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+--- Thread: Sweetcorn (/showthread.php?tid=935)
Sweetcorn - JJB - 12-03-2021
How knowledgeable about sweetcorn are you folks?
I find a lot of guff is spouted about the 'types' of sweetcorn and the varieties that can be grown together.
I like sweetcorn Swift F1 which Garden Focussed classify as sugar enhanced (se/se+) but Kings and Simplyseed classify as shrunken (sh2)
As DT Brown had a sale and I saw that sweetcorn Picasso was a synergistic type and (they say) could be grown with any other, I ordered some, thinking to experiment a little.
Looking at some other site in the US it says that synergistic corn should be isolated from sh2.
I'm now in a quandary, the garden isn't big enough for two incompatible types, but I might succeed with successional sowing so the two types don't flower at the same time.
Some days life gets complicated. I may just stick with Swift.
Anyone know any different?
RE: Sweetcorn - toomanytommytoes - 12-03-2021
According to here, which maybe you've seen already: https://www.johnnyseeds.com/on/demandware.static/-/Library-Sites-JSSSharedLibrary/default/dw6ac73b23/assets/information/corn-sweet-types-comparison-chart.pdf
sh2 (shrunken-2) must be isolated from all other corn types
synergistic (syn) must be isolated from sh2
sugary enhanced (se/se+) must be isolated from sh2
RE: Sweetcorn - toomanytommytoes - 12-03-2021
Super sweet and extra tender types are sh2. Swift is extra tender so sh2. DT Browns/Mr Fothergills do say you can grow Picasso with any other type but I'd trust Johnny Seeds, who supply seed direct to farmers, more than them.
I guess you could grow something like Minipop which doesn't require pollination.
Johnny say you can grow incompatible varieties if you stagger planting dates by 12 days or grow varieties which will mature at least 12 days apart, but you still need to separate varieties by 25 feet in each case.
RE: Sweetcorn - JJB - 13-03-2021
(12-03-2021, 06:36 PM)toomanytommytoes Wrote: Super sweet and extra tender types are sh2. Swift is extra tender so sh2. DT Browns/Mr Fothergills do say you can grow Picasso with any other type but I'd trust Johnny Seeds, who supply seed direct to farmers, more than them.
I guess you could grow something like Minipop which doesn't require pollination.
Johnny say you can grow incompatible varieties if you stagger planting dates by 12 days or grow varieties which will mature at least 12 days apart, but you still need to separate varieties by 25 feet in each case.
Thanks TMTT. I have started off many years ago with false info from Garden Focused that Swift was se/se+, not sh2. Not that it really mattered as I've only grown extra tender types together. I will now rethink my strategy. I can probably manage 25ft distance and a 12 day+ difference is easy. Like you I've more faith in Johnny's Seeds than the others.
Don't we gardeners get fed some rubbish!
Not bothering with Minipop, to my mind it's not worth it, I like my big cobs. I will experiment with Picasso and hope for the best.
RE: Sweetcorn - JJB - 21-03-2021
Was thinking last night that I might bung some sweetcorn in as I've never grown it before, I know you like it as I saw in another thread, any tips?
[/quote]
Here's what I do. Anyone else please feel free to add or contradict where necessary.
Firstly choose just the one variety to grow, not every sweetcorn is compatible with another. If you have other allotments near y ask which variety they grow. Grow enough to form a block of plants each about 12 - 15" apart. The block/rectangular formation helps the pollination.
I grow Swift but as that's an F1 you might prefer a different variety. I'm also trying Picasso for the first time this year.
I sow about 3rd wk in April and plant out late May or when I can rely on no frost.
I have found that chitting the seeds on damp paper in a warm dark place helps determine the seed viability, as one year Swift had germination problems. The seeds germinate within a matter of a couple of days in warmth. Others sow two seeds to a station and cull the weakest. After chitting I place seeds in root trainers to get a good depth for roots and bring them on in warmth (GH), protecting from frost. You could try tall paper pots. I've never tried direct sowing so can't comment on that. The experts say that sweetcorn doesn't like root disturbance but I found on the one occasion I had a pot full which I separated, they did alright in the end. Nothing nicer than home grown sweetcorn, except perhaps homegrown carrots.
Basically Danny it's nothing ventured nothing gained, give it a try.
RE: Sweetcorn - Broadway - 21-03-2021
(21-03-2021, 04:19 PM)JJB Wrote: Was thinking last night that I might bung some sweetcorn in as I've never grown it before, I know you like it as I saw in another thread, any tips?
Here's what I do. Anyone else please feel free to add or contradict where necessary.
Firstly choose just the one variety to grow, not every sweetcorn is compatible with another. If you have other allotments near y ask which variety they grow. Grow enough to form a block of plants each about 12 - 15" apart. The block/rectangular formation helps the pollination.
I grow Swift but as that's an F1 you might prefer a different variety. I'm also trying Picasso for the first time this year.
I sow about 3rd wk in April and plant out late May or when I can rely on no frost.
I have found that chitting the seeds on damp paper in a warm dark place helps determine the seed viability, as one year Swift had germination problems. The seeds germinate within a matter of a couple of days in warmth. Others sow two seeds to a station and cull the weakest. After chitting I place seeds in root trainers to get a good depth for roots and bring them on in warmth (GH), protecting from frost. You could try tall paper pots. I've never tried direct sowing so can't comment on that. The experts say that sweetcorn doesn't like root disturbance but I found on the one occasion I had a pot full which I separated, they did alright in the end. Nothing nicer than home grown sweetcorn, except perhaps homegrown carrots.
Basically Danny it's nothing ventured nothing gained, give it a try.
[/quote]
Thanks Jen
RE: Sweetcorn - mcdood - 21-03-2021
Very similar, I sow mid march in loo rolls. I do plant together with squash which works well. Fresh sweetcorn straight in the pot is one of my gardening highlights. Only problem I have is either squirrels or badgers,maybe both, wiping out the whole bed before the cobs ripen. Think I'd need to grow them in a fruit cage to sort that out.
RE: Sweetcorn - Broadway - 21-03-2021
How many cobs do you get per plant??
RE: Sweetcorn - Admin - 21-03-2021
Normally a minimum of two Danny and maybe a third on the tillers, but tend to be smaller. In my part of the world, I sow in May, normally the first Saturday. A lot is written about potting on and root disturbance but I think its eyewash
RE: Sweetcorn - JJB - 22-03-2021
I don't get more than two per usually which, when I grow 40 odd plants, is far more than we need. I'm going to sow in two waves this year to spread the glut.