[Charl89]

Hi just some advice really.
I have grown sweetcorn and followed the same way i planted them last year. as per the essential allotment guide. however for some reason these ones this year are spindely and not growing to well. i am wondering if it was the seeds, am i best just quickly starting again with a new batch?

[Yorkie]

Were they new seeds?

Was it new compost?

Where have you got them growing?

How much watering have you done?

[Charl89]

new seed packet i bought this year
new compost in small pots individally potted
in my spare room, which is warm (dont own a greenhouse)
i water them enough so they never go dry, so some days i miss them so they are not over watered.

[Yorkie]

Hmmm ... I'm stuck 

[bazh]

Not sure what the essential allotment guide is but to grow sweetcorn in the UK the soil temperature needs to be at least 8 ° C for the 5 preceding days before sowing?

Bit to early to sow yet anywhere imo 

[mumofstig]

the OP lives on the channel Islands, so a tad warmer there I think 
Last year I sowed my sweetcorn as usual on the 13th April, and planted out on the 16th May, so 'now' isn't really  too early.

Look here
http://www.allotment-garden.org/book/eag1.php

for the Essential Allotment Guide 

[Charl89]

yeh i did them about this time last year. and wasbrillaint. maybe the seeds are a duff set. might try again quickly.

the essential allotment guide by john harrison is my bible lol..brilliant book.

[Lawrence]

the OP lives on the channel Islands, so a tad warmer there I think 
Last year I sowed my sweetcorn as usual on the 13th April, and planted out on the 16th May, so 'now' isn't really  too early.

Look here
http://www.allotment-garden.org/book/eag1.php

for the Essential Allotment Guide 

Thanks for that, I have been so busy I forgot about my sweetcorn!
It must be a sign of age that time just passes you by.
I was hoping to get a couple of varieties in at least, but that might not be possible now.
I got an interesting white variety from America this year that I really wanted to try, and I wanted to stagger my planting to get a few types in.  I will try but I may end up with  "ornamental grass"

[DD.]

Here in the cold north, (compared to Alderney), I've just started mine chitting.

[fatcat1955]

You should stick to one variety Lawrence or you run the risk of cross pollination unless you have a very large plot.

[Lawrence]

You should stick to one variety Lawrence or you run the risk of cross pollination unless you have a very large plot.

I do, but you can (if you have time) plant them 2 weeks apart so that they don't flower at the same time.

[JayG]

Sweetcorn is one of the very few crops grown purely to eat the seeds - F1 types are certain to be affected by cross-pollination (almost certainly adversely as they are bred to be tender and sweet but only in year 1 and only if self-pollinated.)

It's more of a lottery with open pollinated varieties, but cross-pollination is more than likely to result in at least some cobs more like maize than sweetcorn.

I think the strategy of planting 2 weeks apart is risky - I did that last year with Swift to try to improve the overall pollination and they more or less all finished up flowering together (and with different varieties there is no way of being sure which are naturally earlier than the others.)

[Lawrence]

Sweetcorn is one of the very few crops grown purely to eat the seeds - F1 types are certain to be affected by cross-pollination (almost certainly adversely as they are bred to be tender and sweet but only in year 1 and only if self-pollinated.)

It's more of a lottery with open pollinated varieties, but cross-pollination is more than likely to result in at least some cobs more like maize than sweetcorn.

I think the strategy of planting 2 weeks apart is risky - I did that last year with Swift to try to improve the overall pollination and they more or less all finished up flowering together (and with different varieties there is no way of being sure which are naturally earlier than the others.)

You've gone and made me learn something now!
I was quite happy just doing what I was told by my older gardening friends, now I've looked up corn, and learned stuff.
It seems that there are a whole load of varieties for different things, but I now know I can grow my earth tones and mirai white at the same time 85 days and 72 days to maturity and there are varieties like triple sweet which are unaffected by other corns grown nearby, how do they do that?
Anyway now I am going to have to learn more about it because I now know how little I know, does that make sense?
See, I was happy not knowing anything, now look what you did!

[mumofstig]

     every day's a school day 

[JayG]

You've gone and made me learn something now!
I was quite happy just doing what I was told by my older gardening friends, now I've looked up corn, and learned stuff.
It seems that there are a whole load of varieties for different things, but I now know I can grow my earth tones and mirai white at the same time 85 days and 72 days to maturity and there are varieties like triple sweet which are unaffected by other corns grown nearby, how do they do that?
Anyway now I am going to have to learn more about it because I now know how little I know, does that make sense?
See, I was happy not knowing anything, now look what you did!

The sweetcorn breeders have certainly made life complicated for we simple gardening folk, and it's not helped by some apparently conflicting advice about "compatability."

My packet of Suttons Swift F1 merely describes them as "tasty and sweet" which is not exactly a "category,"    although it does state that they should not be grown near other varieties, which for this simple soul is probably all I really need to know - I absolutely lurrrvvv fresh sweetcorn and wouldn't want to do anything which might result in disappointment.