Poor Sweetcorn

Sun Oct 30, 2011 12:38 pm

Ours were hopeless this year and last.

I'd give up growing them altogether, except that when they're good, they're gorgeous!

realfood · Sun Oct 30, 2011 6:35 pm

My crop was reasonable even in a poor year, weather wise, in Glasgow. My tips are, quick maturing variety( Swift), plant out beginning of June, keep covered by cloche for June and you will have good crops. This has never failed for me for at least 8 years.

Johnboy · Mon Oct 31, 2011 6:58 am

Hi Realfood,
Is it possible the Scotland had more sunshine than the rest of the UK?
It seems that Scotland gets the extremes of the weather when the rest of us have had very mediocre weather all the time over the last three or four years.
JB.

Geoff · Mon Oct 31, 2011 8:21 am

I always grow mine in the greenhouse. I grow Northern Sweet and had a normal crop until it got infested with big fleshy dark grey aphids (a bit like those you sometimes get on Lupins) which made the later ones messy to harvest.

glallotments · Mon Oct 31, 2011 1:33 pm

Johnboy wrote:Hi Realfood,
Is it possible the Scotland had more sunshine than the rest of the UK?
It seems that Scotland gets the extremes of the weather when the rest of us have had very mediocre weather all the time over the last three or four years.
JB.

I think they had more rainfall - well a friend of mine in Edinburgh certainly had far more than we did!

realfood · Mon Oct 31, 2011 6:50 pm

On the whole I think that we had a dull Summer, so I put down my success to the method that I use.
Even my winter squash produced a good crop, though later than usual. I use exactly the same methods as I do for sweetcorn.
A certain gardening mag did a sweetcorn trial last year, which I took part in, and the sweetcorn varieties that were best buys were Swift, Lark, Mirai bicolour, and Mirai 003Y.
The ones that did not meet the grade for yield, quality or taste were :- Earlibird, Equinox, Lapwing, Luscious, Northern Extra sweet, Ovation, Prelude, Swallow, Sweetie Pie, Tasty sweet and Vanilla sweet.

Westi · Tue Nov 01, 2011 5:32 pm

OH - Just one???

Marigold · Fri Nov 04, 2011 4:21 pm

Johnboy wrote:Hi OH,
The Fodder Maize was affected in growth by the drought but the crop a short distance from me had an average of 5 really large cobs. I actually had one for my supper one evening last week (nicked with permission). It was a bit tough but full of flavour but I suppose beggars cannot be choosers.
It seems that I was just in time as the crop was cut on Monday and the field has been ploughed and the next crop of winter cereal sown yesterday.
The good point about fodder maize it that there is a total exclusion of weeds and with the rain yesterday of 1.5 inches was not enough to call off the ploughing and other operations. I bet that cereal crop will germinate within the week.
JB.

Hmmm. We have great fields of this nearby; not averse to a bit of.... scrumping ! And also wondering why we don't grow this hardier kind? Here they use plastic as weed deterrent and ??heat retention??

Johnboy · Sat Nov 05, 2011 5:55 am

Hi Marigold,
I am inclined to agree with you. It seems that we are all concerned with having the sweetest best tasting cobs when the good old bog standard varieties do so much better in our climate.
Fodder Maize cobs are really rather nice and the taste not that so far removed from the F1 varieties bred for their supremacy.
I enjoyed mine at any rate and I gather you enjoyed yours as well!
JB.

Marigold · Sat Nov 05, 2011 5:14 pm

Johnboy wrote:Hi Marigold,
I am inclined to agree with you. It seems that we are all concerned with having the sweetest best tasting cobs when the good old bog standard varieties do so much better in our climate.
Fodder Maize cobs are really rather nice and the taste not that so far removed from the F1 varieties bred for their supremacy.
I enjoyed mine at any rate and I gather you enjoyed yours as well!
JB.

I have not had any yet... planted sweetcorn here but it did not ripen. Maybe next year we can get some fodder maize seeds?

Clive. · Fri Dec 09, 2011 8:22 pm

Clive. wrote:
Locally where my work colleagues father is farm foreman they grow maize for combine harvesting and have a fancy header for the job on the Claas combine. I believe they have combined some recently but still have some to do. Strange scene last year with a combine in a frosty field with I believe snow on the Wolds behind....

Clive.

Just to update;....Sam told me today that his father has just finished the Maize combine harvesting in the last couple of days.

Clive.

Poor Sweetcorn

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