[mumofstig]

here's the thread where it was discussed
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=70723.msg806946#msg806946

and the American University paper
here on page 2

[Salmo]

I thought the cross-pollination thing was rubbish until I did a bit of research.

Apparently the structure of the kernals of modern supersweet varieties is different from standard sweetcorn and cattle feed varieties and store energy more as sugars and less as starch.

Although supersweets are sweeter they can be leathery. Breeders are now trying to produce sweetcorn with the sweetness of supersweets and the tender creaminess of standard varieties. As usual it is market forces which steer breeding. One of the attributes is that supersweets keep their sweetness for 10 days or so. Standard varieties need eating immediatly.

From what I can gather any of the supersweet varieties can be grown together with no ill effects. What must be avoided is growing them near either standard varieties or cattle feed varieties as this will give starchy grains if cross-pollinated. About 70 yards is reccommended for isolation. Just hard luck if you local farmer decides to grow his cattle feed beside your allotment.

I would imagine that almost all varieties grown on allotments are supersweet and the risk of cross-pollination is negligable? Who grows what?

[Salmo]

here's the thread where it was discussed
http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=70723.msg806946#msg806946

and the American University paper
here on page 2

It would appear from this that it is more complicated. My conclusion is that we should not mix varieties in a bed nor grow them side by side. I would imaging that it is highly unlikely that a patch of ,say, 20 plants at one end of an allotment will be cross-pollinated bby a similar small patch at the other end. A twenty acre field next door would be different.

[Swing Swang]

Whilst I agree fully with x-pollination and flavour if you're like me and actually prefer sweetcorn to be toughish, non-sweet and starchy (almost 'gone over') then don't worry too much about what your neighbours have planted. If they've approached you first then planting the same variety keeps them happy.

[Kristen]

I'm not convinced - cross fertilisation doesn't affect the quality of the food (seeds) of the crop you are growing - it could change the offspring harvest of any subssequent crop if you save the seed which is now a cross of two varieties.

This might be of interest:

http://chat.allotment-garden.org/index.php?topic=69489.msg795032#msg795032

[TerryB]

Surely cross fertilisation could only a problem if  different types are grown at the same time, so the pollen from one gets onto the other. Have grown three different types on the same plot but 4 weeks apart and they have been fine.