Growing Sweet Corn

Latest Update 12th May 2021.

Sweet Corn

• Sweetcorn is a variety of maize.
• It is believed that it was originally cultivated in Mexico by the Mayans and other indigenous American nations.
• It is a summer crop and grows well in a hot sunny climate.
• I grow mine close together in blocks to help with pollination.
• I use climbing beans as companion plants as they provide useful nitrogen for the corn, whilst using the corn stalks as climbing supports.
• The corn is earthed up as it grows to provide support for the plant against high winds in spring.
• Corn needs to be used as soon as its harvested or stored frozen in the fridge.  If left uncooked or not frozen for any length of time after harvest, the corn loses its natural  sweet taste.

Details.

• Binomial name:                                        Zea mays subsp. mays
• Family group:                                           Poaceae.
• Variety:                                                    Golden Bantam.
• Crop rotation group:                                  Summer.
• Garden be:                                               Ecobed 4.
• Minimum sun per day:                              8 hours.
• Plant spacings (centres x rows):                300 x 425 mm.
• Weeks to harvest:                                     11 - 14 weeks.
• Good companion:                                     Especially climbing beans, cucumber and pumpkin.
• Climate:                                                   Warm temperate.
• Geography:                                              Southern hemisphere. 

Nutrition. 

• This food is low in Saturated Fat, and very low in Cholesterol and Sodium. 
• It is also a good source of Dietary Fibre, Vitamin C, Thiamine, Folate, Magnesium and Phosphorus.
• More from nutrition data.self.com. 

Maintain Healthy Plants

• This blogpage explains how I maintain healthy plants.  It describes how soil is prepared prior to planting, how to regulate the sun's intensity and how to help protect and feed plants through their leaves.

Propagate Plants Efficiently

•  This blogpage explains how I propagate seeds in a purpose built propagator.

Propagation Plan.

• This blogpage tells you when to sow seeds.

Services Plan.

• This blogpage tells you when to make compost and plan other garden/household related activities.

Growing Instructions. 

• Sow 30 sweetcorn seeds individually in cell trays in homemade seed raising mix and water them in carefully with dilute seaweed extract or compost extract.
• Prepare the growing bed by removing spent mulch and previous crop waste.  Apply 60mm of fresh homemade compost and cover with a similar thickness of straw mulch.  Fit a cover of horticultural fleece.
• Expose small patches of mulch to expose the compost and using a large dibber make 30 planting holes about 300 mm apart in 6 rows 425 mm apart.
• Transplant the seedlings as soon as they're ready.  The planting holes should be deep enough to penetrate through the compost into the soil by about 50mm.  Water them in thoroughly with rainwater.
  

Harvesting and storage

• Pick the sweetcorn cobs when the silky threads turn brown or black.
• Use right away or preserve them in the freezer.
• To freeze them, blanch the in boiling water for 5 minutes and put them in your freezer in a zip bag. 

Organic Pest Control.

• Sweetcorn, like most vegetables, are vulnerable to attack from certain pests in my garden.  My blog "Controlling Garden Pests" explains a little about these pests and what to do to protect plants from them.  For details click on the appropriate link below.
• Slugs and snails.
• Greenhouse whitefly. 
• Powdery mildew.
• Aphids (greenfly).