Kitchen Garden Forum

Yesterday we were working on our plot when the elderly chap (80) lower down came and asked me how my sweet corn had done. I said that I had got quite a few cobs on but they hadn't filled up so the cobs looked perfect but not full. He then proceeded to tell me and my OH that to get them pollinate you had to needed to plant FIVE ROWS OF FEMALE SWEET CORN AND ONE ROW OF MALE PLANTS and if I had not done that then it was no wonder mine did not pollinate.

I think this chap has gone mad. How the h**l are you supposed to plant male and female plants if you just put a seed in the ground. My OH and I just stood and stared at him. Trying not to laugh. He is the chap that came into my polytunnel last year to look at my toms and then proceeded to start cutting bits off without asking saying that I did not need this or that. Not long after I got blight. From now on I am going to try and avoid him. I am all for giving helpful advice but this is beyond the ridiculous.

My brother in law, who died in June used to grow acres and acres of the stuff, he would have been up the swanee if he had had to check if the seed was male or female.

theres no such thing as a male or female sweetcorn plant or seed. its slightly odd cos its wind pollinated so tends to do better planted in blocks rather than long single rows.

I think this chap has gone mad

He has

I think he thought that we would take his advice without question.

Perhaps not completely insane. It's correct that there is no such thing as male and female sweetcorn.

However, I have heard it said that in some some varieties of maize at least the peak pollen production is a couple of weeks out from the best time for pollination of the cobs. I have heard this from a French farmer who wanted a way to drill every other row, and come back and drill the other rows a couple of weeks later to get improved pollination.

Disclainmer: I'm just repeating what I've heard, I have no evidence to back it up !

Hi Tony,
There is some substance to what you say. I too have heard the same when I was living in France and what was done there was to mix two different varieties with one known to be shorter than the other and certainly the set on the Cobb's produced was exceedingly high. One assumes that with the shorter variety the male flower would be closer to the receiving females on the tall variety and the tall variety will reinforce all varieties. This was long before the sweet and super sweet varieties were even thought of so should anybody be thinking of trying this do remember not to mix your kinds. Always sow like for like although they are different varieties.
JB.