Used Omlet outdoor rabbit run Width 2.2m Height 2.05m Length 3.1m vgc.

[stoice]

Going to give sweetcorn a try this year. I've never tried this before and being a novice gardener just had a few questions.

 

I've bought 8 little plants (No room to raise seeds in trays) and have found out they need to be 30-45cm apart when i plant them out. Is it ok to plant other things in the gaps of the rows? If so what would do well? I'm not sure how much light the 6ft adult sweetcorn plants will block out. I only have a small patch, about 1.5m square so I'd have thought my 8 plants should fit in there ok in a block.

 

I've already prepared the soil by dumping a load of chicken poo riddled soft wood chip that had been rotting down in my council garden sacks all winter. I dug it all in about a month ago. Would this still be too 'hot' for young plants? I've got some garden lime, would this help or do you think things would be ok as they are?

 

The pots of baby plants say plant out in May, I'm assuming to ensure frosts are over. Do you think I'd be ok to plant them out now if i cover them with a cut down drinks bottle or fleece net? I've booked off the three days between the bank holidays so have lots of time to play in my garden.

 

I've also read that tomato food is good for them and as i will be growing those too, that's not a problem, is there any thing else I should do when they are growing? Stake them, pinch out etc? I've read i have to give them a gentle shake when there is pollen on the top male flowers to aid pollination.

 

what month should I expect them to start to ripen and test a kernal?

 

Finally (sorry this is so long), can the girls eat the leaves? (As much as they'd love the cobs, We'll get first dibs on those hopefully!)

 

Thanks for being patient with me!

 

Stacey x

Edited April 21, 2011 by Guest

[craftyhunnypie]

I'm growing sweetcorn. Got about 5 plants grown from seed, now about 5 inches tall already! God knows where I will put them away from the chooks. I'll be interested in the answers to your questions too.

 

Emma.x

[Cinnamon]

I grow corn - the perfect place to plant it is inbetween courgette plants,as the Corn is tall & the Courgettes low....fantastic use of space in a bed

I didn't have an especially great crop last year though,so I may not bother with it this year.

[stehaggan]

Hi guys,

 

I grew sweetcorn last year and it worked really well i spaced them apart as you have pointed out and planted lettuce in between them, they grew perfectly well together. I beleive you can actually plant anything quick growing between them, just so that they are used up by the time corn is grown fully.

 

I am going to grow more corn this year, but probably not plant anything in between as I have lots more space now (or maybe extra lettuces for the girls) I don't know but anyway I am not going to space them quite as far as I have seen people with them more closer together and actually read you can put them closer together about 25cm.

 

Just make sure u cover them when the corn starts to appear, birds stripped some of mine.

 

Good luck x

[Daphne]

Going to give sweetcorn a try this year. I've never tried this before and being a novice gardener just had a few questions.

 

I've bought 8 little plants (No room to raise seeds in trays) and have found out they need to be 30-45cm apart when i plant them out. Is it ok to plant other things in the gaps of the rows? If so what would do well? I'm not sure how much light the 6ft adult sweetcorn plants will block out. I only have a small patch, about 1.5m square so I'd have thought my 8 plants should fit in there ok in a block. I plant mine in a block about 8-10 inches apart without anything in between, but I can't see why short plants and short-lived plants won't work just fine.

 

I've already prepared the soil by dumping a load of chicken poo riddled soft wood chip that had been rotting down in my council garden sacks all winter. I dug it all in about a month ago. Would this still be too 'hot' for young plants? I've got some garden lime, would this help or do you think things would be ok as they are? I wouldn't bother with the lime, and I don't think it'll be too hot, I'll be doing the same thing with my year old muck!

 

The pots of baby plants say plant out in May, I'm assuming to ensure frosts are over. Do you think I'd be ok to plant them out now if i cover them with a cut down drinks bottle or fleece net? I've booked off the three days between the bank holidays so have lots of time to play in my garden. I'll be planting mine out in a few days once they are hardened off. Water them in well when you plant - I do it after the glare of the sun has gone down. I won't be covering mine, but keep an eye on the weather forecast.

 

I've also read that tomato food is good for them and as i will be growing those too, that's not a problem, is there any thing else I should do when they are growing? Stake them, pinch out etc? I've read i have to give them a gentle shake when there is pollen on the top male flowers to aid pollination. I don't feed (they have the compost), shake or pinch! Just keep the watering up.

 

what month should I expect them to start to ripen and test a kernal? August - Sept. The tassels go brownish.

Finally (sorry this is so long), can the girls eat the leaves? (As much as they'd love the cobs, We'll get first dibs on those hopefully!) The leaves are quite tough and papery, I don't think the girls will be too interested (well mine aren't!)

 

Thanks for being patient with me!

 

Stacey x

[bluekarin]

I am trying again this year - third year lucky I hope. They grew nice at tall last year but no fruits My chickens ignore them. I've only had one seed come up, out of over 8 that I sowed so maybe this year won't be my year either. I find giving things a go, and not expecting too much, is the best option with small garden veg growing. I used to get really het up about it but really, its all an experiment to see what will grow where. Hope they do produce some fruits for you. It's always a bonus

[beach chick]

I've grown sweetcorn before with moderate success, and do plan to try it again - with pre-bought plants rather than seeds.

apparently you should plant it in squares rather than rows which helps with pollination. you can mix in courgettes and something else which I cant call to mind for the min (! - maybe some kind of bean?), but this is called 3 sisters planting and is of native american indian heritage.

[sjp]

3 sisters:- sweetcorn,climbing beans or any of the pumkin or cougette family

I've found the last couple of years that the germination rate with sweetcorn is very poor normally sow about 20+ seeds and get about 6 or 7 fail now I'm lucky to get that many to germinate so end up sowing the spare seed

I've not sown this years yet thats this weekends job

[Christian]

3 sisters has worked for me in the past too!

 

I agree about sowing extra seeds, the success rate is low.