Saving sweetcorn seed.

[Couperman]

I have just devoured my first really fresh corn on the cob (cartoon typewriter style) and I must say it was fantastic. Of the two cobs I picked one was true to type 'Bi-coloured - double standard' (Zazen999 has grown it too) and the other was single coloured with shorter cobs but bigger corns. I only planted the 'Bi-coloured' type from Realseeds.

Now I presume that as I picked one from the centre of the block of 25 and one from the edge that the latter has been cross pollinated from next door resulting in the single coloured not as tasty type (it was still nice)

I was intending to save some seed for next year by keeping back a few of the best cobs from the middle of the block and mixing the resulting seed with the left over bought in ones. I know you need to grow a lot of plants to maintain genetic diversity, so.....I thought I would carry on this tack occasionally mixing with bought in seed and growing more and more plants until I convinced everyone on the allotment site that this is THE variety to grow then cross pollination would'nt be a problem and I could go back to growing less plants and still have decent seed and generally swap seed with my neighbours to maintain the diversity.

I do have enough room for say two hundred plants allthough I don't need that much sweetcorn . Does this sound feasible or should I forget about world sweetcorn domination and just keep buying new seed each year?

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[Alison]

My understanding is that you do indeed need a large number of sweetcorn plants to make it viable so personally I'd not be inclined to try it. To tie up so much plot with crops that you don't really want to eat (in that volume) seems excessive and, in my opinion, you'd be better off growing other things that you could save more easily and carry on buying sweetcorn seeds but others may say otherwise!

[zazen999]

Sweetcorn, much as I love it, can cross so easily and as you only get one shot - I tend to just buy fresh each year. Saying that - I grow 3 different types for a longer harvest and each pack still has plenty of seeds in it....It would be alot of work if you grew loads and loads and it had crossed the year before and was rank.....have you thought of isolating it rather than growing so much?

[Couperman]

Irish Preans

Whilst we are on a newby seed saving thing.......
I would like to thank the gent who gave me two plants from Saltburn Allotments. This guy must be on here if not his good lady is, and remember us whilst we bumbled past.and admired his chooks
The two plants we chose to cultivate
Preans are alive and well, or will be if..........We walk pask there again and learn.

[Flummery]

If you tap your corn tassles and watch the wind taking the pollen you'll know why it crosses so easily. It's borne in the air like fine dust.