how many minipop f1 please

[Bramble_killer]

The minipop f1 was in a seed selection pack from wilko's and have germinated 10. A few of them are almost a foot tall and the rest are growing at crazy rates.

So a few questions, is 10 plants enough for 2 people and a few midgets at some weekends?

Can I plant them in between the potatoes as the entire plot is now planned for other things or do they need their own bit of space?

I know I don't need to plant them in squares but do I still need to pollinate them?

and lastly (something which might not happen!), when do i pick them for eating?

[SarzWix]

No, they don't need to be pollinated, you pick them before that happens. I got 3 or 4 from each plant last year. You can plant them closer together, or, further apart than normal ones. Not sure about putting them with your spuds, but I think Bob Flowerdew does it someone was saying?

[scarey55]

I grew Minipop last year and they produced about 4 or 5 cobs per plant. The plants are as big as the "normal" ones and, depending upon how much you eat, I would only expect 1 meal per plant.

I don't know about growing them between potatoes but I'm sure a more knowledgeable Grape will be along soon. I don't know if they need pollinating either but I think I did.

Harvest them as soon as you can - they tend to go woody quite quickly.

Lastly, for myself, I am not growing them again this year, I am sticking to the full sized ones, imo better value for money and space

[Pumpkin Becki]

I grew 9 Minipop plants last year. I reckon I got between two and three cobs per plant.

I grew them in the same patch as my pumpkins. I'm not sure they would be good with tatties as the sweetcorn is harvested over a period of weeks until approx September, so the plants stay in the ground way after potatoes would need to be harvested. Also they have quite strong dense root systems which would also probably upset the potatoes.

I did plant in a block, but mostly because it was convenient for the space I had available.

And finally, I was a bit disappointed with the actual cobs. I suppose I thought they would be like the ones you buy at the supermarket ie small, tender and stirfryable, but these got quite big and woody and didn't have much flavour. I suspect that I left them on the plant too long, but it is tricky to tell. I guess the cobs (husks and all) on the plant were about 10cms long when I got round to picking the first ones, if you pick them smaller you might be more impressed.

I'm trying normal sweetcorn this year instead, but I wish you every success...and the plants will get to approx 5 -6' tall in the ground, only the cobs are mini ;0)

[SarzWix]

You pick them when the silky threads start showing at the end of the cobs.
Becki's right about the potato thing, I guess it'd be ok if they were in with your late maincrops, but not great with your earlies

[Lemon]

oh....I plan to grow mini-pop this year - love sweetcorn & babycorn! Thought plants were a bit mini in size seeing as the cobs are!

I have bought Lark F1 to try this year...do most people start them off in pots indoors? I usually just poke them in place in the ground outside in April/May...that's what I did past 2 years - they come up and do ok I suppose!

[claire1342]

I'm growing mini pop for the 1st time this year, they are about 7 foot high and have finally started producing little cobs. Everywhere says to pick them when the silky threads start showing at the end of the cobs, but when i do there is nothing inside just lots of tassles! Is there something wrong with them? Also how do you pick them, just pull them off or cut them?

[Pumpkin Becki]

but when i do there is nothing inside just lots of tassles! Is there something wrong with them? Also how do you pick them, just pull them off or cut them?

Give them a gentle squeeze first to establish whether there is a cob inside. If there is, and you're happy with the size, simply hold the whole cob and bend it downwards (like a doorhandle), so it starts to snap away from the main stem, and give a little twist, it should just come off in your hand.

[Bagpuss]

Hi.
Mine are about 7 foot tall and I'm massively disappointed with the crop. I got two cobs per plant which were not very tasty at all. I grew "normal" cobs last year which were sooo much better, juicy and sweet.
Sorry to sound so against minipop, but I won't be growing them again, particularly in light of the amount of time they take to crop- I'd rather go for the full size cobs