[ondofpond]

Hello all, newbie and first-time grower here.

I have a question about my sweetcorn. I have made the bed ready for it, and have been growing it in pots for few weeks now. Half of it is in larger pots and that has reached over 30cm tall, the over half is in small pots and that is 15-20cm tall but the leaves are yellowing. I'm guessing this means they are getting too big for their pots.

My question is, how shall I go about putting it out? The weather is definitely getting warmer later this week, do I need to harden them off (I'm thinking quicker I get 'em out the pots the better)? And when I plant 'em out, because the roots are clearly getting congested, do I need to "untangle" them or anything? This is further complicated by the fact that I planted two seeds per pot, and in most cases both seeds have germinated. My plan was simply put 'em straight into the ground and then snip off the redundant second plant, but now I'm wondering if untangling the roots of both plants and planting 'em both might be better idea?

Thx for replies

(am in East Midlands)

[Aidy]

Yep I would get them out now, perhaps protect from the wind until established.
Best way to untangle the roots is to pop the plant into a bucket of water to clean the compost off and gently pull them apart.

[dig4victory]

This is purely my own experience.

I would bring the pots outside during the day for a few days this week just to give them a taste of what life is like 'in the real world' and then just plant them out.

If you want to know exactly what I do; dig a hole, pour a little water in it which will seep away then I put a small handful of compost in and sprinkle a few granules of fertiliser in then pop in the pot contents and firm in the ground really well.  I then water in well and bring the earth around the plant to stablise. I don't bother to do anything to loosen the roots, they will soon find their own way!

I am a worrier so I have been cutting the tops and bottoms off used squash, water bottles etc and put them round the plant to give a bit of protection from wind and pests; I also sprinkle a few organic slug pellets about.

I thing the spacing rule is about 18" apart? I have done this before and I've planted them closer and they've all come up.

If t'were me, I would cut one plant off before planting, I wouldn't like to mess about with the roots in case they don't like being disturbed.

I'm sure there will be more advice for you, just do what seems right and good luck - there's nothing more lovely than popping a cob just picked, into boiling water for about 7 mins and crunching right in - I also like to eat the cob raw, right off the plant - so sweet!

[ondofpond]

That's brilliant, thx folks. I think I'll leave outside in the yard for couple of days, out the wind (bit windy here today as it goes), then I'll try pulling one pot's worth apart and plant it, just to see how it copes, and the rest I'll plant straight in and cut the spare, see what happens.

Cheers

[Kristen]

Sweetcorn usually not happy having their roots disturbed.  I would murder the weaker of the two plants now, and feed the pots (liquid feed, like Miracle Grow, slightly richer in Nitrogen than the other elements, so [for example] not a Tomato feed).

I would harden off for a week. I would not plant out without hardening off. Sweetcorn are a tender plant, so will suffer more than a more hardy plant being planted "straight out"

I plant out my Sweetcorn 3 weeks from germination - thus I sow them beginning of May to be ready for planting out 1st June (when frosts have finished).

[bigben]

This is further complicated by the fact that I planted two seeds per pot, and in most cases both seeds have germinated.

I saw this on gardeners world a year ago. I cannot remember the presenter it might have been Toby. He suggested planting two to a station and claimed that as long as the soil was rich enough they should be able to grow in this way. They do not produce loads of leaves to shade out the other sweetcorn but would need a good soil and perhaps a bit more water. If you get enough coming up then you can kill off the weaker plant but you will need to a minimum to get the block planting sweetcorn need for germination.

[chriscross1966]

Sow no more than 3 weeks before last frost and start hardening off as soon as a tray is up.... this year I've been using toilet-roll tubes pushed into a 24-drop module... plant out at 8-9" intervals (a bit tighter than normal) and using the Franch Zucchero seeds cos you get millions in a packet... I'd rather grow 120 plants (a couple of packs pciked up for 50p each in the Wyevale September sale) and get one good cob per plant than grow a handful of plants spaced at 145" hoping for two cobs.... the second cob is never very well filled.... first fourty are out, next forty go out this week and the last are getting sown this weekend...