Planting Sweetcorn.

[peanut]

Hello Folks,

I'm about to plant my Sweetcorn out in my new no dig beds. I have good soil being in The Fens and have topped my bed with garden compost and will also add some peat free multi purpose. Do you think that would be good enough? In the past I have planted direct into the soil and dug in some manure, but I have none left.

[Jungle Jane]

I don’t use manure,I just plant in the soil & sprinkle a bit of BFB in the gaps around the corn,then cover it with a bit of soil so our cat doesn’t tread in it. Have you got some slow release fertiliser,you might not need it in a no dig bed,it sounds good what you’ve done. Check the leaves over the next couple of months,they’ll stay healthy green if there’s enough nitrogen in the soil.

[Mr Bones]

As Jane says, sounds good what you've done, a sprinkling of bfb or chicken pellets never goes amiss but the garden compost should provide sufficient nutrients on its own.

[peanut]

Thank you both, just what I wanted to hear! All planted now, with lettuces beneath.

[annie8]

Yes I planted mine out 3/4 weeks ago and after a brief sulk they are now rally coming on. Just scatter some chicken pellets very so often particularly before it rains so they get the nutrients into the soil.

[Mark_Riga]

What you could consider for future years would be to plant your sweetcorn in with your squash plants, as long as the sweetcorn have time to get above the big squash leaves. It could mean you could plant more of both.

[MarkPelican]

"Three Sisters" growing puts beans in as well. The beans climb up the stalks and fertilise the ground. The squashes shade the ground keeping the roots cool.

[ameno]

"Three Sisters" growing puts beans in as well. The beans climb up the stalks and fertilise the ground. The squashes shade the ground keeping the roots cool.

The Three Sisters technique sadly doesn't work with modern sweetcorn varieties.
Climbing beans are tall, and back in the past so was corn. The maize they grew was 8 feet tall or more. But modern sweetcorn varieties usually top out at around 5 feet, which just isn't enough for the beans, so you end up with an unproductive mess of stems.
A "Two Sisters" method works, though, either with squash planted at the edge of the sweetcorn plot and allowed to scramble in between it, or with dwarf beans planted in between the corn (don't use both; the squash will smother the beans).

[Jungle Jane]

I do the three sister style but use a teepee within the corn so the beans don’t strangle the corn. Works well on the edge of the corn block then the squash between the corn. I let the beans climb the corn once & it strangled a plant so the corn couldn’t expand so always use bamboo sticks for the beans.

[MarkPelican]

Maybe my climbing French beans aren’t as vigorous as yours but I haven’t had this as a problem