anyone else growing sweetcorn?

[highlandbird]

not sure if ours are going to come to anything as its getting a bit late in the season now, just wondering where the actual corn on the cob bits appear from?? there don't appear to be any, but the tallest plant is about 4 feet high.

They grow from the main stem, but if pollination is poor - which it probably was this year - then yields are likely to be very low. Our sweet corn crop us always pathetic, but we never give up!

I would have thought that you would be able to see the cobs by now if you had any as ours are almost ready. Just a thought but how did you plant them? Sweetcorn pollinate best if planted in blocks rather than rows.

I grew it very sucessfully the last year but this year practically nothing. Not a great year at all and not helping in my defence of my veg plot at all. DH and Dcs want to turf it for a trampoline.

Yes, we always plant in a block but even do this year's crop is very meagre. Good job I didn't try the three dusters planting of sweet corn, beans and squash!

Three sisters. Duh.

ha, I tried it! The corn has grown, but the squash sat and sulked, and the runners got mostly eaten by the slugs.

Ours were doing nothing but went away for a week and suddenly cobs growing on all 9 stems. Planted quite closely together but big looking cobs.

Our first year of growing sweetcorn so quite excited!

I am growing it . The cobs are appearing lower down the main stem. You should just see the whiskery beardy bit sprouting from where the cob is growing.

You can hand pollinate them to make sure. Take some seeds from top of one plant and rub into the "hair" of a cob of another plant.

Ours have been ravaged by squirrels :(

ooh, thanks for all your replies, sorry have been away and just got back last night, and we now have cobs on 2 plants out of 4!!!
They are planted in a row, so will do in a block next time. They're also in a polytunnel as the climate is very harsh here, and the deer would eat them if outside, that probably doesn't help with pollination, there being no wind! Will hand pollinate from now on!
Iggly that is a pain about the squirrels, I used to live trap squirrels and maize was the bait we used as they really really like corn :( do they hammer the rest of your veg as well? We really can't grow anything outside, even our kale is in the polytunnel as the deer would have the lot given half a chance!