Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat

Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: madcat on May 04, 2016, 19:16

Title: Sweetcorn - to chit, soak or plant, that is the question.
Post by: madcat on May 04, 2016, 19:16

I was preparing the pots for the sweetcorn when I remembered that in the past I have chitted them before planting.

Do you think it is worth the hassle/risks in transplanting, or is it better to be certain of the kernels before committing?  Or just plump them up with an overnight soak and plant?

Not sure  :unsure: ...  What do you do?

Title: Re: Sweetcorn - to chit, soak or plant, that is the question.
Post by: mumofstig on May 04, 2016, 19:41

Since I had bad germination one year, I now chit mine so I don't waste compost on dud'ns.

Title: Re: Sweetcorn - to chit, soak or plant, that is the question.
Post by: BumbleJo on May 04, 2016, 22:48

I followed JH's method last year with great results so sticking with chitting.

Title: Re: Sweetcorn - to chit, soak or plant, that is the question.
Post by: Robster on May 04, 2016, 23:48

Nope, no chatting, no soaking or anything else.  I sowed 32 seeds straight into root trainers watered and then in the incubator.  I'm looking at 28 germinated plants growing on nicely.

Title: Re: Sweetcorn - to chit, soak or plant, that is the question.
Post by: Middlesexbloke on May 05, 2016, 06:22

I'll second mumofstig's advice, chitting is useful as you can then eliminate any seeds that don't germinate.

Title: Re: Sweetcorn - to chit, soak or plant, that is the question.
Post by: New shoot on May 05, 2016, 07:42

Mine were set to chit at the weekend and are already up and planted in pots.  It took about 48 hours for them to get going.  I had the pots filled and ready, so it was a very fast job to transfer the seeds over.

I've sown direct into pots as well with success.  I sowed right on the surface rather than bury the seed and got really good results.  I think I read that advice on here and it worked really well. 

You can make it work either way  :)

Title: Re: Sweetcorn - to chit, soak or plant, that is the question.
Post by: JayG on May 05, 2016, 08:58

I never soaked or chitted sweet corn until a few years ago when I had an almost 100% failure rate with one batch (probably about 32 seeds, which is an awful lot of wasted paper pot-making!  :mad:)

I soak them for just a few hours and chit in a closed plastic takeaway box between two sheets of damp (not wet) kitchen roll.
If you use this method make sure you are around to pot them up as soon as you see the roots start to appear, as they quickly become fragile and also easily dehydrated.

Title: Re: Sweetcorn - to chit, soak or plant, that is the question.
Post by: azubah on May 05, 2016, 10:03

Quote from: New shoot on May 05, 2016, 07:42

I've sown direct into pots as well with success.  I sowed right on the surface rather than bury the seed and got really good results.  I think I read that advice on here and it worked really well. 

  :)

That looks like a good idea as you can see which seeds are growing.

Title: Re: Sweetcorn - to chit, soak or plant, that is the question.
Post by: Gardener and Rabbit on May 05, 2016, 12:28

Started chitting mine a couple of days ago, put the first sprouting ones into tubes today.  :)

Title: Re: Sweetcorn - to chit, soak or plant, that is the question.
Post by: madcat on May 05, 2016, 14:44

They have had a soak and are now on kitchen paper with the beans in the chitting department (aka the office bookshelves, carefully balanced on the files.  If there are any failures I will blame the vibes coming off the HMRC forms!  ::) )