[Scotch Thistle]

Hi , i started my sweetcorn chitting last weekend and some of them have started to sprout. How long can i leave them before potting them up - reason for asking is my root trainers haven't arrived yet and i want to use them for these seeds.
I made paper tubes last year and got bored of making them quickly and they fell apart during planting anyway so want to try something a bit more substantial this year.

Cheers

[DD.]

They really need potting up straight away, but can I ask what you're going to do with the plants as you won't be able to put them outside for 2-3 months yet.

I won't be starting mine for another 6 weeks.

[Stevens706]

Wow you are really early, last year I started mine off 6th May. I wouldn’t leave them for much longer before potting them up.

[Agatha]

As they won't be able to go out for a while, it might be worth putting them in pots, although I usually avoid this as they don't like root disturbance.  I'll be starting mine off in about 6 weeks in loo roll inners - they just about hold together until it's time to plant out.

[Spana]

Just out of interest, would they be ok planted out in a polytunnel this early

[DD.]

You'd really have to match May/June temperatures in the polytunnel, but I you can do that, I see no reason why not.

As they are wind pollinated plants, you'd have to do this by hand to make sure.

I grow mine in pots. The year I tried loo rolls I had poor germination and grew more toadstool on them than sweetcorn.

If you catch the plants at the right size, the pot is full of root and comes out without disturbance.

[JayG]

I make paper pots a little larger than loo roll tubes and if you time your planting out so that the pots have dried out a little on the outside they are still strong enough to plant out without falling apart.

Also agree that unless you can provide the growing temperatures DD mentions you are going to have a big problem keeping them alive (and restricted to a transplantable size) until the end of May outdoors (at the earliest.)

[TerryB]

I normally chit my first lot the last week in March, then pot them in 500g yogart pots and plant out about the 3rd week in April. They have to be protected , which I do by making a small poly tunnel with plastic hops and clear plythene over the bed. This is left on untill they start touching the polythene. I normally cover the bed at the being of April to let the soil warm up before they are planted out. 

[Rampant_Weasel]

i plant mine in 3 inch pots in the cold frame in the second half of may and plant out when they are a couple of inches tall, like DD says if your careful there is no root disturbance and you have a definite plant to set into your block.

[Scotch Thistle]

Well i checked the back of the packet and it says sow indoors Feb-May, and no mention of the need for higher temperatures. Very helpfull. Does sound from everyone here that they are way too early.
Ah well, they have two chances. I will get them potted up asap and keep them in the house until May. Last year my plants were late in getting started, and they never really got very big so i figured i'd try a bit early this year. If they look poor closer to planting out time i'll start some more.

[DD.]

The earliest dates on seed packets are always optimistic and refer to the warmest parts of the country.

There's a more reliable guide here:

Sowing & Harvesting Guide

[Totty]

I always put mine in at the end of this month at the very earliest, purely because i aint got room anywhere for them beforehand!
 Things that go outside that are tender will appreciate the soil being warm to a reasonable depth, not just the air around them being warm. Things like corn, squash, courgette, beans etc need not be rushed and then wrapped up in case of a cold night IMO.
Good luck though!

[Agatha]

My dad lives in Wales & his veg patch is quite chilly - he covers his sweetcorn patch in black plastic (old compost bags etc) and plants through slits cut in the plastic - he has bumper crops in spite of late planting, so you could try that.