bottles over the swollen cobb just before it ripens this year as for the last 2 years something has apparently run up the stem and not left me much :cry:  this seems to be working altho the bottles(neck cut off and slit down one side) do need ventilation but at last i am eating the corn and not feeding the local wildlife!!
marg

Squirrels like mine! Could be them. Yes you can get a few bits of corn off the tillers. I'm fortunate enough to be able to plant in excess of 100 plants, so I don't bother with them. Don't know why I grow so much, apart from the fact that I can! We eat some fresh, freeze about 40, the rest go to neighbours & the local church for their funds. In exchange I get free horse muck, Home cooked Indian food etc..

What goes around comes around they say.

That aside, from other posts, it appears it could be a pollenation issue with the missing kernals. Popular theory is that when the pollen should have been flying around, it was chucking it down with rain & it never got to where it should have gone.  That theory seems quite reasonable to me.

I take it you've planted in a block, rather than a single row, as that aids pollenation. I was a bit late planting this year, so I can't say what mine are like yet - another week or so & we'll see.

See also this thread....

Sweetcorn - Kernal Problems

[hurting back]

digger dave. what do you mean you dont bother with the tillers. Do you take them off then. Or do you just ignore the sweetcotn that grows on them. Rather puzzled

[DD.]

digger dave. what do you mean you dont bother with the tillers. Do you take them off then. Or do you just ignore the sweetcotn that grows on them. Rather puzzled

I'll probably have around 150 full size cobs to deal with. I won't have the time to mess about with the tillers!

I perhaps didn't phrase the original post quite correctly, it should have read more on the lines that a fully developed cob won't grow from them.

[Scribbler]

Remember not to boil them too long. Some say only 4 mins.

[theothermarg]

i put mine in the microwave. reading my last post again it sounds like nearly all my cobbs are empty but i am getting 2 full ones per plant and loads of these queer ones never seen this happen before thought i would put the imature ones in stirfries
marg