Sweetcorn

[grahamhobbs]

Millymollymandy do you know what varieties you grow? The only variety I know that will give more than one cob per plant is Ovation.

[Green Aura]

Does it only produce 1 cob per plant? Even those you see in fields at a couple of metres high, or more.

Bugger that for a game of soldiers - it won't be taking up valuable space in our polytunnel again. I thought we were just really bad at growing it.

[Millymollymandy]

I've grown at least 5 varieties all seeds for sale in England and they all produce lots of cobs. If you only get one per plant then it wouldn't be worth the space growing them, would it? This is why you need to space them at least a metre apart!

Or do you remove the side branches like they do in America (someone on this forum said they did that)?

[Millymollymandy]

OK just checked for you:

This year I'm growing

Sweet Bounty F1 (produced the most amount of cobs - it says on the packet 'productive plants with well filled cobS - but very covered in rust)
Incredible F1 (fair few cobs - again says on packet cobS plural)
T&M 'Extra Tender & Sweet' (very tall, much fewer cobs)

I've also grown Lark.

So there you go, they are expected to produce more than one cob in the UK!

[Odsox]

The only variety I know that will give more than one cob per plant is Ovation.

Strange ... I thought all sweetcorn produced at least 2 cobs per plant and the stronger ones even more.
This year I grew Extra Tender & Sweet and Lark F1, both with at least 3 cobs and on the ET&S had as many as 6 on some plants, although the smaller bottom cobs had very few kernels, mainly because of the rain I think.

Odsox I want a word with you as I can't get the ruddy kernels off the cob easily at all using your method.

Oh dear ... in the doghouse again
It worked OK again this year for us. The only thing that I find can go wrong is the length of time you blanch them, too short and they hang on .. too long and they go squidgy and disintegrate.
About 2 minutes from coming back to the boil seems about right.
It's a job to explain how it's done but it's more a case of levering the kernels out of the first row and then pushing the next row into the gap with the side of your thumb.

[red]

my sweetcorn usually has 2 cobs per plant

I grow applause and sundance.

i really prefer the not supersweet varieties

[Millymollymandy]

I've been out counting! The ET&S mostly have 3 cobs and very little in the way of side shoots, so I won't bother with them again cos that's a miserly harvest.

Incredible which says it is very resistant to rust is as covered in rust as all the others. They had about 4-5 cobs.

Sweet Bounty had tons of cobs as they have them all up the side shoots although none of them were really big, but that suits me fine. Don't forget I've also taken off about 10 cobs that were smutted!

I've just picked all the rest of the cobs off Incredible because something (birds?) are starting to eat them. but I can't eat them off the cob for a few days as I've just been to the dentist and my teeth are too sensitive after being cleaned!

Odsox I did exactly what you said but they just don't want to come off and the knife just keeps going off in all directions and I'm getting a lot of that (what's it called? the rough bits that get stuck in your teeth) coming off too, and most of them are just squidging. I started yesterday and have got to spend this afternoon doing the rest. Next lot I'm trying raw as I feel it might be easier. But thanks for your advice anyway as I will perservere and these little ones would have been chucked.

Oh and I hate young sweet tasting young sweetcorn as I was brought up eating 'corn' which is chewy and has flavour that is not sweet. So I leave mine to mature and never ever pick 'em and eat them straight away. It's also better for my health as I don't need to completely drench them with half a pot of salt, which I have to do with young sweetcorn.

[Derry]

my sweetcorns are crap =]
male flowers havent opened up properly yet, theres a few podgy bits on the stem with short silks,, but i reckon its too late in the year to get anything from them, so we're just ganna leave them in and see what happens

[red]

my sweetcorn is finally ripe.. and not gappy.. just filled with perfect kernels... yum


we defniitely don't eat it chewy in this house.. as Geoff Hamiliton once said.. put the pot of water on to boil.. amble down the garden to pick the corn, and sprint back!


still recommend baby corn.. they are so easy. MMM - I suspect you are getting more cobs per plant because you are further south? It's alwaya a bt dodgy trying to grow it in the UK

[Millymollymandy]

MMM - I suspect you are getting more cobs per plant because you are further south? It's alwaya a bt dodgy trying to grow it in the UK

It's not that much warmer here in general than SE England (which is often a lot hotter than here!) and Graham Hobbs is in London (the poster who said he only got one cob per plant). So I don't know about that. Granted it does grow bigger in a hotter summer.

Dug some of ours up to take to the tip yesterday (cos of the rust) and I'm surprised how small the rootball is.

[grahamhobbs]

Bit late in coming back to this, obviously spacing is important. My comments were based on planting at a usual 40-45cm apart.

I only get one, sometimes two, cobs worth eating per plant but I plant at 40cm. But if my maths is correct, I get at least 6, sometimes 8 cobs per sqm as against perhaps a max. of 5 per sqm it seems if you plant 1m apart.

Obviously there is an advantage in wider spacings because then you can underplant with beans and squash, to great benefit. But if you are a bit squeezed and growing in a polytunnel to avoid the squirels (who will leave us with no cobs, if grown outside - netting or no netting!) then a smaller spacing seems to give a better crop.

[Big Al]

For the past 3 years I have grown sweetcorn which hasnt been the most productive of crops with perhaps only 1 decent cob on each plant. Having seen the fields here that are full of maize and how closely together they plant them, literally a couple of inches, Im wondering whether Ive not planted them close enough in the past and theyve not pollinated properly. However, when Ive looked up info about growing sweetcorn its says to plant them 35cm (1 site) and 18 inches (another site). Just wanted to know what the rest of you do please?

35 cm is 14 " in real money anyway so not much in it either way but I always plant at about 12" anyway but I plant on the diamond pattern as you get motre per m2.

If you want to make sure they pollinate then you can put a mask on ( H&S again) and give the stalks a good shake now and again. Having aid that I'm with those that have had failed crops this year. I bought two packets from garden centres and both were F1 hybrids of different types and from different big seed companies. I usually get mine away in February on the windowsill but both were none starters. I did plant a third packet that was dated sow before 2005 in early august and these are about 3" tall now. I put them in to see if they will over winter in the greenhouse.

I started with an experiment this year where I deliberatly planted a lot of crops close together to see how much water and food they took to grow but my back kicked off so they got rather neglected. What did transpire was that the crops did grow well enough but could have done better so if I'd watered and fed them properly then spacing didn't seem to be an issue but to be certain I'll need to train the wife to water and feed the crops next year.

[Peggy Sue]

Well I had trouble last 2 years (only times I've tried) getting holey corn, so I'm told not pollinated. So instead of doing proper spacing I put them really close together- like almost on top of eachother, maybe 30-40 corn in a 2metre x 2 metre ish patch.

Much better corn than before, more than one per plant normally I think (bit hard to tell in that space!) so far have eaten around a dozen or so, some have gone over as we were on holiday so next years seed and may a dozen more to eat at a glance- probably more in the middle I can't see! Wish I'd counted now coz this would be interesting where space is premium

The hardest bit for me is when they are ready- I took several too early, now I can't tell if they are over and woody. It's such a gamble

[Millymollymandy]

I peel them back carefully to have a look see - but be careful to peel one leaf back then if (as you probably will) you need to break/split open the next leaf and so on, do it in a different place so that you can put the leaves back without an obvious gap for the ants/birds/rot to get into. Hope that makes sense!

[Peggy Sue]

I've been trying that, and the tst is supposed to be milky juice when you oush your nail into the corn. I have to say I probably need more experience at knowing what this should really look like.

BTW I checked last night, I have 30 plants in 1m x 2.5m, all seemed to have at least 2 cobs (some eaten obviously), so thats about 30ish cobs per metre square. Plenty of treats for 2 hungry people!