Sweetcorn, cant decide.

[Bill HH]

I have somehow aquired two varieties of sweetcorn, one is swift the other sundance. I cant make up my mind which one to sow. The swift is supposed to be sweeter, the sundance earlier to mature.

Dare I do both and risk cross pollination?

Are sundance somehow inferior due to not being so sweet?

If I grew both I can only seperate them by a maximum of 10 metres.

As an aside is it possible to grow anything under the sweet corn? Letuce perhaps?

Bearing in mind space is at a premium how close together can I plant each individual plant the the reccomended spacings seem quite large.

[Kristen]

If the two varieties "flower" at different times you can plant them near each other. If one is earlier than the other then that seems likely - or perhaps delay sowing the later one a couple of weeks to be sure?

"Sundance" is a Normal sugar type
"Swift" is Extra tender sweet

[bretty666]

Im not sure about your corn..iv only ever grown earlybird and had an amazing crop off it..as for growing between you could use the 3 sisters method of peas growing up your corn stems and squash or pumpkin under to surpress the weeds... i did turnip once between but never again will i put the life of my corn in jeapordy for turnips..the turnips got some bad bugs interested and the rows where the infected turnips were, were where i could see a massive difference in leaf colour and maturity of my corn. i thought about doing squash between this year but decided to extend my garden instead as i thought the squash might make it awkward for weeding???.

[chris]

Squash work ok under the corn- but you do need to work the ground well first - in terms of prep. I've tried it a couple of years - one year I just planted it amongst widely spaced corn, and the corn didn't do *that* great. The next year I dug in a trug of horse manure and the corn was much better - assuming as the squash had more water to take from that rather than from competiting.

A lot of people do the 3 sisters approach, didn't work for me, so I just tried with squash

Probably won't bother again though, it was a faff harvesting whilst my squash were still ripening.

Edit: I've read that mixing super sweets and non sweets can cause hard kernels - but haven't actually heard of any real life testimonials about that... I'm growing swift for the first time this year, but before that I always grew 'Xtra Early Super Sweet F1'. Two years ago I grew a open pollenated corn... worlds apart. Much tastier than the F1's - I've just found these two packets of swift in my seed tin - otherwise I'd have re-ordered the bicoloured corn I got from real seeds before.

[bretty666]

I personally think sweetcorn is too good of a crop to try and mix other things up with it. i think it needs the space it needs and exclusivity ....and maybe even sing to it a little because its so nice? I found myself adding a lot of nutrients to my rows that were close to the turnip as i thought it would need double food because of there being two feeders? ..i uave space for 172 plants this year woohooo i only had 75 last year and that wasnt enough!

[chris]

I agree. A huge area of my plot is allocated to sweetcorn. This year though - I just have two packs.. trying to use up my seed stash (binned a load yesterday! ) before buying new.

[Kristen]

Edit: I've read that mixing super sweets and non sweets can cause hard kernels - but haven't actually heard of any real life testimonials about that...

I have read on another forum of people who have planted mixed varieties and they have posted their results of mixed hard corns on the cobs and lack of flavour; I've never mixed Sweetcorn varieties - which means I have no personal experience I can PM you a link if you would like?

I'm growing swift for the first time this year, but before that I always grew 'Xtra Early Super Sweet F1'. Two years ago I grew a open pollenated corn... worlds apart. Much tastier than the F1's - I've just found these two packets of swift in my seed tin - otherwise I'd have re-ordered the bicoloured corn I got from real seeds before.

My lunchtime guests rave about our Sweetcorn ... I've only ever grown Swift F1 (Xtra tender type), so have no other point of comparison, but the fact that visitors think it is better than whatever they are used to (shop bought probably) is good enough for me. We pick & cook immediately; I read that super sweet varieties are slower to convert Sugar to Starch, but given the traditional problem - from the moment that the cobs are picked the sugar starts turning to starch - I assume that cook-immediately is best - although compared to some we are very casual about it as we don't take the pan of boiling water TO the Sweetcorn bed

[chris]

Yes, I agree.. however - if you look where sweetcorn comes from in various supermarkets you'd be shocked. I've seen it from Ejypt (as well as potatoes?!?!?!) - which will explain why it's just a bland watery mush by the time we get to eat it!

I'd recommend the bi colour double standard (I think is the name) from Real Seeds - you have a lot of growing space from nosing at your blog in the past - I'd definately grow it for a direct comparison if I had the space!

Edit: probably a bit rude of me to that you have a lot of space, I didn't mean it that way... more so you have the potential room to grow a good distance apart

[Kristen]

you have a lot of growing space

I know it as a lot of weeding space

I Google it every year, but haven't found a Chef's Comparison of varieties ...

Swift never gives me more than 1 cob per plant (although others achieve that). Part of the problem is that, being bred to be small and thus to "get on with it" in our short summers the tassels stop producing pollen pretty early running the risk that any later cobs are not properly fertilised. Chums plant successively INTO the prevailing wind to try to help with that ...

[bario1]

being bred to be small and thus to "get on with it" in our short summers the tassels stop producing pollen pretty early running the risk that any later cobs are not properly fertilised. Chums plant successively INTO the prevailing wind to try to help with that ...

Interesting, thanks for the tip - might plant mine out in 3 blocks, starting with the NE end of the bed. Am i right in thinking there is no problem with cross pollenation as long as both varieties are 'super sweet' (I have Swift and Lark)?

[Bill HH]

I have read on another forum of people who have planted mixed varieties and they have posted their results of mixed hard corns on the cobs and lack of flavour; I've never mixed Sweetcorn varieties - which means I have no personal experience I can PM you a link if you would like?



My lunchtime guests rave about our Sweetcorn ... I've only ever grown Swift F1 (Xtra tender type), so have no other point of comparison, but the fact that visitors think it is better than whatever they are used to (shop bought probably) is good enough for me. We pick & cook immediately; I read that super sweet varieties are slower to convert Sugar to Starch, but given the traditional problem - from the moment that the cobs are picked the sugar starts turning to starch - I assume that cook-immediately is best - although compared to some we are very casual about it as we don't take the pan of boiling water TO the Sweetcorn bed

I have a large catapult and shoot them from the patch straight into the kitchen where my with is braced with a large butterfly net and a boiling pan.
Last year I froze a lot within minutes of picking, without blanching and they are gorgeous.

[chris]

I do the same, mainly as I can't be bothered with blancing. Still taste just as sweet. Othertimes I eat the cobs straight off the plant, raw. My kids love them - if they're up the plot with me, they walk between the plants like it's a jungle (they're only young). Any cobs they find, they'll peel back to see if it's ready to eat yet, breaking a few off as expected. Revenge is when they open a cob to find an ear wig crawling over their hands moments later

[Richard Eldritch]

Watcha Bill, I grow Sundance because it's a dwarf plant, with 8inch cobs and it grows well when planted closely. It's dead reliable ( sow twice what you need and choose the most vigerous ) I got a bumper crop in that god awfull summer of 2012. Taste delicous as well, very sweet if eaten just off the plant.

[AllInContainers]

I grew golden bantam last year, in a grow bag, in shallow MPC, and at greatly reduced spacings (6" - 8"). They did very well too. Many were harvested as baby corn and eaten raw, some were harvested too early due to inexperience, but all in all a success. Companions in nearby pots were rosemary, lavendar, oregano, a giant sunflower, and nasturtiums running amok everywhere.



They were a great feature in the garden too, but I have deided not to bother this year as yield to size/space was poor, especially considering I like them as babycorn. This year I'll be buying baby corn from the shops, and my replacement "feature" plant is skyscraper lillies. No signs of them popping up yet though

Apologies for the pic size

[Alison]

Three sisters is corn, squash and climbing beans that coil up the corn stems. I've tried it but didn't get on well as the beans seemed to smoother out the corn. The squash works well though and suppresses the weeds. Also no need to harvest the squash until after the corn is harvested so no disruption. Have also sown corn 1ft apart as the closest and it was fine, think the closeness helped with pollination although only got one cob per plant rather than more when they're further apart.


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