How are your sweet corn doing so far?

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JayG

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How are your sweet corn doing so far?
« on: July 30, 2013, 14:21 »
I'm trying to forget about the member who posted a few weeks ago about having cobs nearly ready  :ohmy: but they are my favourite crop bar none so I can't resist hopefully comparing notes with other fans out there any longer!

Mine are Swift, and although they have grown into sturdy plants quite quickly and without the usual "sulk" due to the cold, are starting to produce the male tassels at only about 2 1/2 feet high which is slightly shorter than usual for this variety.

This is the critical time - the usual worry that the female silks will still be powdering their noses and won't appear in time (they always do, but only just!) and of course that pollination time isn't too wet or windy.

(You may also note from the pic that my shallots still aren't ready, the parsnips are like triffids (or at least the foliage is  :unsure:), the runner beans are full of flowers (a few baby beans set which you can't see) and that yes, the sweet corn are spaced more closely than I myself would recommend (I just can't help myself!)  :blush:)


Sow your seeds, plant your plants. What's the difference? A couple of weeks or more when answering possible queries!

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RJR_38

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Re: How are your sweet corn doing so far?
« Reply #1 on: July 30, 2013, 14:30 »
This is my first year growing them, theplants are 4-5ft high, have had the male tassels for just under 2 weeks and have silks on all of the plants. Some of the plants have 2 sets of silks on opposite sides, one much higher than the other (don't know if this is normal?!). The cobs feel quite small but I don't know if they will get bigger.

My worry is seeing them through to maturity - I have lost over half to badgers/deer now. I have put up a temporary barricade to try and put them off but they are bound to get through...



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Annen

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Re: How are your sweet corn doing so far?
« Reply #2 on: July 30, 2013, 14:35 »
Some of mine have brown silks, which I am told means they are ready, but I picked one and it wasn't. :(
Anne

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ryetek

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Re: How are your sweet corn doing so far?
« Reply #3 on: July 30, 2013, 14:52 »
This year we've tried two varieties namely Swift and Incredible. It's the first time trying Swift and the second time for Incredible. They're spaced well apart on two different plots to avoid cross-pollination but unfortunately a plot neighbour as some sweetcorn with 5 metres of our Swift so we'll have to see how that goes  :(

Likewise our plants did not sulk this year when planted out. I'm not sure if that was the good weather, Richy's paper pots or a combination of both really.

Annoyingly the strong wind on Saturday night snapped one of the Swift plants and flattened the Incredible. I don't think I can rescue the Swift plant but can rescue all of the Incredible. I'm going to try and sort them out tonight.

Our Swift is almost the same height and at the same point of development as yours JayG. The tassels are out but the silks have yet to show. I'm sure the Incredible didn't do this last year so I was beginning to get a bit concerned and I'm just waiting to see what happens really.

The Incredible is much later than the Swift even though all the seeds were all sown at the same time. It's currently 4ft tall with no sign of tassel or silks. This variety was also very late last year but we did get 23 sweetcorns off 9 plants meaning some plants had 3 cobs. This is the reason why I tried Swift this year. I wanted to try and get an earlier harvest and I've seen so many threads on here where others "sing the praises" of Swift.

That's pretty much it really so far.

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Ema

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Re: How are your sweet corn doing so far?
« Reply #4 on: July 30, 2013, 15:17 »
My plants are only 3ft high and the male flowers are out on most, only got 2 females to each plant! Some which are slightly shadowed are only 2ft high! Will not make the same mistake next year

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mumofstig

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Re: How are your sweet corn doing so far?
« Reply #5 on: July 30, 2013, 15:22 »
Mine are like yours Jay but the tassels began to open  a few days ago before the silks were showing. Now all the silks are out it wet and windy  :mad: so who knows   ::)

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RJR_38

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Re: How are your sweet corn doing so far?
« Reply #6 on: July 30, 2013, 15:29 »
How long (on average) should it take to get a cob from when it is first pollinated and the silks appeared? My silks and tassels appeared just under 2 weeks ago so wondering when I should begin looking more closely for ripeness

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mumofstig

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Re: How are your sweet corn doing so far?
« Reply #7 on: July 30, 2013, 15:36 »
When the silks on the top of the cobs are dark brown and withered looking, the cob should feel full/plump.

Peel off a few leaves (leaving cob attached for now) and stick your nail into a kernel. If the juices are clear it's not ready, so wrap the leaves back around it.....................if the juice is milky it's ready so snap the cob away from the stalk and enjoy asap  :)

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RJR_38

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Re: How are your sweet corn doing so far?
« Reply #8 on: July 30, 2013, 15:42 »
Thanks. I have read that this is how I check - at the moment mine are still quite small and thin so I know they're nt ready. I just didn't know if I was looking at days or weeks for them to get to this stage

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vanessa.xx

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Re: How are your sweet corn doing so far?
« Reply #9 on: July 30, 2013, 16:16 »
I have two batches of Lark variety they are both 3-4 feet high the first lot have tassels and silks some stems have 2-3 'cobs' on them the second batch the tassels are just showing, the corn is the one thing I desperately want to work out so I have everything crossed

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JayG

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Re: How are your sweet corn doing so far?
« Reply #10 on: July 30, 2013, 16:22 »
I just didn't know if I was looking at days or weeks for them to get to this stage

I would say weeks rather than days, although that's partly because they are often in danger of running out of summer and by then the days are getting shorter and cooler.

Mine are considerably more advanced this year than in the last few (especially last year  :ohmy:) which should mean there is plenty of time for them to ripen, although obviously some more hot sun would be very helpful too.

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GrannieAnnie

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Re: How are your sweet corn doing so far?
« Reply #11 on: July 30, 2013, 17:13 »
My plants are the best I've seen so far, but not very tall and only just getting the odd tassle.  The incredible only had 5 out of 40 germinate, and they are over behind the greenhouse.

Minipop and the other variety which I've forgotten the name  ::) are in front of the greenhouse.
minipop july 13.jpg

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JayG

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Re: How are your sweet corn doing so far?
« Reply #12 on: July 30, 2013, 17:38 »
Mine are like yours Jay but the tassels began to open  a few days ago before the silks were showing. Now all the silks are out it wet and windy  :mad: so who knows   ::)

For the last 2 years I tried staggering the sowing and planting out by about 2 weeks to try to improve overall pollination - it didn't really work (especially last year  :ohmy:) as the summers weren't good enough for the later ones to ripen well anyway.

Guess who sowed them all in one batch this year?  ::)  :nowink:  ;)
« Last Edit: July 30, 2013, 17:39 by JayG »

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RJR_38

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Re: How are your sweet corn doing so far?
« Reply #13 on: July 30, 2013, 18:26 »
I just didn't know if I was looking at days or weeks for them to get to this stage

I would say weeks rather than days, although that's partly because they are often in danger of running out of summer and by then the days are getting shorter and cooler.

Mine are considerably more advanced this year than in the last few (especially last year  :ohmy:) which should mean there is plenty of time for them to ripen, although obviously some more hot sun would be very helpful too.

That is very useful to know, thanks! Other than inspecting for animal damage I won't fret about them too much yet then.

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Eightball

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Re: How are your sweet corn doing so far?
« Reply #14 on: July 30, 2013, 19:04 »
JayG how come you have your sweetcorn in one row? I was under the impression sweetcorn was a grass and thus wind pollinated so its better to plant them in a block? (3x3, 4x4 etc) I'm just trying to find all the info I can as I plan on growing it next year.



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