Corn - northern extra sweet?

[Growinnorway]

Have anyone growed it before? I have seeds from both north extra sweet and swift f1, and i wonder which one i should choose to grow this year. Any suggestions?

[maverick451]

I have grown both before, tbh I couldnt tell much difference between them

I always grow swift, its the first one I tried a few years ago and nothing ive tried has been any better so I thought why change

[bario1]

I'm doing 'Earlybird' this year.

[burnie]

I grew Swift F1 last year and I will again this year.

[Snoop Puss]

Have a look at this thread:
http://www.growfruitandveg.co.uk/gra...rth_24602.html

I haven't read the whole thread, but a few people mention not having much luck with Northern Extra Sweet. Other varieties mentioned as well as Swift that you might consider in future years.

Good luck!

[Xepher]

I usually grow Double Standard which has always produced a reasonable amount of cobs even when the Summer hasn't been the warmest or longest.

I'm trying Special Swiss for the first time this year which is also meant to be fairly early and tolerant of poor Summers.

[maverick451]

Just to add to my previous post

I dont have any problems with sweetcorn being in the south east but one variety I did try was one called seville which was bred to withstand colder temperatures

see here

https://www.victoriananursery.co.uk/..._Seed_Seville/

[It never rains..it pours]

I'm doing 'Earlybird' this year.

Bario1, would you be able to advise how earlibird went, as I have them and Northern extra seet and trying to decide what to keep as cant have both next door to each other

[bario1]

Hi INRIP, I was very impressed with Earlibird, got a good crop outside up here, and it wasn’t even a good summer! I’m growing them again this year, first sowings are about 6” tall now.
Are you sure you can’t grow both next to each other? Aren’t they both supersweet varieties?

[annie8]

I grew Summer Jewel last year with decent success, using the same variety this year. Have 6 plants that I am starting to leave in the greenhouse overnight and harden off in the cold frame, plus a few new seeds that i am trying to geminate that i might keep in the greenhouse.

[It never rains..it pours]

Hi INRIP, I was very impressed with Earlibird, got a good crop outside up here, and it wasn’t even a good summer! I’m growing them again this year, first sowings are about 6” tall now.
Are you sure you can’t grow both next to each other? Aren’t they both supersweet varieties?

Thank you Bario1, that's great information. Yes they are both super sweet but seems to be different advice regarding planting close. I have 9 of each about 12" high. After your feedback and the negative comments on northern have put 3 northern in buckets and will plant the earibird only in the bed as 12 property polinated is better than roll the dice on 18

[It never rains..it pours]

Bario, could I ask if you removed the side shoots on your Earlibird ? mine seem to have one each side and would rather have 1 or if luck 2 decent cobs than 3 or 4 that are poor per plant so keen to remove them

[bario1]

I think they did form secondary cobs lower down the stems, but not until much later on... and I never took any off. Only the main cob was fit for eating. What stage are yours at? Have you got a picture?

[It never rains..it pours]

Thanks Bario1, I have taken the side shoots off as think it will only drain the main plant and like you say 1 decent cob is the aim rather than a few that are useless. The first pic is the earlibird I left the side shoots on for an experiment, the second the earlybird outdoor planting 18" tall, the third and fourth pics are the northern extra that stayed in greenhouse and put in anything that could find that can move so avoid cross pollination and now going outside 24" tall. At present have learnt pot them into 6" + pots and keep in greenhouse longer ie plant out now rather than 3 weeks ago

[It never rains..it pours]

Have done some trial reading and it appears removing side shoots does not improve yields and if they have no cob on them, then thier sugars go to the main plant at cob forming so improve its yield. So would appear it's best to leave side shoots on but remove any cobs that start forming on them. Bit late for me now but will see if there's any difference as left side shoots on a couple.