Growing Sweetcorn

It's nice to see a bit of rain as the ground was getting quite dry. Fingers crossed it does stop now we've had enough! The rain might keep me off the plot but at least the potting shed is nice and dry.

The other week I had a conversation with Jim on the allotment where he was telling me that he'd sowed 20 sweetcorn but only 3 had come up. Now the tendency in this situation is to blame yourself. Perhaps they were too cold, or hot. Too dry or wet. Wrong compost or sowed too deeply.

The fact is that it sometimes is the fault of the grower but it could well be the fault of the seeds. Even the reputable brands, like Thompson & Morgan or Dobies are not a guarantee if you buy your seeds from a shop or garden centre.

Seeds need to be stored carefully to keep in good condition. The foil packets inside the envelope ensure they're kept dry but can't provide any protection against changes in temperature. Many garden centre shops are basically greenhouses and I can't think of anywhere worse to store seeds than a greenhouse. Hot in the day and pretty chilly at night.

That's why I generally buy my seeds mail order direct from the merchants. I know they have stored them in optimum conditions and generally I get good germination rates – so long as I get my part right!

Anyway, with sweetcorn seed being the price it is, my method may be a bit of fuss but it does ensure good levels of germination. I pop them between damp kitchen roll in an airtight Tupperware style container in a warm dark place and check daily. When the root appears, I then plant out into pots of compost and later onto the plot.

Out of 30 seeds, I got 25 sprouted and I expect to lose a couple more. Still 20 out of 30 is better than 3 out of 20. If I'd only had that rate from my chitting method, I'd have written to the supplier in no uncertain terms.

Whilst I was at it in the potting shed, moved some cucumbers up into 3" pots. They're out of the propagator now but still on the heating pad so some bottom heat when it gets cold at night to keep them growing.

Chitting Sweetcorn Photographs

These were taken in 2007 and show what I mean fairly clearly.