[mumofstig]

I chit mine on tissue paper and then pot up into paper pots. Once up they go in the greenhouse under fleece if it's frosty.
They grow quite quickly so within a week or 2 you can start to harden them off and then plant out. So IMO you really can't start them earlier than middle of April, and even then a late frost might catch them

[Zippy]

I chit mine as above just so I know how many I have as likely to be successful plants and start them off in paper pots to avoid root disturbance - you just plant the plant pot and all.

While this is happening I top dress the bed with 4 inches of home grown compost and a week before the planting I rake coffee grounds into the first two inches of soil as a slow nitrogen source; about one half bin bag full to four square yards - coutesy of Starbucks.

Regular feeds with Nettle and Comfrey tea keep them well fed through the growing season.

I don't do manure.

[Jamie Butterworth]

Thanks for the advice everyone

[slow_worm]

Mine are just coming up now in pots in the conservatory...they then will go out to cold frame later until risk of frost has passed which is generally sometime in April here on the south coast.  Grew them few years back and they were good crop - even if a bit of a glut!! 30 plants!!  This year I have only 18, so should be OK.  Can cobs be frozen whole?

[mumofstig]

yes, but I still balanched them first 

[Gandan57]

The cobs can be frozen whole, just blanch for two minutes first.

I have 54 seeds in my packet of 50 Sweet Sensation F1 from MrF`s.
Intend to plant half in a weeks time and the rest three weeks later. I`m going to try the paper tissue chitting method for the first time. They will then be put in paper pots and when the first half are planted out in mid May, 15 inches apart each way, each one will be covered with half a two litre lemonade bottle. The bottle tops will be removed and holes will be drills in the bottoms. This is to protect the plants from cold winds, which they hate. Roll on September!

[alibean]

Jamie, have you tried a 3 sisters bed?

I devote a large area every year to this and it always works well...

1.  Dig a lot of manure into the chosen area.  Then dig some more in 

2.  Plant squashes and sweetcorn haphazardly! (as long as the area is square/rectangular you'll be adhereing to the sowing sweetcorn in a block rule).  Sow climbing beans near the sweetcorns.

3. This is a thirsty bed so give it plenty of water.

4.  The '3 sisters' help each other..... the sweetcorn give support to the beans and the squashes give ground cover and suppress weeds.  Can't remember what the beans give to the ensemble but they all look pretty in a non-conventional rambling sort of way!

Worth a try?

[Becci W]

This is my 3rd year of trying to grow it and beat the rats to eating it! Any solutions to stopping the rats munching it all?

[Yorkie]

The only way to deter the rats is to get rid of them 

The three sisters method is sometimes mentioned on here but it rarely gets a good review.  It was designed in a part of America, I believe, where the climate is very different.  Not all of the 3 elements thrive in our climate.

[Kristen]

I grow them in newspaper pots, chitting on kitchen paper first. The newer Super Sweet varieties germinate less well, and to improve this are usually  coated in a fungicide (which looks like Paprika! WASH (rather than lick!) you fingers!)

So I don't soak them overnight, as I think that would wash off the fungicide, I just put them on some damp kitchen paper in a small pot and cover with cling film (Tupperware box with lid would do) for a few days and then once they start to sprout I "sow" them.

Mine only take 3 weeks for sow-to-plant and thus only need to be sown 3 weeks before last frost, and need to start hardening off after about 10 days.

I don't know if they really mind root disturbance - people seem to get good results doing all sorts of potting-on and transplanting, so I do wonder if that is a bit of a myth.

Do not plant anywhere near any other variety (regardless of what it says on the packet). If neighbours are growing Corn then club together to bulk-buy and all sow the same variety.

If you find out how to get more than one cob per plant please let me know!

[JayG]

I'm not a convert to the "three sisters" method, at least not here in Sheffield given the recent summers; the plants compete for the available nutrients and sunshine rather than help each other.

I have tried letting winter squashes ramble through the sweetcorn and it didn't work out too badly (apart from not being able to reach the squash flowers with my "tickling brush"!)

I agree that the germination rates of supersweet sweetcorn seed seems to drop off dramatically after a year, which is why I buy fresh each year and sow them all directly into paper pots. There's usually about 35 in the packet and if I don't get 33 plants I have a major sulk! Luckily it hasn't happened yet, so I will proudly continue to be a seemingly quite rare non-chitter! 

[Zippy]

Do not plant anywhere near any other variety (regardless of what it says on the packet). If neighbours are growing Corn then club together to bulk-buy and all sow the same variety.

Surely this only applies if you are going to save some of the cobs for seed for next year? If you are going to eat all of the cobs, cross pollination shouldn't matter?

[JayG]

Do not plant anywhere near any other variety (regardless of what it says on the packet). If neighbours are growing Corn then club together to bulk-buy and all sow the same variety.

Surely this only applies if you are going to save some of the cobs for seed for next year? If you are going to eat all of the cobs, cross pollination shouldn't matter?

It does matter, because unusually it is the seeds you are growing them for and eating!

[lancashiregardeninggal]

A few days ago I saw an advert for the sale of sweetcorn plants with a planting bag similar to the offers for growing potatoes - I was surprised as I thought sweetcorn needed much more space and I'm not sure they would thrive in these conditions - has anyone else seen these for sale? 

[Zippy]

I'm not convinced - cross fertilisation doesn't affect the quality of the food (seeds) of the crop you are growing - it could change the offspring harvest of any subssequent crop if you save the seed which is now a cross of two varieties.

I am open to correction here.