[vanessa.xx]

Hi I've been told by an old chap on the plot that I should earth up the bottoms of my sweetcorn both to make them more stable and to cover the roots which are poking out abit, his sweetcorn looks amazing, anyway I have some homemade compost which I'd say is just ready would you recommend using that around the bases because I thought it would also feed them a bit? I also have squash in the same bed and I'm sure they'd appreciate it too. My worry was is it too strong like horse manure? Although I wouldn't have thought it was  :blink: sorry I'm just a noob 

[JayG]

Home-made compost isn't very nutrient-rich if made only from vegetable material (i.e. doesn't contain a lot of poo!) so won't hurt your sweetcorn. Being much lighter than soil it won't do much to support the stems, but covering the roots is a good idea and the mulching effect will help retain moisture.

Sweetcorn are very hungry and thirsty plants so make sure they are well fed and watered anyway.

[vanessa.xx]

Ahh ok thanks I have been feeding them with nettle tea and they seem to have shot up the first lot are just getting tassels, how often should I be using nettle tea and can I over do it? The compost did have a fair bit of chicken poo in its all been composting for around 8-9 mths

[JayG]

I think at this stage you would be better off saving your not-quite-ready compost and just earthing up the stems with soil to cover the roots.

As for the nettle tea, that's a bit of a "how long is a piece of string" question as it depends on how concentrated it is, but I would think that once a week is about right, although in this weather you will no doubt also have to water more often than that.