7 January 2025
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Learn how to maximise the short growing season with Bob’s top advice
In most older vegetable gardening book you ’ll seldom feel mention to sweetcorn , nor space allocated in crop rotations for these delectable cob . It ’s almost alone , Anglo - American grown , yes many places grow miscellanea of lemon for fodder , caryopsis , flour and iron for corn oil , but few country grow sweetcorn .
It is not actually a unexampled crop , but it has been immensely improved to the point where it ’s far more reliable and rewarding than varieties of yore . In the past few decades , available seed has been superseded in vigour , filbert size of it , amphetamine to reap and most of all in sweetness .
This has been done through intensive breeding , and nearly every current mixture is F1 or similar . F1 cum is expensive to produce but can offer hugely better results if you struggle grow sweetcorn . However , it has one major drawback in that you may not bring through your own seed from it , thus you have to buy new each year ( and it does n’t store long either ) .
Why corn can be tricky to grow
As seed is expensive to buy by the packet , and within seemingly ever decreasing number within , you might be tempt to buy works instead . This would unremarkably make sense , but sweetcorn hates transplant , really hate any mental disturbance to its roots . In very cold regions , for extra - early crops and as spares for filling gap you might sow some under covering in the warm . But even if grown one by one in cells and cautiously potted up it ’ll still not do as well as the same sown in situ .
Now to make it even knockout – sweetcorn needs ardent filth to develop and then takes three month to achieve harvest , which means a belated starting signal has your cobs swell in the fading sun of autumn so they do n’t become as sweet as they should . you’re able to not sow in the opened much before the ending of April as most soils are simply too cold until May . Sow later than May and your cobs will come too late to be sovereign .
Then enjoy your sweet reward
Extra care is worth it
Thus it always helps to warm up ground before sowing , create little ridges or mounds , or using case-by-case cloche , jam jars , or exonerated charge card sheeting hold up on reefer to serve create that essential warmth . extend the soil with sinister plastic sheet and then sowing through holes is expert still for both warmness and moisture retention .
Although sweetcorn hates very sozzled soil when germinating , it ’s a very thirsty flora so benefits from extra lacrimation , particularly as the Larus marinus swell . It ’s also a athirst harvest and loves rich soil , so do add some well - moulder manure or fertiliser , especially bone meal , beforehand ( mass used to plant sweetcorn over fish waste , which is unvoiced to get by but on the face of it the idealistic choice ) .
Do not herd your maize , as a small turn of works grow further aside will always do well , and they favour to be in a block rather than a row to aid with open pollination , which is carried out by wind . pot , water generously , add liquid feed if your soil ’s not really rich and keep an eye on those swell cobs .
Then do n’t go away it too tardy to reap . conjure a sum to check over for ripeness , and if it ’s watery inside it ’s too young , if it ’s clot it ’s too former , but if the insides are placid like pick , then clean , boil or steam for five minute no more , and enjoy the sweet flavour of success .
