[Avocetboy]

Hi everyone, my first post and I am pretty new to allotments.

We have had a large vegetable patch / allotment for a couple of years now with varying degrees of success. However, harvested a sweetcorn today as opening it up revealed that the Kernels were turning yellow. But, after peeling back the husk, only 20% of the cob appeared to have yellow, developed kernels, with the rest of it having what looked like, undeveloped kernels. Can anyone shed any light on this? Is it just a case of picking them too early?

[Yorkie]

Welcome to the site 

It sounds like they weren't fully pollinated to me.  Each kernel needs to be individually pollinated by the pollen which is found at the top of the plant.  If the cobs look generally full sized, it may well be too late for this year, but you can always try giving the stalks a regular tap to try to shake the pollen downwards towards the tassels / cobs.  Did you grow the corn in a block or a row?  If a row, that will contribute to poor pollination too.

[Avocetboy]

Welcome to the site 

It sounds like they weren't fully pollinated to me.  Each kernel needs to be individually pollinated by the pollen which is found at the top of the plant.  If the cobs look generally full sized, it may well be too late for this year, but you can always try giving the stalks a regular tap to try to shake the pollen downwards towards the tassels / cobs.  Did you grow the corn in a block or a row?  If a row, that will contribute to poor pollination too.

Thanks for a prompt response. The sweetcorn are planted in two rows side by side, but, and this could be the reason, i was advised to pull out the tops a couple of months ago, which I did!! Presumeably this affected pollination...Ah well, I shall know better next time!!

[JayG]

Thanks for a prompt response. The sweetcorn are planted in two rows side by side, but, and this could be the reason, i was advised to pull out the tops a couple of months ago, which I did!! Presumeably this affected pollination...Ah well, I shall know better next time!!

Find another advisor ASAP!

It's amazing you got any pollinated cobs! Yorkie is 100% correct, although I have to say sweetcorn don't exactly help themselves by producing the pollen-bearing spikes before the female tassels are fully developed. Certainly a good idea to grow in blocks, and if you can stagger planting them out by a week or so there will be more pollen about to fertilise the late developers!  

Edit: If you are growing mini-cobs then the advice was correct (didn't think of that option when I read your original post!)

[Kristen]

"i was advised to pull out the tops a couple of months ago,"

They aren't mini-corn are they? If so that would be reasonable advice and you need to harvest them when they are much smaller.

For "normal corn" I would add to the earlier advice to make your successional plantings towards the prevailing wind - i.e. the wind will carry pollen from later plantings onto the earlier ones.

[cornishgirl]

Hey, I don't know where you live but here in Cornwall (very mild and very temperate) I wouldn't even think about harvesting sweetcorn until the beginning of September. If I went out now and looked at one of my cobs I would expect probably 50% ripeness - to come on in 3 weeks time. In Sheffield where I used to live - beginning of October in a mild year (otherwise forget it). I now use a variey specifically for early ripeining in Northern Europe, available from TM. Brilliant!

[mumofstig]

Here in Kent I started eating my corn 3 weeks ago, so IMO yours are late for where you live, Cornishgirl

[cornishgirl]

Ha Ha yes, well actually the south east is much so much warmer and drier than here so you win - I guess I was comparing it to the north!

[Avocetboy]

Hey, I don't know where you live but here in Cornwall (very mild and very temperate) I wouldn't even think about harvesting sweetcorn until the beginning of September. If I went out now and looked at one of my cobs I would expect probably 50% ripeness - to come on in 3 weeks time. In Sheffield where I used to live - beginning of October in a mild year (otherwise forget it). I now use a variey specifically for early ripeining in Northern Europe, available from TM. Brilliant!

Lincolnshire, Cornishgirl...The kernals that were in existance were yellow, sweet and tasty, so I reckons they were ripe and, Kristen, my "advisor" may have thought they were mini corn...Some you win, some you lose..At least my Butternut Squash are looking good, first one picked yesterday for inclusion in a Risotto.

[cornishgirl]

Well done you - butternuts are the best squahes I think!

[JayG]

Hey, I don't know where you live but here in Cornwall (very mild and very temperate) I wouldn't even think about harvesting sweetcorn until the beginning of September. If I went out now and looked at one of my cobs I would expect probably 50% ripeness - to come on in 3 weeks time. In Sheffield where I used to live - beginning of October in a mild year (otherwise forget it). I now use a variey specifically for early ripeining in Northern Europe, available from TM. Brilliant!

Don't know whether you left Sheffield in the days when it still had a thriving steel industry and the sun barely got through the smog Cornishgirl but things are much better now!

Pic of part of last night's dinner (tried to show the juice looking like a thin yellowish cream but it hasn't really come out very well!)

Variety is Swift, and I know it's been said before but there is nothing you can grow which is more fantastically superior to the bought variety (but only if you like sweetcorn!)   

[Avocetboy]

Well, despite the fact that many of my cobs were pretty sparse, kernal wise, we did harvest 4 today that were 80% full. And, they were gorgeous....