Anyone grown squash or corn?

[TracyK]

I got some seeds today - among them squash and some corn.

I'm in central scotland - have I got any chance of success??

They do well for me but I am in the South.

I'm in North Wales and grow summer squash without any bother. I also grow a variety of sweetcorn called 'Golden Nugget' which is bred for northern climates.

I sow the sweetcorn straight into the ground (in a block rather than a row so that they pollinate properly) in May when frosts have passed. I start pumpkins in pots in early May and plant out later in the month.

I reckon you'll be all right. I'd start the sweetcorn off in trays, just personal preference. They like it warm but not too moist otherwise they turn to mush. I can only guarantee that on my windowsill.
I second the block thing 4x4 plants or 5x5 cos they are wind pollinated.

Squash just grow like mad... remember with some of the varieties the vines can get really big. We had one last year that was 11ft long and had a uchiri kuri on it you could have used for the Royal Wedding!

I'm in the south too, and squashes have been good for the last couple of years. I grow one plant to a big pot and put it in full sun. Not all the flowers become squashes (either boys or girls, can't remember which) but you can see the squash forming behind the flower if there is going to be one. I start them off indoors in a 3" pot in April and they come up quite quickly. Still got some now from last year waiting to be eaten! Tried butternut and some small round ones which could bake in their skins.

I'm in central scotland too, I have had some success with pumpkins and squash but have tried sweetcorn 4 times with only two tiny cobs to show for it (some people on our allotments have managed to grow it by starting it off erly in a greenhouse and not planting it out until it is quite big, or growing it in a greenhouse or polytunnel from start to finish. Iam not going to waste the space on it this year, I have planted an asparagus bed instead (fingers crossed it survived the frost!).

I've grown sweet corn for several years on the trot and I'm in Yorkshire. I started them off in the green house as they take a long time to ripen and our growing season is just a tad short. We've had mixed results - never more than a couple of cobs off each plant (they're really just gigantic grasses) so for what you get out of them they're really quite unproductive (IMHO) for the amount of space they take up. The cobs we got were on the small side and looked nothing like the ones you buy. They were pale straw yellow/greeny coloured but pleasant (even quite nice!) tasting. You harvest them once the threads have browned and started to dry off. You need to plant them in a square as they are wind polinated. The problem is they really need an 'Indian summer' to ripen fully - i.e. a warm dry late summer/early autumn which we're never guaranteed to get sadly! Some years I've ended up pulling them uyp unharvested as cold wet weather has set them rotting before they were ripe

Try 'Golden Nugget' Nancy. I've had a crop in sodden North Wales the past two (horrendous) summers.