Kitchen Garden Forum

I have about a dozen healthy looking sweetcorn plants which are just developing their top "tassels". However not a single plant has any sign of a cob forming.
As it's many years since I grew this vegetable, do the cobs only start to develop after the tassles have pollinated something - (i can't see anything lower down the plant to pollinate) or should I give up now and pull them all up because nothing is going to happen?

Morning Primrose

Hold on with the sweetcorn if the 'tassels' that you refer to are right at the top of the plant rather than the top of each point where cobs will form.

Corn cobs should appear shortly. it is the top 'tassels' which fertilise the cobs as I understand it, therefore if the 'tassels' are only just growing the cobs won't form until they are fertilised.

Have you grown the sweetcorn in a line or in a block ?

I've noticed my cobs are much smaller so far this year on all 3 of the varieties I've sown. I am not expecting any large cobs at present

Mine have had the top tassels on for over a week and the silks are just appearing lower down. I've only grown the free seeds from KG this year to see how they compare to my favourite , Lark. They seem to be behaving normally. I would just be patient the silks usually emerge in time to get pollinated even the top tassels seem a bit early.

Thanks for your respective advices. Yes the tassels are at the top of the plants but lower down where the cobs would start forming from joints at the main stem there is nothing to be seen.
Yes I have planted them in a sort of block in between rows of leeks. Everything is very crowded due to lack of space in my small veg plot so probably not ideal growing conditions as they can't have a space to themselves.
Mine too were the free Kitchen Garden seeds, so I shall be patient as you suggest, but not very hopeful, of anything happening.