[Hampshire Hog]

I always chit and then transfer to root trainers finally put out when weather warm and frost free.
One watch out on the rotting is I have noticed mould on them when I have left them chitting in damp warm conditions too long. I think it best to chit for as short a time as possible and then remove cover from root trainer as soon as they show above the soil.

Cheers HH

[Kenilworth]

I  use root trainers and then transfer into the final planting position when weather warms up, normally without any problems. Last year I initially did try the old rolled up newspaper pot method thinking the less root disturbance the better but I had very poor germination rates which I put down to me struggling to keep the moisture levels correct with the paper pots. They were either too wet or too dry I struggled to get a middle ground consistently. I re-sowed a new batch from the same packet into the root trainers and I got near  100% germination. I suspect it was just  my poor water management with the paper pots rather than anything else. I personally just find the root trainers easier to manage.

[TheWhiteRabbit]

I don't think they are 'root sensitive' - I've never been careful with the roots when planting and mine have done fine.

[Goosegirl]

I don't chit but just sow two to a smallish pot and pinch out the weakest one. When the roots start to show at the bottom, I pot them on into a bigger pot until they are 6"-8" high and then plant out when the weather is kind enough.

[BabbyAnn]

I don't think they are 'root sensitive' - I've never been careful with the roots when planting and mine have done fine.

I was unaware of sweetcorn being "root sensitive" and my planting method usually involves gently teasing the roots apart with my fingers that have managed to start growing round in the bottom of the pot, and I never noticed any problems.  And there's always at least one pot where there's a catastrophe and all the compost has dropped out and involves a minor rescue with no lasting effects thereafter.

Admittedly its agricultural ,But we started drilling 120 acres today .

One year I saw a field near where I work that was first covered with black plastic sheeting (piqued my curiosity - I thought it was weed suppressant), then later started to notice the sweetcorn coming up.  It's more likely the soil absorbs heat from the sun on the plastic and that encourages quicker germination as well as active growth.

With reference to what things did last year, I remember it being a mild winter that gradually turned into a mild spring, so things warmed up very quickly.  This year apart from the recent couple of weeks,  I have found early spring to be on the cool side - maybe warmer during the day but our nights are still very cold which is putting me off transferring sensitive plants to the polytunnel.

Back to the original question:

hi.

can you direct sow sweetcorn?

last year i chitted them inside, then started them off in 3l pots. this year i'm thinking it may be a bit of a pain to start them in pots due to working odd hours and being able to keep an eye on them enough.

chitting worked well for me last year, so can i chit and sow direct in the the prepared ground?

If you prepare the ground first, maybe lay down some black plastic to warm up the soil, then sow a bit later than you normally sow indoors (so the weather should fingers crossed, get warmer especially at night), I think it could work.  Chitting prior to planting sounds like a good idea too

[Kristen]

I think it best to chit for as short a time as possible

I now put them to chit with much less water than I used to.  I use to put double layer of [moistened] kitchen paper under, then seeds, then double layer of [moistened] kitchen paper on top.

Now I just put the kitchen paper under, and pour out any excess water.  I cover with Tupperware lid, or cling film.  This year they got left longer than normal - roots getting on for 2" long and shoot starting to appear - and I had very good germination (seed was last years even ...) thus I have concluded, based on a sample-size of ONE!, that less moisture around the seed helped.

[Kristen]

I had a look in my Joy Larkcom and she says:

"Delay sowing [direct] until soil temperature is 18C. Never sow if soil is wet" (she says that 13C is the minimum)

"Does not transplant well unless raised in modules and planted out whilst still small"

So perhaps the issue with root disturbance is once the plants get bigger. I know they are surface rooting, so dislike root disturbance from hoeing etc. Although Joy is silent on that point, so maybe that's a myth too?

[Robster]

I thought  communicate an observation I made last year.  I was prompted by Sparkyrog's 120 acre comment which made me chuckle and 3759Allens worthwhile observation also well made that, well Sparky's not mollycoddling all his sweetcorns.

I noticed that with my corn last year I had two and sometimes three cobs per plant and when I was out in a sweetcorn field it was two sometime one corn per plant.  So allotment above two per plant and agricultural below two per plant but not much in it.

Obviously I would reckon that the variety is different (I suppose they could have been a cattle feed variety and mine were an F1 supersweet) and of course mine where molly coddled.  loved and cuddled stroked and talked to the way we all do.

So maybe in terms of yield there is a minor difference and that's about it.

[Kristen]

when I was out in a sweetcorn field it was two sometime one corn per plant

Was the crop Sweetcorn or Maize?  What I think of as Maize is grown as a fodder crop - the foliage is harvested for cattle feed (like Silage I suppose), rather than for the cobs.  They are the old type of Sweetcorn - 8' tall or so, and needing a very hot Summer (more reminiscent of USA than here) in order to ripen any cobs.

[LotuSeed]

I think a good majority of the rows and rows of corn that I see here are dent corn, or field corn, and not sweet corn. Dent corn is left on the stalk to dry out and then harvested. It has a variety of uses, but fresh eating isn't one of them. Lol. When I was looking for sweet corn seeds, there were quite a few heirloom varieties that grow well over 6 feet tall, like 7-8ft. I wouldn't bother chitting, but our climate is different to yours. I've never seen root trainers at any garden center 😮 the sweetcorn that are sold as seedlings/starts are in regular seed modules 🌱

[Steve_LF]

I grew mine in pots last year and they didn't seem to mind being transplanted.

[gypsy]

I sow in pots because I once sowed directly into the ground and the mice had a sweet corn party. I do not suppose farmers mind losing a few to  mice but I only planted 20 so could not afford to feed the mice

[Ema]

If you sow outside under cloches you will need to water regularly so it's may be easier to water pots at home. I sowed mine yesterday used 5 inch pots because that was the next size up from the 1.5inch pots I have. I'm sure they'll be fine. There ontop of a heated vivarium so will be kept snug, once a few inch high they'll move into the mini gh.

[Salmo]

Admittedly its agricultural ,But we started drilling 120 acres today .

The magic figure for farmers is only plant when the soil temperature has reached 10 deg C. That is the temperature at 4 inches deep. It may also help to use cloches. This will keep them warm and protect them from birds.

[Salmo]

I sow in pots because I once sowed directly into the ground and the mice had a sweet corn party. I do not suppose farmers mind losing a few to  mice but I only planted 20 so could not afford to feed the mice

Plant 4 inches deep and there should be no problem.