Kitchen Garden Forum

Does anyone have any tips on germinating sweetcorn? I have a packet of Lark from the OGC and sowed some in newspaper pots about 4 weeks ago. They have been in an unheated greenhouse and there is no sign of anything happening. I sowed the rest about a week ago, as another thread advised, same conditions.

Do they usually take so long to come up?

Afternoon Mike, this year i just mixed them in a small bag of moist compost, put them in the heated propagator, with a upturned pot over the bag to keep the light out, and they had all shot after four days.
Actually i should have checked them after three days, as the roots and shoots were a little long.
I just pot them up then, and away they go.

You can do the same thing by putting them in the airing cupboard., but do keep an eye on them.

My variety is Lapwing F1, must be a bird theme going on.

Hi Mike

After that length of time you would do well to check them. Without heat they may well have rotted.

Sow indoors in heat, at 20 C, on top of the compost to prevent the seed rotting, in individual cells in late April. I would have thought that it was far too cold to sow them in a greenhouse.

I also have Lark. I put them on damp kitchen paper in an old tupperware container which I put on a windowsill above a radiator. Most of them germinated. Then I put them in pots in the conservatory and they are doing OK.

I think mine got too cold. I'll have to try again. Thanks for the advice.

Well, just in case anybody thinks this forum doesn't help much, no sooner had I written to ask your advice than I found this morning that 2 of my earlier-sown seeds have in fact sprouted and are showing above the soil level.

I tipped out another module and found the seed had grown a root and was not rotting at all. So I have put them all back again and will keep patience. I can see that some of my later sowings are showing a very small bit of green , so both sowings are coming up at about the same time. So I'll need to sow all the rest - your method, Binky - later to get the pollination right. Never mind; it's all experience.

I'm glad they're germinating Mike. I sowed two trays of Lark last week in the propagator and they all appeared within about 5 days. Sweetcorn do like to be nice and warm to germinate quickly and are less likely to rot, but you've proved that they will get there eventually even in the cold.

Well, Plumpudding, I seem to have had no more than 2 of my first seeds germinating, but my next lot are germinating very well. I bought in some more at a charity plant sale, so I'm happy with what I'm getting. I obviously allowed my seeds to get too cold at night - next time I'll be more careful.

I'm not growing Sweetcorn this year but I would not be even contemplating sowing until this coming week.
The best Sweetcorn is grown without any check to the growth and every time the seeds get chilled it causes a check in the growth so why plant it too early? The seeds sown last very often give the best returns.
Is there a race going on that an I unaware of!
JB.

The race is against other commitments I'm going to have in June and July, JB. That said, my second lot have been germinating quite well, so i can see that it was the cold that did for the first. It's all experience.