[Roll Roll]

I'm working out what to plant next year. The family have decided they would like sweet corn. My main veg patch is around 25' x 15' so I realy need to think carefully about room and light restrictions. How much room would one plant take up, and what sort of crop would you expect per plant.

[Bombers]

Plant in a block, about 15-18" apart. I had 12 plants, and most produced 2 good size cobs.  - so about 4ft x 6ft I guess. I wish i had more space! :roll:

[peterjf]

plant in blocks , 5 rows of 8 plants, a block of 40 , each plant being seperated 15-18 inches, the male at the top of the plant has to pollinate the  female feathers at the bottom

[ANDY OF ILFORD]

Roll Roll ... nothing to do with the corn question but man your little pengiuns are funny ... or should I just get out more?

[Roll Roll]

Thanks for the advice gents. I would have planted them in rows had you not said, so thanks again.
 By the way Andy you dont need to get out more I think it's me that should. Glad to hear somone on the same wavelength as me, the wife did'nt get it, "whats christmasey about penguins?"

[paintedlady]

A couple of tips when growing sweetcorn - they are hungry feeders so dig in loads of manure.  Also when planting them out, make the hole a little deeper - they'll soon grow roots above the root ball, and helps to anchor them down and seem to do better for some reason.

[GreenOwl]

Have to say I planted mine much closer this year (having seen that commercial growers plant closer than 15-18") and they did fine.  I did mine about 8-10" apart - in a block of course.  

Yield is 1 to 2 cobs per plant so yield is not high but the flavour is superb.

Start 'em off wrapped in damp kitchen towel in a sealed container somewhere warm.  (Sealed because it keeps the damp in.)  You get much better germination that way.

[Elcie]

I can't wait for spring so I can get started!!

I got some sweetcorn plants very late from the garden centre last year (we only got our allotment in July) and they grew well but it was too late for anything other than very mini corn on the cobs!

Can't wait to be able to grow them properly next year.  I have some seeds already and taking note of the advice on here.

[compostqueen]

I had a right good crop this year after disappointment the year before. My lotty mate said I planted them too far apart. He was right.  I only got about two cobs per plant but that's ok by me. I did Miracle, 26 p a packet from Wilko but taste wise I think Sweet Nugget tasted better. Gorgeous in fact  

[Bombers]

Also I read to plant 'em in a bit of a depression, then when they get to about 2Ft high, earth 'em up a bit. (Helps to support 'em against the wind)

[corynsboy]

Sweet corn can take up a bit of room but I've read that it is possible to grow squashes on the ground between the sweetcorn.  A couple of courgette plants, which can be quite prolific, might be a good option.

As Paintedlady describes, feed is the key here as Squashes and sweetcorn are very hungry plants.  I inadvertently fed my sweetcorn with tomato feed last year and they took off like rockets.  I planted mine about a foot apart and they were fine.

I have to say that I have not tried this type of companion planting but it might be worth a shot if you are pressed for space.

[paintedlady]

The jury is still out on that one corynsboy - twice I've tried growing squash between sweetcorn, and on both occassions I was not too happy  :? (I put the first year down to inexperience, hence tried again ...)  Some people on the other hand swear by it.  I'll not be trying it a 3rd time  

[farmersue]

I tried that too, as i didn't have a huge amount of room to grow stuff and i wasn't impressed. I won't be doing that again. It's the Native American 'Three Sisters' way of growing corn, squash and beans (I think). Didn't do too well in Native Bournemouth.  :?

[Roll Roll]

I did a similer thing this year. To save room I planted my pumpkins in the centre of my runner bean canes, with mixed results, as the runners took hold I found it hard to thin out the pumpkins.

[Salmo]

Try sweet corn with trailing squashes underneath and a climbing french bean up every third sweet corn. Squashes tend to be a little less vigorous than pumpkins or courgettes. Give the sweetcorn a little more space than if you were planting them by themselves.