You’ll need a large area and a sunny aspect, but this plant is a true delight when homegrown
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f you read my recent piece about celeriac, you’ll know that I’m trying to make an effort to write about crops that I don’t actually grow myself – this is my next instalment. Unlike celeriac, which I don’t like, I don’t grow sweetcorn because I simply don’t have the right space and conditions. So if you’re fortunate to have the room and sunny aspect for it to thrive, I’m jealous. When freshly plucked and shucked, homegrown sweetcorn is beyond delightful.
As you might suspect, sweetcorn grows best during long, hot summers – so get your seeds started now as they’ll want some warmth to germinate (in a propagator ideally) and pleasant weather as they get growing. As with so many of the best summer crops, it likes fertile and moisture-retentive soil, and as much sun as the summer days have to offer. Seedlings more than 8cm tall are ready to be planted out, but resist putting your seedlings into the ground until the days are warm and the risk of frost is well passed. And keep some fleece handy to throw over them should the temperature drop unexpectedly.
An important aspect of growing sweetcorn is the spacing. It is wind-pollinated, and successful pollination is facilitated by planting in blocks of at least four by four plants with about 40cm between them (hence the need for the aforementioned space that I don’t have). If you don’t have the space either, and you’re happy to harvest small unpollinated cobs, you can grow sweetcorn in a row and closer together (at about 20cm). But in my humble opinion, baby corn isn’t worth the effort.
