Sweetcorn

[the.fee.fairy]

My sweetcorn (minipop and ovation) are all about a foot high. None have started flowering yet, they're all starting to look like proper sweetcorn plants thoguh!! I've got 12 plants growing - all i planted.

[Mare Owner]

On a visit today an uncle was telling us about his sweetcorn and the "suckers" that were growing on them. His farmer friend told him that sweetcorn are prone to suckers and a dry year makes them worse.

The Uncle and his wife spent lots of time pulling off the suckers, they have 24 rows of sweetcorn! Yikes. They said they never remember seeing them this bad before. Told me you should remove them (if you can while the plants are smaller) as they just sap nutrients from the main plant.

[Millymollymandy]

What is the difference between suckers and side shoots which bear cobs of corn? If I pulled them off I wouldn't get so much corn!

Talking of which, I am still waiting for my first cobs to ripen. They are tiny and it is ages since they were pollinated and the hairy bits are brown, but not yet black. I had a peek inside but the kernels are white.

[red]

seems early to harvest corn - i leave the side shoots.. you get more corn.

[Mare Owner]

Maybe it is different for different varieties of corn? I broke the suckers off my corn today to see how they do. I would guess bigger fuller main ears with no suckers. Maybe next year we can experiment with taking some off and leaving some on, didn't occur to me to try. Whoops!

[adekun]

Yup, the side shoots are normal, although personally speaking I never seem to do too well out of them!

I think the three and a half cobs is my lot, but hanging on in case they plump up now the sun is out.

[thecornflake]

I'm growing mexican giant sweetcorn. Only sowed a couple of weeks ago, already a foot high and seems to grow about an inch a day! No flowers yet but looking good so far.

I wasn't even certain it would germinate so I'm well chuffed.

[chadspad]

How pretty is this corn? Blooming tasty too!



Lets try that again then!

Im not even going to mention how large your potimarrons are - I have serious squash envy

[bogit & legit]

my sweet corn is a bit short i to like chadspad may have planted a shorter growing variety but there doing well,some pic i took on the 1st of august.


regards B&L

[Rainy]

I sowed my sweetcorn as usual - normal variety - and mine too is only about 3ft high but has flowered and seems to be attempting to form cobs.
Weve had 5 weeks of rain everyday here and I wondered weather the water had washed the nutrients from the soil.

[Millymollymandy]

Chadspad - your photo hasn't appeard (least not to me) and you're obviously trying to get your own back for my bigger-than-yours potimarrons! I can see Bogit's piccy though.

Rainy - it sounds like yours are suffering the same as my first sowing - I think it was just a lack of sunshine and warmth.

[ina]

Chadspad - your photo hasn't appeard (least not to me) and you're obviously trying to get your own back for my bigger-than-yours potimarrons! I can see Bogit's piccy though.

Same here! (Apart from the potimarrons, of course . Would love to try them next year, though...)

[chadspad]

Its there now! I deleted it from photobucket - how dumb was that lol

[ina]

Right!

My dad used to grow these multi coloured ones - but ours were strictly decorative.

[chadspad]

According to the description on Ebay when I bought them, they are a staple diet of native indians. They are def sweeter than normal yellow ones.