sweetcorn

[mrbiffo]

Hi to everyone i am a new member and new to gardening, and i need some advice on the sweet corn i am growing in large pots , The problem is they are growing really well about5 ft approx and they have the tassels at the top and the silks at the bottom
but the tassels have not turn brown with pollen so i can self pollinate. and i was hoping that someone could let me know how long this will take
many thanks in advance
mr biffo

[Nannysally99]

Logically you could self pollinate, but it may be too late. How many pots of sweetcorn have you. I grow mine in groups of 10 and they readily pollinated themselves. Froze my crop a month ago

[Bill HH]

It is my understanding that when the tassels turn brown they have already done the dirty deed. Browing is a sign that the kernals are nearly ripe. If your havent gone brown they may just be late, all I do is shake mine occasionaly.

[mrbiffo]

Hi bill thanks very much for your reply and advice. As i am new to gardening i will
need advice in the future.
unfortunately i will have to grow everything in pots and grow sacks as idont have a rear garden it is all laid to gravel
kind regards
mr biffo

[mrbiffo]

Hi nannysally i have 20 tubs of sweetcorn and they are grouped together and the silks seem pretty long and the tassels have plenty of the little pods on them but they have not turned brown yet and no sign of any pollen by turning brown i mean the tassels not the silks so i suppose i will just have to wait and see what happens.As i aim a new gardener i will need further advice in the future i hope i can ask
my garden is all laid to grave and i have no soil so all i plant will be in containers
or big woven plastic grow sacks.
kind regards
mr biffo

[Nannysally99]

I bashed mine every time I walked past them, seemed to work. I am going to do more next year, my favourite crop. Hope yours turn out ok.

[Richard Eldritch]

I grow sweetcorn in pots as well. I shake the pollen into a large envelope and then hand sprinkle the silks. Repeat every day untill all silks are shrivelled.

[BertieFox]

What ate my sweetcorn

Any idea what might have eaten my sweetcorn. The cobs are stripped right down to the husks but the plants have not been knocked over as you would expect with badgers, not that there are many badgers around here.

[Catseyes]

Squirrel?


Sent from my iPhone using Grow Your Own Forum

[mrbiffo]

Thanks richard i have tried that today so i will keep my fingers crossed
and i will do the same
cheers

[Dusty Rhodes]

Any idea what might have eaten my sweetcorn. The cobs are stripped right down to the husks but the plants have not been knocked over as you would expect with badgers, not that there are many badgers around here.

[ATTACH=CONFIG]49507[/ATTACH]

Rodents such as mice, squirrels, rats, etc. are good at eating the corn kernels without knocking over the stalks.

[BertieFox]

Thanks for that Dusty. I had been busy blaming the coypu which are in the pond nearby but I haven't seen them come that far into the garden and they usually leave tracks. I also thought they were too large to take the corn without knocking them over.

However, I have now noticed with the dry weather the garden is full of small vole like creatures which have burrowed extensively, and although they are small, a lot of them could easily have done this to the corn.

Time to put a few traps down I guess.

Thanks for your advice.

[SuperDad]

It looks like rats. I lost most of my crop on allotment a couple of years ago and now protect with chicken wire