[Azazello]

I've had my sweetcorn germinate and it's growing nicely.

The bigger plants are now about 6 ins tall.

I'm wondering what comes next - should I harden it off over a week or so and just plant it out or does it need to sit indoors a while yet?

Thanks in advance

[SUTTY1]

I'd harden them off for a week or so, then plant them out.
If you are getting the cool winds, top and tail a lemonade bottle to give them some early protection

[JayG]

Always tricky getting the timing right because you don't want them outgrowing their pots or subjecting them to low overnight temperatures either during hardening off or after planting out (the tricky bit is of course knowing what the weather and temperatures are going to be like in the next few weeks!)

If you can maintain temperatures at a minimum of around 10C I would suggest you start hardening them off now, and then hope that things look a bit more sweetcorn-friendly in a week's time (at least they shouldn't be so big that you can't hold them back a bit longer if necessary.)

[Azazello]

Thanks for the replies.

I think they'll be OK for a little while - while the bigger plants are 6ins or so, the smaller ones are only a couple of inches.

Maybe I'll repot the bigger ones and do it in stages.

Night time temps seem set to be a little low (down to about 6) so maybe I'll keep them in for a little while just yet, though my allotment neighbour's are out.

[bigben]

I planted mine out about two weeks ago but they have gone into a sulk and not grown at all. I wish I had repotted them and kept them in the greenhouse a bit longer.

[Aunt Sally]

The cold wind we have at present will stop them prowing and possibly fill them

[Kristen]

They grow very quickly, so its easy to go from "not very big" to "too big" ...

I think putting them out during the day to harden them off is best, as that will also slow them down.

I work on the basis that they only take 3 weeks from germination to planting out, so I start hardening off two weeks after germination.

I wonder how much credence there is in Sweetcorn not liking root disturbance?  I grow them in tall newspaper pots so i can plant them whole, but I see them for sale in modules, and plenty of people here use pots.  Joy Larkcom says that it does not transplant well once the plants are large - so maybe that is the actual issue, rather than root disturbance?, in which case it might work against potting on ?  But I've not tried it ...

[Azazello]

Thanks - good to know all this. I've put them out now and so hopeful that will keep them at bay for a week or two.

My allotment neighbour planted about 20 or so but they've gone pale yellow. I hope she won't have to start again.

[Sid]

I have in the past bought plants and planted on without too much trouble from plants.
This year I have started from seeds and am waiting eagerly to plant out on lottie hopefully this wk-end.

[LilacSandy]

I potted mine on last year and they were fine (before the Muntjac ate them  ), however I made sure that they were potted on well before I would normally so that the roots were not disturbed at all.

[hardcj]

My first lot of sweetcorn went out at the beginning of march! It was a bit of experiment as my plot is on a sheltered suntrap hill. But the experiment has paid off so far, they got hardened off for weeks before I put them out and they are really putting on growth!

Here's a picture below, not the best as its off my phone but the first lot are about a foot high.



You can see my second lot outside the first lot. I have my final sweetcorn just coming through now in seed modules at home which will go out in a few weeks.

The younger plants seem to be quite hardy (altho I have lost 1 or 2) with regards to root disturbance and cold if hardened off properly. But time will tell later on in the year if the others catch up?