So we've been starting lots of seedlings inside ready for Spring. This is going to be my first season of starting a vegetable garden myself, so I'm just trying lots of all sorts of different things! Anyway, the seeds we're growing inside are doing really really well. Among them, I've planted 6 corn. They're up and looking happy already.
Someone said to me last night though that they won't actually produce any cobs come Summer because I've started them too early and they need at least 90 days of sunlight... That doesn't make sense to me though, because they'll be going outside once the frosts have passed and they're strong enough - maybe slightly earlier than they might have if I planted them later. Surely that would mean they'd be getting at least or more than 90 days of sun which is a good thing?
So I suppose what I'm asking basically is, is there any harm in starting corn early?
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Thanks Colin. Not bad - I'm loving the weather slowly getting warmer. Hmm after reading your comments, I think I might have gotten a little ahead of myself with these corn seedlings I've started!
I wasn't actually going to put them in the ground - I was just going to put them straight into large pots. I've read about people growing corn in 20L buckets, which sounded great because we don't have a whole lot of space in the ground. So the seedlings that I've started now would go into the buckets when they get too big for their small pots then stay somewhere warm in the buckets until the weather warms up enough to put them out in the garden.
It sounds like you'd probably suggest I'm better off having the corn in the ground to allow for the root system - would a 20l bucket not be big enough?
Colin Cook said:
HI sonya Hows it going? I would be wary about sowing sweet corn in pots with the idea of transplanting out in November .Corn grows very fast once germinated and because of its hieght needs a very substantial root system, I think this could make the plant pot bound .I grow corn every year and if you plant after the frosts the sunny napier climate will do the rest.If you want to plant seeds in early October in peat pots to aviod the frosts that would work but not in August.
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I wasn't actually going to put them in the ground - I was just going to put them straight into large pots. I've read about people growing corn in 20L buckets, which sounded great because we don't have a whole lot of space in the ground. So the seedlings that I've started now would go into the buckets when they get too big for their small pots then stay somewhere warm in the buckets until the weather warms up enough to put them out in the garden.
It sounds like you'd probably suggest I'm better off having the corn in the ground to allow for the root system - would a 20l bucket not be big enough?
Colin Cook said:
Robynne Jephson said: