It’s nice to see a bit of rain as the ground was getting quite dry. Fingers crossed it does stop now we’ve had enough! The rain might keep me off the plot but at least the potting shed is nice and dry.
The other week I had a conversation with Jim on the allotment where he was telling me that he’d sowed 20 sweetcorn but only 3 had come up. Now the tendency in this situation is to blame yourself. Perhaps they were too cold, or hot. Too dry or wet. Wrong compost or sowed too deeply.
The fact is that it sometimes is the fault of the grower but it could well be the fault of the seeds. Even the reputable brands, like Thompson & Morgan or Dobies are not a guarantee if you buy your seeds from a shop or garden centre.
That’s why I generally buy my seeds mail order direct from the merchants. I know they have stored them in optimum conditions and generally I get good germination rates – so long as I get my part right!
Anyway, with sweetcorn seed being the price it is, my method may be a bit of fuss but it does ensure good levels of germination. I pop them between damp kitchen roll in an airtight Tupperware style container in a warm dark place and check daily. When the root appears, I then plant out into pots of compost and later onto the plot.
Out of 30 seeds, I got 25 sprouted and I expect to lose a couple more. Still 20 out of 30 is better than 3 out of 20. If I’d only had that rate from my chitting method, I’d have written to the supplier in no uncertain terms.
Whilst I was at it in the potting shed, moved some cucumbers up into 3″ pots. They’re out of the propagator now but still on the heating pad so some bottom heat when it gets cold at night to keep them growing.
Chitting Sweetcorn Photographs
These were taken in 2007 and show what I mean fairly clearly.
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- Sweetcorn Chitting
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- Chitted Sweetcorn
Good idea John. Unfortunately I’ve sown all mine already so won’t disturb them now but next year…
Good idea John, I had a similar problem with my Sweetcorn last year with only half the seeds germinating. This year I was advised to soak the seed in tepid water over night before planting and I have had 56 out of 60 germinate, but will try your method next time.
That’s good advice Paul – incidentally, when planting out the sprouted seeds I use tepid water – tap water at 5 deg C will give the seedlings a real shock coming from the nice warm house.
I live in the West of Ireland (ex cockney). I grow sweetcorn successfully every year, never a promblem.
Early in the year I sow my sweetcorn seeds in seed and potting compost in a regular seed tray, water, leave to drain a few hours, wrap in cling film,place in the airing cupboard, observe until germinated and transfer to conservatory (not heated), prick out when about 75mm. tall
into thumbpots and finally (now 1.5 cm. tall (6/7 inches) plant out after frost has ceased, i.e this week 2nd. May.
Truthfully 99.9% success.
I sowed some ‘Honey Bantam F1’ sweetcorn seeds from Thompson and Morgan (ordered direct on line). I had 100per cent germination of about 30 seeds (one seed per module in multipurpose compost). This is the first time I’ve ever had 100 per cent success rate with sweetcorn germination.
The seedlings have gone out on the allotment already protected under fleece as we are still getting some chilly nights (early May planting of sweetcorn seedlings is ok as long as they are given cloche or fleece protection according to an old Alan Titchmarsh book so I will wait and see if it works).
ive always chitted my sweetcord the same way [good old dad]he showed me how.but i put them strait into 3 inch fibre pots so there is no disturbance when you plant into the plot.
Is it too late to do this?
I have overreached myself a bit this year – new big garden, got very excited and bought far too many seeds and sowed them too late. So lots of tiny seedlings in a propogator. I have sweetcorn, and a raised bed good to go this weekend, but have not done anything with the sweetcorn. So should I bother? Is it too late? I have grown it before with some success, but it was about 10 years ago.
I am quite pleased that all the Japanese herbs, that I had never heard of before, have germinated, but I will have to wait and see if anything comes of them.
No Rachel, it is still fine to sow sweetcorn up until the end of May, although I would get it going in the next week or so at the latest to be sure of a crop in September (unless we get a really long hot summer). You can start it in a heated propagator and then when the seedlings are through, put the seedlings in a cold greenhouse to grow on for a couple of weeks, then harden off and plant out around early June when the roots are coming out of the bottom of the pot. If you have a greenhouse which gets plenty of sun, then as I do you can just sow in modules or rootrainers in a cold greenhouse and not bother with the heated propagator.
Hi, I just push 2 seeds per cell in general purpose compost in a frost protected greenhouse, takes around 10 days to achieve 98% germination, then plant out with minimum disturbance to roots after all danger of frost has passed, just after the new moon in June where I live.
Hi
I am an absolute novice at produce growing, but am not fully addicted to it. I am currently in the process of turning the back portion of our modest terraced house garden in to a mini-allotment. I don’t have room for a ”real” greenhouse so purchased one of those plastic ones. Anyway, full of eagerness I visited our local nursery and purchsed far too many seeds and got stuck in sowing them.
I stumbled upon your website, which is fab, but I had already sowed my sweetcorn. In total I planted 20 seeds, in old plastic cups (like you get at kids parties) as I had hundreds of them hanging around for some reason. I used regular compost (see what I mean about novice) stuck a seed in each cup and watered them regularly. Two weeks later I had tiny shoots, two weeks after that my ”greenhouse” started to resemble a jungle!!!
Beginners luck maybe? x
I meant to say NOW TOTALLY ADDICTED TO IT lol x
Loving this web site. I am a novice in this “grow your own” stuff and need as much advice as I can get. In March this year me and my husband started the mammouth job of redesigning our garden which includes a good size veg patch. So far we have planted runner and french beans, butternut squash, round carrots, parsnips, radishes, lettuce and have got tomatoes and cucumber plants growing in our plastic walkin greenhouse. Was thinking about planting sweetcorn but think iv left it abit late. Not to worry. Something new to try next year. Happy growing 🙂
i have just planted seeds in the garden 3 days ago as i just got the new house and was eager! wat are my chances please?? and also – first time ever at growing anything.
i forgot to mention – they are sweet corn seeds.
You’re a bit late sowing but if we have a long hot summer you may well still get a crop. What’s done is done and you’ve nothing to lose now. Often nature smiles on beginners and lets them get away with breaking the rules!
I have no problem getting seeds to grow, but when I have planted them out they only grow about 2 foot, fully formed ears etc and look nice and green. This happened last year too. My allotment was fallow for about 4 years then I took over and this is my 3rd growing year, i only have a problem with sweetcorn. I live in Essex
This is the second year I have grown sweetcorn only to find it has grown to 18inches tall and looks as if it has stopped growing. Some of the lower leaves are turning yellow. All in all it does not look very happy or healthy. I followed the intructions very carefully on the packet. Have a lot of sucess with most of my other veg and believe me I do grow a lot as I have the space. But the poor old sweetcorn looks ill. (saying that I put a few spare baby sweetcorn in the top of my strawberry tower and that has gone mad. Dark green all over, looks a picture of health. Is the soil that I have grown f my big and baby sweetcorn in not good enough for the needs of growing sweetcorn? where have I gone wrong again. The plot I have used has the sun on it for most of the day.
Sharon, sounds an awful lot like a lack of nitrogen to me. Mix 50gr sulphate of ammonia in 5 litres of water and pour around 5 plants. I bet that will perk them up no end
I am growing sweetcorn for the first time – all the plants are looking good, about 3-4 ft tall with side shoots but it looks as if they are either ‘flowering’ or ‘going to seed’ at thje top with long silky fronds but no sign of any corn. Am I being very silly here? Is this normal and the cobs will follow or is there something wrong? Can’t find any info to help so relying on some positive feedback please….Thanks, Linda
Linda – sounds normal – that’s the male flower at the top that pollinates the female flowers on the cobs.
Does anybody know why the kernals of my sweetcorn are sparse? This has now happened for a couple of years, each with different varieties of sweetcorn. I only grow one variety each year so that there is no cross-pollination, and what kernals there have been have tasted good, but they are sparse. Thank you.
Sylvia – that sounds like poor pollination. If they’re spaced at the standard 18″ each way in a block then it allows enough room for the plant to develop and for the pollen to fall from the male flowers to the female silks on the cobs.
If you’re planting too closely, it may be that the pollen isn’t getting down to the female parts. Another reason may be wind. If you’re on a windy site the pollen may be blowing away.
Many thanks for that piece of advice. I will bear it in mind when planting out next year!
@John:
This is my second year growing sweetcorn. Last year’s crop was ok but only a few cobs came to maturity. This year I planted 20+ plants in a block. The plants looked fine and healthy with two or three cobs per plant. But the cobs themselves are disappointing. Some cobs have very few kernels, about two thirds of the cobs have about half of the kernels rock hard when cooked – and a darker colour than the other (soft) kernels. The remainder of the cobs have been totally rock-hard and inedible.
What have I done wrong?
I have about 30 plants which are about 5 inches tall is it time to plant out in my allotment Thanks
Depends where you are, kaldip. If it’s cold they won’t get going well and a frost could kill them.
Hi, this is my first time in growing earlybird sweetcorn. To ensure better results (hopefully) I decided to buy the plants from a nursery. These modular trays came with 4/5 plants in each modular so my question is should I separate each plant. Sorry if this is a silly question but to me worth asking. They are being sown in a raised bed by the way. Thanks for reading
Sweetcorn plants need to be between 38cm & 45cm (15″ to 18″) apart, usually in a block to help pollination later on. You’ll need to remove from the modules carefully as sweetcorn doesn’t like root disturbance.