Any opinions please - baby corn

willnbirdie · « **on:** October 23, 2008, 19:22 »

Hi

We love baby corn - especially our 3 year old. Didn't grow any this year and didn't buy any as I felt I couldn't with all the veg that we had grown.

What are your opinions on baby corn:
- are they easy to grow
- what sort of yield do you get in comparison to area taken up
- any varities that are any good

or is it just best to grown full-sized corn (didn't grow it this year) and if we fancy some of the smaller ones just pay up at the supermarket.

Any opinions would be gratefully recieved

Thanks

willnbirdie

happy chick · « **Reply #1 on:** October 23, 2008, 19:36 »

We tried Minipop this year and grew it in a block 4x5 (20plants). Don't know what we did wrong, followed the instructions as per spacing and harvesting (ie milky fluid when pressed) but the harvest wasn't great

All the cobs were normal sized with no mini ones at all. :? Hopefully someone might know what we did wrong but they also seemed to occupy the ground a long time which was good because of anticipation and expectation but bad because we got a bit fed up of waiting for them to be ready!

This was our first experience and no doubt we may have done something incorrectly, so maybe others have had more success and it will be interesting to read other thoughts/suggestions

allotmentvegigirl · « **Reply #2 on:** October 23, 2008, 20:15 »

I would also love hear replys - would love to grow baby corn next year

mother hen · « **Reply #3 on:** October 23, 2008, 22:49 »

Hi there, tried to grow corn twice now, Im no expert but I think it is easier to grow mini corn than large because you dont need to worry about pollination.

Planted my corn too close and too late last year and got mini corn, spaced out better this year but cobs never ripened. I think mini might be easier and quicker. Looks great on plot but remember thinking that price of baby corn in supermarket could be justified. I suppose it depends how much room you have got. Think you get lots more little ones than big ones per plant. Sure someone will come along soon who really knows! :?

p00rstudent · « **Reply #4 on:** October 24, 2008, 09:57 »

i grew a block of 12 normal sized corn on the cob plants this year and got about 15 cobs from it, all very large and very tasty, next year i plant to grow a lot more of the normal sized one but also want to have a go at the mini ones too, so i woud be intrested to see what people say about it.

simond9383 · « **Reply #5 on:** October 24, 2008, 10:39 »

I grew the variety Minipop this year but I have to admit that I don't think I will bother next year.

What we got was very nice but it takes up a lot of space in relation to the yield (maybe 4 cobs to a plant).

The most difficult thing though was judging the right time to pick as the husks dont always relate to the size of the cob and if you get it wrong by a few days, it quickly becomes inedible as a baby sweet corn.

Maybe more experienced growers have a better understanding of the timing. I dont have any experience of full size sweetcorn which might have been my downfall.

p00rstudent · « **Reply #6 on:** October 24, 2008, 10:43 »

full size sweetcorn is easy, wait till tassle things go brown/dead looking peel back husks, stick finger nail into a kernal if the liquid is milky, take it home bung it in a boiling pot, drown in butter. jobs a good un.

willnbirdie · « **Reply #7 on:** October 24, 2008, 11:14 »

Hi everyone

Thanks for the replies - seems like the jury is out on this one - maybe next year we'll try growing the full-sized corn if they are successful maybe the year after try the mini ones.

Any other opnions still gratefully received - cheers

willnbirdie

Sharon · « **Reply #8 on:** October 24, 2008, 17:57 »

I grew mini corn. Can't remember what variety. Had 12 plants, planted in a block. I think I got 8 cobs per plant. You pick them when the outside husk is about 6in long.
Well it worked for me anyway.

clive f · « **Reply #9 on:** October 24, 2008, 21:48 »

mini corn are ready to harvest when the silks turn red

gobs · « **Reply #10 on:** October 27, 2008, 20:52 »

These are basically the same plants. The only trick of baby corn is in the picking time, which comes with trial and error and experience, of course they are helped with the closer planting, too.

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