How to grow corn cobs successfully
Everybody loves sweet corn! Which is why it’s so disheartening when there are gaps left gaping in our cobs’ kernels.
Thankfully, Ben is in the video to tell us what to do about it, so that we can have the corn of our dreams; full, juicy and oh-so-delicious! 🌽
How do you pollinate corn cobs?
Corn plants have 2 types of flowers, male and female. The male flowers are found at the top of the plants while the female corn flowers are much lower on the plant. The female flowers have many individual strands and each one corresponds to an individual kernel.
Pollination occurs when the pollen from the male flowers falls on to the female flower strands. This happens naturally when the plants are blown by the wind, but we can help the process.
There are 2 ways to pollinate the flowers. If there is no breeze then you can gently shake the plants when the time is right.
Alternatively you can break off a male flower and gently run it over the strands on the female flowers.
In order to form juicy individual kernels each strand needs to be pollinated.
So if you have ever wondered why your corn cobs are only part formed with juicy ripe kernels then this is something you need to try.
How to plant corn in a small garden
It is definitely better to hand pollinate corn but if you want to leave it to nature, or you are going to be away at the time, then a planting pattern is important.
You can give nature a helping hand by planting the corn in a grid pattern rather than in long lines. This means when the wind moves the plants there is a greater chance of the pollen falling on to the female flowers.
Corn roots are quite shallow so remember to water regularly especially in hot weather.
For our other videos on growing corn, see Perfect Corn Every Time:
https://youtu.be/Rvcm7PonNQk
And Growing Sweetcorn from Sowing to Harvest:
https://youtu.be/Ts–iMD4YcA
