Your comments and tips

01 Feb 10, Ray Whitton (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

I have grown my sweet corn fairly close together and thought I had done everything properly. Once again though I find that the kernels are well under developed....they are usually white and very, very small. I harvest them when the silk browns off as seems to be the rule but even then. I also have found that even watering every second day as we are only permitted in Canberra the leaves are still dying off. In fact the ones at the back of the crop nearest the galvanised iron fence are completely dead - anything to do with radiated heat? Thanks for comments.

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27 Jan 10, Evelyn (Australia - cool/mountain climate)

Hi, I tried Digger's Club Golden Bantam corn this year and planted closer together than instructed in a raised metal bed. They did really well with good organic soil, compost and a bit of blood and bone and another biodynamic preparation (Kickalong fertilizer). Really healthy and the corn tasted fine. Not as nice as the sweeter corn varieties, a bit more starchy but still really good fresh from the garden.

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22 Jan 10, Chris (Australia - temperate climate)

Jenny, My experience has been one decent crop from a stalk however you may get side shoots that produce a weaker crop. Personally, i would look to pulling them out and preparing the soil for the next crop in the rotation

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19 Jan 10, Jenny (Australia - temperate climate)

Hi, I have 5 corn stalks growing in which i have taken corn of each stalk. The corn is very nice to eat sweet as. Can someone please advise me once i have taken corn of the stalks does the corn continue to grow or do you only get that one lot, please advise as i would like to start pulling my corn out and growing something else that is in season if the corn will not continue to produce. Thanks heaps.

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17 Jan 10, beth (Australia - temperate climate)

I planted my sweet corn in late November and it is currently about 1.5 metres high. I only had a minimal ammount of seeds so i planted them in a pot. I only have 1 stalk in the pot. Will it still be possible for my sweet corn to germinate and grow corn cobs because I only have the one stalk? If so how much corn can I expect to get from one stalk?

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16 Jan 10, ron (Australia - temperate climate)

plant corn close together to promote cross pollination

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09 Jan 10, Dez of Queensland (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

I have planted two lots of sweet corn, both from the same seedling batch, Five where planted in my Aquaponic system, and three where planted in wicking garden system. The Corn in the aquaponic system is a far greener (Quite dark) and stronger plant, with two heads of corn on each stem, where as the corn in the wicking system, has only one corn head per plant and not as strong. Photos can be emailed on request: [email protected]

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08 Jan 10, po (Australia - temperate climate)

Corn missing kernels: I believe this has to do with uneven pollination. Hand pollination could help. Corn stalk shade: My cats have discovered the best patch in the garden is under the corn stalks. Intercropping with corn: Second word on shade, last year i tried intercropping corn with beans, but it was a big flop for the beans: they grew but didn't produce any beans. The nitrogen along their roots may have helped the corn though as the corn grew brilliantly. This year i will experiment with another intercrop and space the corn more broadly--perhaps a leafy veg. Hot weather: Man, it's hot. Last year I harvested my corn after a spate of very hot weather and some of the kernels had started to shrivel. The taste was also clearly past prime compared to corn harvested just before the heat. Won't be doing that again.

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05 Jan 10, Karlos (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

I have exactly 18 healthy stalks in 2 rows in my garden, each stalk is growing 2-3 ears and has 2 offsiders growing from the root also with 1 ear each. The thing i'm curious about is there are quarter cob size amounts of kernals growning on the very top tip of my stalks.. I think my soil is over fertile...only started them from 10cm seedlings 6 1/2 weeks ago

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02 Jan 10, Barb (Australia - sub-tropical climate)

Hey Warren, You can hill more soil/compost around your corn plants and those extra roots will help them feed better. Corn are heavy feeders and they respond well to getting extra layers of soil/compost on top.

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