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