How to grow Sweet corn

In this section you will learn how to plant, sow, grow and look after sweet corn

Sowing and planting Sweet corn

When to plant Sweet corn

Sweetcorn can be planted directly into the open ground in late May but it is best to start them off in the greenhouse and get them established first. You can start them off in the greenhouse in late April

Varieties Sweet corn

There are quite a few varieties of sweetcorn here are a few:-

F1 Sundance
Moonshine F1
Damaun
F1 Goldcrest
F1 swift
Double Standard

Planting Sweet corn

To sow sweetcorn in a greenhouse sow the kernels (seeds) 2 at a time and 12mm deep in a plant pot or sow them in seed trays. Cover the pots with newspaper or cling film until the seeds appear. When the seedlings are about 6 inch’s tall harden off the plants

Growing Sweet corn

When the plants are tall enough and hardened off they can be planted outside. Sweetcorn need to planted in square blocks so that they pollinate with each other. Set the plants about 15 inch apart with the rows about 2 foot apart. Usually you can have them planted 6 by 6 or even 5 by 5.

Harvesting sweet corn

Sweetcorn is usually ready around 6 weeks after the tassels have appeared on the them. These tassels will shrivel and turn brown as the cobs develop.

To test that they are ready pull back one of the cobs sheath and pressing into one of the kernels with your thumbnail. If the seed lets out a creamy liquid the cobs should be picked and used. If the liquid is watery the cob is not ready and if there is no liquid at all the cobs are past there best.