Allotment Gardening Advice Help Chat
Growing => Grow Your Own => Topic started by: Elaine G on April 22, 2017, 19:30
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OK so I have messed up chitting my sweetcorn - note to self, do not leave in the airing cupboard for 2 days without checking :mad:
Anyway, I made a note last year to try Mirai Picnic. I notice they are more expensive, so wondered if anyone has tried them and could tell me if they are worth the extra money, or shall I nip to Wilkinsons tomorrow and get some cheaper ones.
Last weeks seeds were Lark. Cannot remember what I have grown before!
Any answers appreciated, thanks.
Elaine
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I always grow Lark or Swift, tried a Supersweet one year and we weren't that impressed, so I went back to the old favourites :D
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Never chitted mine.
I have been growing Golden Bantam for years and have found them to be great croppers and very tasty.
They germinate within a week and rarely have a failure. Had 100% germination of the 16 seeds I have so far sowed this year.
Will be sowing another load this week.
They are now after a few weeks a good few inches and more high.
I sow mine in the greenhouse, did that a few weeks back and plant them out in first week of May
I grow them in raised beds around the garden and also as a replacement crop once the first lot of broad beans have finished.
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I grew Mirai Picnic last year, and had a fantastic crop. Two cobs to every plant and each cob was full of kernels, there were even quite a few third 'cobs' where the tillers grow. These third cobs, for want of a better word, were only small, not perfectly formed, but had quite a few kernels in them, and these I gave to the chickens. Flavour was really good too. I would recommend this variety.
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Lark and Swift are both reliable, but I've grown Incredible F1 for the past 3 years with good success - seem to be a bit more vigorous where I am, so a slightly better chance of getting more than one cob per plant.
A few people (MoS IIRC, sorry if wrong) have mentioned getting a few 'mutant' cobs which are unusable - I have seen this but only two instances over the 3 years (about 70-80 plants in total.)
Cheaper too - Wilco's are currently listing them at £1.50 per 40 seeds, although I obviously can't guarantee your local store will actually have them in stock when you go.
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Yes it is called 'tassel ear' where you get cobs with tassels growing instead of the silks. Apparently it is a common genetic mutation, but I'd never seen it until I grew Incredible :wacko:
If anyone is interested ::)
https://www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/corn/news/timeless/TasselEars.html
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Never chitted mine.
I have been growing Golden Bantam for years and have found them to be great croppers and very tasty.
They germinate within a week and rarely have a failure. Had 100% germination of the 16 seeds I have so far sowed this year.
Will be sowing another load this week.
They are now after a few weeks a good few inches and more high.
I sow mine in the greenhouse, did that a few weeks back and plant them out in first week of May
I grow them in raised beds around the garden and also as a replacement crop once the first lot of broad beans have finished.
I think Golden Bantam are good in the south. I had little success with them up here in Yorkshire trying for 3 years, and Real Seeds now only recommend them in a polytunnel. I think it is just too cold for them up here. I grew Lark last year and this was the first year I got a really good crop. They did really well.
edit to clarify quote
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I'm trying Real Seeds' double red sweetcorn which they say is early enough for the UK. It looks pretty spectacular so I'm really interested to see how it does. Will let you know.
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I'm trying Marai Picnic this year also after the RHS did some trials on Gardeners World last year and they came out tops for taste. We'll see!
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Thank you everyone for your replied.
Mirai Picnic are out of stock online so I went out armed with a mental list of your recommendations!
JayG hit the nail on the head, lots were out of stock, and I wasn't prepared to pay £2.50 or more for something I had never heard of :D.
I did manage though to get a packet of Incredible in our new Bunnings store for 99p - only 25 seeds so hope they are all going to grow!
lettice I wouldn't have worried about chitting but I am having a foot operation on May 9th so I am trying to get ahead of myself and only pot up viable seeds. The greenhouse is full and hubby will be in charge for a coupe of weeks :ohmy:
Thank you BumbleJo it must have been Gardeners World that I watched - will try Mirai Picnic next year - hopefully :lol:
Elaine
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Have grown Lark F1 corn for several years now and can recommend it highly, great yield, delicious taste and texture. This year, I'm trying a new variety, Amaize. It's a very pale corn that is supposed to have a superior flavour and a real 'crunch' to it....we shall see! I will report back in late summer, if anyone would like to know results.
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Thanks Middlesexbloke. I'm sure I have grown Lark before (sorry, last few yrs have been stressful!) but could not see any seeds yesterday. Guess it's that time of year, and a good sign that they are worth growing.
For what it's worth there are far more than 25 seeds in my pack, so good value hopefully for 99p.
Personally I would be very interested in knowing how things turn out with Amaize, thank you. Hopefully they will be delicious.
Elaine
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I've been a swift fan for many years, but I was frustrated at only getting 1 cob per plant, but a little research showed that Lark is a taller variety and should easily produce 2 cobs per plant.
So this year I'm trying Lark in an attempt to get 2 cobs.
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How you guys, are doing this one-cob corns, that's what I'm pondering about. I can't recall such a thing. I doubt it's to do with the variety.
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This year Swift, bought from seed parade,cost 99p IIRC,sowed about a week ago..100% germination, unchitted.