Sweetcorn Seed 'Seville'
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Sweetcorn Seed 'Seville'

Zea mays 'Seville'

Over the last few years many vegetable gardeners (including ourselves) have been disappointed with the performance of their sweetcorn. Sweetcorn need warmth to perform - something that has been sadly lacking the last few years with temperatures (especially night time temperatures) in May and June being low - so much for global warming! To this end we have now sourced the variety 'Seville' which will better stand these lower growing temperatures.

Flavour, cob size and colour is excellent!

Supplied as a packet of approximately 40 seeds.

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How To Sow & Grow Sweetcorn

For Growing Outside
Sow under protection in small pots or modules late April to early May time.
Set out plants after all risk of frost and when air temperatures are improving - approximately late April to late May. If temperatures are still low, continue to grow on under protection, but pot plants on to prevent them becoming root bound.
Set out 15" apart in rows 18". For good pollination sweetcorn needs to be planted in blocks rather than a single row or two.
Harvest when ready; the cobs are normally ready to harvest when the tassels on the husk of the cobs dry and change colour to dark brown; gently pull back the husk and pierce a kernel with your fingernail, if a milky liquid exudes the cob is ready to eat.

For Growing Under Protection
(this will give you early sweetcorn without the worry of cold temperatures)
Sow under protection in small pots or modules from March to early May time.
Set out into the border soil of your polytunnel or greenhouse when around 6" in height. Set out 15" apart in rows 18" apart, ideally in blocks rather than single rows to ensure good pollination.
Alternatively grow in tubs, plant 4 plants per 18" tub.
As sweetcorn is naturally wind pollinated you will need to artificially pollinate. At the first signs of the flowers at the top of the plant releasing pollen (evident by yellow 'dust' clouding when you brush past the plants or yellow 'dust' on the lower leaves and surrounding the plants) gently give the stem of each plant a shake to release pollen and encourage it to drop from the top flowers to the lower juvenile cobs; you will need to do this daily for approximately two weeks or until no more pollen is released.
Harvest when ready; the cobs are normally ready to harvest when the tassels on the husk of the cobs dry and change colour to dark brown; gently pull back the husk and pierce a kernel with your fingernail, if a milky liquid exudes the cob is ready to eat.

Top Tips
Protect newly sown seeds from mice. Mice are notorious in 'sniffing out' seed of this nature!
Repeat sowings can be made every two weeks from your first sowing until the end of June, giving you a succession of plants to set out and thus an extension to the cropping season.
Cover the soil you are going to grow your crop in with black polythene or similar a few weeks before planting out as this will absorb heat and warm up the soil.
You can of course also plant through a polythene mulch or similar as this will continue to retain heat along with moisture - and suppress weeds.
Protect the young plants with cloches, wind breaks or similar if the weather is cold.
Home grown sweetcorn is much sweeter than shop bought sweetcorn, this is because the sugar in the cobs starts to turn to starch the moment the cobs are cut. To get the best from your cobs cut as close to when you are going to cook them as possible - it is common for Americans (famous for their love of corn) to take a saucepan of boiling water with them to plunge the cobs into when they go to cut their corn; if you do this please be careful!
Plunging the freshly cut cobs, husk and all, into a bucket of water and then barbecuing is also a way to maintain that super sweet flavour - no need to wrap in foil as the wet husk will protect the kernels and as the outer layers char they will give a fantastic smoky flavour.

For something completely different and to maximise crop space try growing sweetcorn using the Three Sisters method.

The Three Sisters - Growing Sweetcorn, Beans and Squashes Together

The tradition of growing sweetcorn beans and squashes together is laid down in the legends of the Iroquois people (Native North Americans) who believed that corn, beans and squash were three inseparable sisters and would only grow and thrive together. Bringing things right up to date it is actually easy to identify that the method is a sustainable growing method providing long-term soil fertility and maximises growing space.

The sweetcorn provides a natural support for the beans whilst the beans help to stabilise the corn plants, making them less vunerable to blowing over in the wind. The shallow rooted squash plants become a living mulch, smothering emerging weeds and reducing water evaporation from the soil - thus improving the overall crops' chances of survival in dry years. The beans fix nitrogen on their roots, improving the fertility of the soil for the following year - couple that with the huge amount of vegetation produced by the combination that can be dug in or composted and the sustainability of the method soon proves itself.

Success when growing on the Three Sisters system does need some careful attention to timing and seed spacing; if you simply plant all three in the same hole at the same time you will end up with a tangle of beans and squashes fighting for supremacy and overwhelming the sweetcorn completely! You may use any of our varieties of sweetcorn with the exception of Babycorn or Strawberry Popcorn, and either Climbing French Beans, Runner Beans or Borlotto Beans. All our Squash and Pumpkin varieties are suitable for this planting scheme.

How To Plant & Sow A Three Sisters Bed
Ideally you need an area a minimum of 10ft x 10ft (should you wish to scale up that is fine, if you scale down for smaller areas you may find that your sweetcorn may not pollinate properly and you will not get full cobs).

1) With string lines mark off three 10ft rows, 5ft apart.

2) In each row mound up the soil in five mounds approximately 18" in diameter and 2½ft from the centre of one to the next.

3a) Starting with one of the outer rows plant in the second and fourth mounds 4 sweetcorn plants in each. Set the plants out 6" apart in a square pattern.
3b) In the middle row plant in the first, third and fifth mounds 4 sweetcorn plant in each. Set the plants out 6" apart in a square pattern.
3c) In the other outer row plant in the second and fourth mounds 4 sweetcorn plants in each. Set the plants out 6" apart in a square pattern.

4) When the sweetcorn has grown to around 12" tall you can plant out your squash plants and sow your bean seeds. First weed off the entire patch before sowing 4 bean seeds in each sweetcorn mound. Sow the seeds equally spaced 3" away from the sweetcorn plants.

5) Now plant two squash plants in each of the vacant mounds (1, 3 & 5 in row one; 2 & 4 in row two; 1, 3 & 5 in row three).

With your planting now completed all you need do is weed until the squashes have covered the ground and water as required, harvesting the crops as they are ready.