Sweetcorn is one of my favourite vegetables. Even when it comes out of a tin it is OK but fresh Sweetcorn boiled then smothered in butter is a treat that makes these plants well worth growing.

Planting Sweetcorn (Zea Mays).

• Each seed is the shape and colour of a pip from a sweetcorn cob. They germinate quickly in warm conditions.
• Sow seeds in mid spring 4 weeks before the last frost in your area.
• Plant out 18in apart in blocks rather than rows when all danger of frost has passed,
• Sweetcorn seed is available from Thompson & Morgan
• If you try F1 hybrids don’t grow next to standard varieties or the cross pollination may cause the cobs to lose some of its sweetness.

Pollinating Sweetcorn and Growing On

• Pollen from the male flowers, above, falls or is blown onto the female flowers or tassels, below, which when fertilised will form the cob.
• To get good pollen distribution it is worth growing plants in square or rectangular blocks not long rows.
• Hand pollination can be tried, dust female tassels with an open male flower or run your hand down the male flower and transfer the pollen onto the female tassels.
• Once the silks or tassels start to form on the cobs regular watering is helpful.
• To check that the cobs are ready to be picked pull back part of leaves covering them and squeeze one of the grains, if the liquid is thin and creamy, not watery, the cob is ready.

Sweetcorn Mini Vegetables

• Miniature sweetcorn Minor produces tiny corn cobs for Chinese cooking and casseroles and crops in 64 days
• The baby corn of Sweetcorn Minor are harvested before pollination just as the ‘silk tassels’ begin to show.
• Sow seeds in mid spring 4 weeks before last expected frost in your area, singly ½in deep in 3in pots of compost.
• Plant out 4-5in apart in rows 8in apart when all danger of frost has passed in blocks of short rows rather than one long row.
• A warm sheltered position in fertile, moist yet free draining soil is best.
• Plants will still grow tall, the only thing miniature is the cobs.
• Keep free of weeds and water regularly.
• Harvest the tiny cobs when the silks first show above the husks. What you are harvesting is the immature corn on the cob.
• Under ideal conditions each plant should bear 4-6 cobs. If you forget to harvest on time a normal sweet corn will be produced.

Eating Sweetcorn

• Miniature cobs are ideal raw, steamed, stir fried or with dips.
• Also very tasty cooked, then tossed in parsley butter or served with a cream sauce.
• Maincrop Sweetcorn are good when barbecued or grilled.
• Sweetcorn adds starch to chicken or fish soup.

There are ‘mini corn’, ‘super sweet’, ornamental and traditional sweetcorn varieties waiting for you to try.
I don’t recommend more than one variety per season to avoid cross pollination which makes the kernels tough and poor eating.

Tips for Tender Sweetcorn not Green Giant

• Sowings should be kept warm and dark
• Plants must be grown on in the warm & allowed to get to 4″ plus before being planted out.
• Plant out in square blocks of say 7 by 7 plants so they can help pollinate one another
• Plant with low growing beans or peas to provide nitrogen at the roots.
• Give a feed of nitrogen when the tassels have formed
• Test if the cob is ripe by pinching the top of the cob inside the protective leaves. If it is pointed it needs longer but if it is flat it is ripe.
• The traditional ripeness test is to open and squeeze a kernel to see if it is milky
• Eat sweetcorn soon after picking whilst the sugars are at there best

Credits
“Peaches and Cream | 191/365 by mfhiatt CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
flickr.com/4074/4850146990_2196ec5d68. and /4120/4850147310_da417ac2b8.
sweetcorn – mini pop by Lucy Crosbie CC BY-NC-ND 2.0