[Eatyourgreens]

I Have 25/30 Sweetcorn seeds chitting that were sent up by Iwantanallotment, I am just about to head out and pot them into paper pots.



I have grown Sweetcorn south a few times before, I seem to remember growing one lot back in the colder 70's in a greenhouse.

I think I am going to split them into three lots, one in GH, one in sheltered part of my garden and another in a friends garden to see how they do.

My question is how much soil does Sweetcorn need as my GH floor concrete and gravel in the beds, I will need to build something to grow them in if they can't manage in individual pots, any comments welcome as I think growing SC up here is maybe a bit too much.



Bob

[Kristen]

30 plants is getting quite few for 3 separate blocks - they need to be about 4 plants square - i.e. 16 plants in a block - minimum, or at a pinch 4 x 3, to assist pollination.

I read that you have to be careful not to hoe close to the plants, to avoid damaging surface roots, but I don't know if that means they will grow in shallow soil.

My book say that the location should be "Full sun and sheltered" - so good luck!

[paintedlady]

Their roots don't dive down like some other plants, but they will still need a decent depth (at a guess 9-12 inch deep, but allow a diameter of say 12-15 inch per plant?) but the key is that the soil is high in nutrients (they are incredibly hungry feeders - so manure or compost enriched with something like bonemeal/fertiliser would be essential especially if their roots are to be confined)

[Sue33]

we grew sweetcorn for the first time last year (it was my favourite  so sweet!) and when we cleared them in the autumn I found them pretty easy to pull up, much easier than I thought they would be, maybe only 5/6 inches of roots

[strangerachael]

As they are wind pollinated they must like a certain amount of wind, and I believe they are designed to withstand windy weather.  You can earth them up to help anchor them better. If they are in a greenhouse it may not be windy enough and you may have to assist in pollination by shaking them when the time comes. Or maybe use a hairdryer ?  

[Oliver]

Their roots don't dive down like some other plants, but they will still need a decent depth (at a guess 9-12 inch deep, but allow a diameter of say 12-15 inch per plant?) but the key is that the soil is high in nutrients (they are incredibly hungry feeders - so manure or compost enriched with something like bonemeal/fertiliser would be essential especially if their roots are to be confined)

Good advice here me lady. They can be quite close together, though 14 inches between stems works (just look what the farmers do when they grow maize for cattle feed. Sweet corn is maize, only sweet.
Oliver

[Kristen]

"As they are wind pollinated they must like a certain amount of wind"

Yes, but I think only enough to "move and carry" the pollen.

All three of my gardening books say they need shelter from strong wind

[David.]

If the problem with wind is supporting them (rather than a pollination issue) you could always grow them up through a horizontal layer of Rylock mesh fencing (that is supported by vertical posts and raised up as the crop grows, as I use with my jerusalem artichokes (can't see much of the mesh in this pic though):





And here's the structure/mesh before everything grows:



i've done this with swetcorn before - polenta maize (Franchi seeds) that with feeding got to around 2m high and got some cucumbers (Telegraph) scrambling up onto the mesh.