[gavinjconway]

Last year I sowed my last sweetcorn seeds on 7 June, planted them out on 30 June and had a delicious tasty reaping of them. they were Earlibird so a quickish variety. You will have to use an early variety and I'd say you should sow your seed in a heated spot 4 weeks before you dig your spuds out.

[heygrow]

Last year I sowed my last sweetcorn seeds on 7 June, planted them out on 30 June and had a delicious tasty reaping of them. they were Earlibird so a quickish variety. You will have to use an early variety and I'd say you should sow your seed in a heated spot 4 weeks before you dig your spuds out.

Thanks for this Gavin. I'll get some seeds soon. Not grown sweetcorn before so looking forward to trying it.

[Madame Cholet]

I am keeping my method secret incase it fails and I look like a twit

 

[Salmo]

I planted mine out last weekend after being hardened off on the yard for about a week. some look like they might not make it so I am sowing a second phase now to in-fill if need (same variety).

I was weighing up whether to sow into 1 litre yogurt pots this time to establish a better root system - longer tan conventional pots - or I have a set of six inch root trainers (just longer than a loo roll), but not sure about using these as the sweetcorn root tends to head for the bottom of the pot and then not really fill the root ball out so trainers may not encourage a good root ball for transplanting.

Root trainers are excellent for sweetcorn. No disturbance of the roots at all.

The theory of root trainers is that when the roots grow out of the bottom they are air pruned and start to produce side shoots higher up.

[Spr0ut]

Thanks Salmo, so air pruning - that's like heading back stems to encourage bushy growth, but with roots.

[Goosegirl]

Last year I sowed my last sweetcorn seeds on 7 June, planted them out on 30 June and had a delicious tasty reaping of them. they were Earlibird so a quickish variety. You will have to use an early variety and I'd say you should sow your seed in a heated spot 4 weeks before you dig your spuds out.

Thanks for this Gavin. I'll get some seeds soon. Not grown sweetcorn before so looking forward to trying it.

YUou've not grown sweet corn before?? You don't know what you've been missing - just you wait! 

[Goosegirl]

Last year I followed John Harrison's instructions and got an absolutely stunning crop of huge, juicy, sugar-sweet corn that friends and family kept asking for more of! Think the hot July helped to be honest but I took his advice about feeding. Basically sweetcorn is a very hungry plant and needs loads of food. Plus a decent amount of space between each plant to grow well. So: when planting, make a shallow circular depression a few cms deep and around 15cm wide and plant into the middle of that, spacing plants a good 50cm apart in a block formation. Add a small handful of fertiliser (I used FBB) and water in well. Once ur plants are a couple of feet high, add a handful of chicken pellets around each plant. Again a month later. That's what I'll be doing again this year. All the best, fresh corn is one of the highlights of the allotment year in my book!

Yo! I'm going to try this method very shortly as mine are nearly ready for planting both in my GH and outside. The only thing is, reading another sweetcorn post and looking on my seed website, there is no info to say they grew to 8 foot high!  When their tassels have finished their job, can I cut them off to give me more headroom in the GH?

[Totty]

If your plants are a little leggy,you can bury as much of the stem as you like. Sweetcorn readily roots from the stem, and will give you plants that are more secure in windy conditions.

Totty

[Middlesexbloke]

Last year I followed John Harrison's instructions and got an absolutely stunning crop of huge, juicy, sugar-sweet corn that friends and family kept asking for more of! Think the hot July helped to be honest but I took his advice about feeding. Basically sweetcorn is a very hungry plant and needs loads of food. Plus a decent amount of space between each plant to grow well. So: when planting, make a shallow circular depression a few cms deep and around 15cm wide and plant into the middle of that, spacing plants a good 50cm apart in a block formation. Add a small handful of fertiliser (I used FBB) and water in well. Once ur plants are a couple of feet high, add a handful of chicken pellets around each plant. Again a month later. That's what I'll be doing again this year. All the best, fresh corn is one of the highlights of the allotment year in my book!

Yo! I'm going to try this method very shortly as mine are nearly ready for planting both in my GH and outside. The only thing is, reading another sweetcorn post and looking on my seed website, there is no info to say they grew to 8 foot high!  When their tassels have finished their job, can I cut them off to give me more headroom in the GH?

Hi Goosegirl, apologies but I have no idea if you could cut the spent tassels off. Sound sensible but I'm sure there are loads more people on here that are much more knôwledgable about these things  I grow my corn outside, am using the same method as last year, if it works again then yay, if not....then it's off to Waitrose I suppose!

[Growster...]

And try and plant them where badgers can't get them, the blighters bashed down all of the sweetcorn on all our plots, and mangled the cobs!

A good, well supported metal net might do the trick!

[dugless]

I put mine in a heated try on wet kitchen towelling on Monday today they have sprouted a tail will pot them up when the shoot appears.

[Beetroot Queen]

And try and plant them where badgers can't get them, the blighters bashed down all of the sweetcorn on all our plots, and mangled the cobs!

A good, well supported metal net might do the trick!

These are on year three and seem to work.

[Goosegirl]

And try and plant them where badgers can't get them, the blighters bashed down all of the sweetcorn on all our plots, and mangled the cobs!
A good, well supported metal net might do the trick!

Yeah - I remember reading your previous post about that and could have wept for you! I am not aware of any badger problems around here, so some will go in the GH and their tassels cut off after pollination; the other will go outsaide but I will plant them quite deeply so they don't get blown over.

[Growster...]

And try and plant them where badgers can't get them, the blighters bashed down all of the sweetcorn on all our plots, and mangled the cobs!

A good, well supported metal net might do the trick!

These are on year three and seem to work.

That looks pretty damn good, BQ! Ours are at home this year, as badgers and brick walls never go together!

[Growster...]

And try and plant them where badgers can't get them, the blighters bashed down all of the sweetcorn on all our plots, and mangled the cobs!
A good, well supported metal net might do the trick!

Yeah - I remember reading your previous post about that and could have wept for you! I am not aware of any badger problems around here, so some will go in the GH and their tassels cut off after pollination; the other will go outsaide but I will plant them quite deeply so they don't get blown over.

I suppose you get all the wind meant for Ireland where you are, Goosers!

Good idea to get some inside though, I've never thought of doing that!