Sweet Corn Plants, Not a success in 2011!.

[Rosepetal89]

I have grown sweet Corn a number of years with success, but 2011 was a disaster. I grow them in my veggie patch and last year it had been improved with well rotted manure, this is something we have not added before. I start them off from seed every year in pots in my greenhouse once they are 3-4 inches and the weather has warmed around April I transplant them to my veggie patch.

I have tried to upload photos so you can see more in-depth but I couldn’t upload them properly. So I will try and describe what they looked like as best I can.

The plants had stunted growth and never got any taller that 3-4 inches in the patch. They seamed to be very weak, the roots were not green as normal and they were more like a plant that was dying (a light brown colour). In August the leaves turned a rusty reddish colour and even though I gave them plenty of water they were drying out at the tips of the leaves, the only part of the plants that were still green was in the centre where there were some new leaves forming but they were all bunched up in the middle and they never grow. We thought maybe it’s the manure but we had other veggies in the patch where we had dug the manure in and they were doing fine. If anyone has any ideas of what this could be I would greatly appreciate your advice.

Many thanks,

Rosepetal89

[Jeanied]

I think it was the growing conditions last year - it was very dry. Next year should be better, say I optimistically!

[VirginVegGrower]

Mine were lousy yet strong and healthy as plants going in. Everyone on my site had a bum sweetcorn year. Fret not and try again in 2012.

[donnakebab]

I've never grown sweetcorn cos I don't like it much but friends on my lottie site do something called 3 sisters that was started in South America I think. It's all about companion planting but I can't remember the other plants. Sos

[Jeanied]

The three sisters are sweetcorn, runner bean running up the sweetcorn and squashes growing underneath in the shade. I do two sisters - corn and squash - because I do the runners on their own frame.

[hollychap]

i was late planting some back end of april ,out of 20 plants i got 10 cobs approx that were edible

[rustylady]

My sweetcorn was rubbish last year too. I blame the weather, and will try again this year.

[SarzWix]

I've always struggled with sweetcorn, so this year I started them early and potted them on up to 5l pots before planting them out. They grew marvellously well, and were about 5ft before they started putting out the flower stalk and forming cobs. I was cock-a-hoop, thinking I'd have at least one cob from each fit to eat. Wrong!

This is what I ended up with:

Yep, that's a flower stalk, growing out of the top of the cob

I'd have given up after that, but Real Seeds have sent me a different variety to try after I sent them this picture. So this year is do or die for me and growing sweetcorn!

[VirginVegGrower]

I see a recurring theme RL, do you?

[VirginVegGrower]

I've always struggled with sweetcorn, so this year I started them early and potted them on up to 5l pots before planting them out. They grew marvellously well, and were about 5ft before they started putting out the flower stalk and forming cobs. I was cock-a-hoop, thinking I'd have at least one cob from each fit to eat. Wrong!

This is what I ended up with:

Yep, that's a flower stalk, growing out of the top of the cob

I'd have given up after that, but Real Seeds have sent me a different variety to try after I sent them this picture. So this year is do or die for me and growing sweetcorn!

It looks different though SW! Rename it as an exotica. I have grown it fine before but last year was a no no despite strong healthy plants leaving my greenhouse.

[Jeanied]

Just googled this and found something about those Sarz. I had a few too last year.

“Tassel Ears”

Symptoms:

Combination tassel and ear in the same structure - a "tassel ear". The ear portion of this tassel ear structure usually contains only a limited number of kernels. Tassel ears often appear on tillers (suckers) arising from plants with normal ears and tassels. These tassel ears are produced at a terminal position on the tiller where a tassel would normally appear.



Causes:

Tassel ears often produced by tillers (suckers) when growing point is destroyed or injured by hail, frost, flooding, herbicides, and mechanical injury before V6. Some hybrids may also be more prone to tiller under certain environmental conditions and these tillers may give rise to tassel ears. Tassel ears are frequently observed along the edges of fields where early season soil compaction and saturated soil conditions may have contributed to this abnormal development.

[Thelma Sanders]

SarzWix...My Incredible sweetcorn did exactlythe same thing in 2010 and so did Lark last year.

I wonder if it's a response to temperature variations?

[SarzWix]

Thanks for that Jeanie Although these weren't tillers, that does sound like the same thing. The 'soil compaction ... saturated soil' explanation may be a possibility. It's something to bear in mind

And Thelma, it's nice to hear I'm not the only one this has happened to

[Two_Sheds]

the weather has warmed around April I transplant them to my veggie patch.

You've discounted the manure, which was my first thought (aminopyralid).
Perhaps you planted them out too early? The nights aren't warm in April, so they might have had a growth check (cold shock) that stopped them in their tracks ~ I had it with some French beans I put out too early

I have tried to upload photos

Have you tried making them smaller?

I think it was the growing conditions last year - it was very dry.

Our spring was very dry & hot, our summer was cool & wet. It was a bad summer for squashes and sweetcorn

My sweetcorn was rubbish last year too. I blame the weather, and will ... again this year.

Sorry, couldn't resist corrupting your quote

[Gearoid]

Mine were rubbish too. It was cool and wet last summer in the north west so I'm blaming that rather than my gardening skills. Hahaha.