[Hampshire Hog]

Hi All decided to try to grow more sweetcorn this year.
I have put in some 40 plants all growing pretty well but not all showing signs of corn cobs
despite having flower spikes. Am I impatient or do you think the rotten weather/lack of bees & insects is to blame??

Cheers HH
   

[emotion-2003]

my sweetcorns are doing well but they are very thin on stem.i believe because of bad weather.
good luck

[Kleftiwallah]

Mine is coming along very well.  I ditched the 18" apart and crammed them in 6" apart   Tassles are just starting to turn brown and I have three cobs on one plant.

They should be edible when the sprog, sprog's sprog, sprog's wife and sprog's dog descend toward the end of the month.

Cheers,     Tony.

[Spana]

Mine are half the height they should be and in a word, rubbish

Runners are the same

[mumofstig]

the silks/cobs quite often leave you guessing cos they don't seem to appear until the last minute, whereas the tassels at the top are raring to go  

They usually do appear in time to get pollinated and turn brown, though  

Mine would be better if we could please have a few days when it isn't so windy

[Poolman]

Not seeing to much at the moment with mine, first year with them and have been a bit neglected 

[davelambo]

Ive got 2 different varieties growing.
One lot is very healthy and flowering like mad.
the other lot isnt doing so well,looking a bit yellow so gave them a sprinkling of hen poo.
Should catch up in no time.
Lack of insects doesnt alter pollination as corn is wind pollinated,hence the planting in a block rather than a row,

[boldondig]

Sweetcorn Honeydew - sown 16 April planted out 26 May. Much better than last year - time will tell!

[stentman]

Not as good as previous years. Flowers on half at best and all less than 3ft tall I guess a bit delayed by all the wet weather but I remain hopeful they will catch up with a nice warm dry spell.

[JayG]

Last year I sowed and planted out Swift in two batches about 2 weeks apart, and because the first batch copped for sweetcorn-unfriendly weather the second batch overtook the first, in terms of height if not eventual yield.

Did the same this year and they all suffered from the cold conditions  - first batch are now quite sturdy but a bit shorter than they should be, and starting to produce male flowers, second batch still got some catching up to do.

A dryer and warmer spell is forecast from Wednesday which could be crucial, although I will be amazed if I get more than 1 good cob per plant, which seems to be about the norm for me (absolutely yummy though!)  :happy:

[rcf100]

Well. Planted 4 inch apart. Nice and thick and male flowers just starting

[aelf]

I have 8 plants, all 7 foot high and bearing 2-3 cobs each. Considering the poor growing conditions this year, and how the plants were struggling earlier on, I'm really pleased 

[BabbyAnn]

Last year was a disaster because I put them outside to harden off and didn't realise just how cold the weather had got in early May.  The plants just didn't seem to respond after that and when still at 9 inches tall in August, I ripped them out in disgust.

This year I sowed later and also held them back in the greenhouse for as long as I could before they started to get pot bound.  It was a good call because I have to say that my plants are doing so much better and healthier than those who planted out earlier.  However, at only about 4 feet they are gearing up to flowering and the creamy tassles are all waiting for pollination - I just hope they can wait just a couple more days until we get the warm dry weather!

[Springlands]

Very poor  this year - the plants are only about 18 inches tall - but will leave them where there are and see what happens. Very disappointing after having a really good crop last year. 

[Goosegirl]

Like JayG, I'm growing Swift - a new one for me. I put 8 in the greenhouse and 3 outside. Last couple of years, different variety, have been a dis-aaster    and I had no cobs so am trying Swift. The outside ones looked a bit pale at first and didn't grow much, but now look well, are about 3'6"tall (not sure how tall these grow outside) and tassels are forming. The g'house ones - well, they looked really green and sturdy and are touching the roof, but some of the cobs have poked their heads above cover and are teeny with un-pollinated areas, even though I tapped them every day. There are plenty of silks showing still, so here's hoping. Interesting that those planted closer than usual are doing so well. They are greedy feeders so, as long as there's plenty of food for them, it is something for me to try next year.