baby sweetcorn - advice wanted

[yorkshire sam]

my OH adores baby sweetcorn (but typically is not fond of normal sweetcorn???) wants me to grow some on the lotty. Has anyone ever grown sweetcorn specifically for baby crop. Can you recommend spacing, treatment cultivars etc.

[Two_Sheds]

We grew Minipop last year - waste of space. Very little crop for the space it took up, really. We're sticking to "proper" sweetcorn this year.

[shirlthegirl43]

I am going to try minipop this year. Had no success with sweetcorn last year but put it down to the weather.

[kernowyon]

i grew minipop for the last two years, a real success, we planted them in a square grid with the spacing was about 8 inches from the next plant. i religiously tapped each plant every time i walked past and had really good crops from them. we have just eaten the last jar of pickled baby corn. for me they are a must grow

[phil the shed]

We grew Minipop last year - waste of space. Very little crop for the space it took up, really. We're sticking to "proper" sweetcorn this year.

got to agree with two sheds good strong plants but to grow any volume you need too much space and loads of plants and successional does'nt work cos they don't come on late

[jeannine]

Cheers for the tip Kernowyon, I've got some Minipop seeds so I'll give them a go at 8" spacing then (it says 10" on the packet but I usually put things a little closer anyway as we have raised beds and I'm lazy about weeding).

[pjh75]

'Minipop' sounds like it is a specific variety for producing babycorn. is that the case or can you just plant any variety closer and pick earlier? I have 'double standard' and the packet says to plant in a block at 14-18" spacing which I will do to produce full size cobs, but I thought I read / saw somewhere that the same seed could be used to produce babycorn?!

[yorkshire sam]

thanks for all the advice will have to give it some thought

[areia]

first time i did sweet corn i did them i a straight line over eager me didnt read the fact you have to sow them out in squares i made use of the stalks though dried them out to use as canes for the next year when i run out handy for emergency

[gojiberry]

If you are growing minipop or any of the other mini sweetcorn there is no need to plant in a block. The reason for this is that you don't need polination for mini corn as you are supposed to pick them before the corn starts to form. Hope this is a help.
Ian

[JennieAtkinson]

I grew minipop last year but won't be growing it again. It took up alot of space for very few cobs. I'd rather have the full cobs, so I'm giving the whole space over to ordinary sweetcorn this year.

And they grew enormous - much taller than the ordinary sweetcorn. Mine got to 7 - 8 feet.

[crichmond]

I tried minipop last year grew them in plant pots 3 to a pot they grew to full height but didnt get any crop to talk about despite tapping them.

[OllieMartin]

i grew minipop for the last two years, a real success, we planted them in a square grid with the spacing was about 8 inches from the next plant. i religiously tapped each plant every time i walked past and had really good crops from them. we have just eaten the last jar of pickled baby corn. for me they are a must grow

What does tapping do?

I bought some minipop this year (was a total impulse purchase) and thought I'd interplant it with my squashes at the edge of the potato bed.

[maypril]

What does tapping do?

Well, usually it helps pollination. However, as others have said, mini sweetcorn doesn't need pollination.

[vegnut]

I grew it once, but never again. As others have said, it grows to seven feet plus and you are very lucky to get half a hand full of mini corn. Standard size corn for me from now on.