Sweetcorn - Devistation

Well, germinated the sweetcorn seed, nurtured them, hardened them off, planted them into the bed, kept them nice and warm with their own Coke bottles (mini cloches) . On Sunday we took the bottles off, by Tuesday they'd been decimated.



The stalks (6 of them) were left about 3 inches above the ground.(As per the photo)

Now, we can't change what's happened, but it would be nice to know what / who did it. The Sweetcorn share a bed with the Runner and French Beans all of which which were untouched. There were 'paw prints' in the bed, about 2 inches diameter and about 2 inches deep (something heavy?).

So, what goes for Sweetcorn but ignores the beans ?

(Mrs Doogle thinks it might be a Badger.)

 

Badgers are carnivores, that photo shows what looks like a hoof print. Could it be horse or pony?

 

Badgers absolutely love sweetcorn I have had them climb a fence to get to mine and eat the lot.


Johnny boy

www.thevegetablebed.co.uk

 

:( :( :(

Its not too late to sow some more ...

... I recommend Swift (which as its name suggests is a short season variety)

 

I'd put my money on badgers.

You have time to replant and make arrangements to keep the badgers out.

 

Thanks all. We have started the Sweetcorn again (Early Xtra Sweet F1 Hybrid). Funny thing is, that Mrs Doogle had tried to grow some at home last year, but most failed to germinate so this year she over planted and they all came up. Far too many for us so we gave half a dozen away!

We've put netting over some of the other beds, held up by canes and upside down flower pots and about 3 ft high, would that be strong enough to disuade a determined Badger or would it just trample it down?

So far we've got a Mole who keeps popping up all over the place and a Badger hooked on Sweetcorn, so I guess the next attack will be from the Wascally Wabbits

 

The F1 Supersweet varieties are normally coated with a "Germination enhancer", as the packet says, which IME is just a fungicide because these new varieties are very prone to rot. (Note: its usually toxcic, so wqash hands after handlig etc - details on the packet I expect)

I chit mine on damp kitchen paper and then plant into pots the moment a root appears (they are very fragile). They shouldn't be transplanted, so best to used pots made from rolled up newspaper, loo rolls or peat pots - although some people use root trainers (I'm not sure why they represent any less transplanting distuyrbance than ordinary pots?)

 

Mrs D
Thanks Kristen. That's much the method I used. I got it from a gardening magazine, but the bright spark there said fold the seeds in kitchen towel and stand it upright in a jar with water in the bottom to soak up. Of course the roots then proceded to go through the damp towel and thee whole thing was one helluva mess to untangle. Luckily I have a lot of patience when it comes to gardening. Also not such great expectations as D. I was trying to save space as the Kitchen window sill is the only suitable one and is not too large so I quickly run out of space during feb-apr. Everything gets moved out asap into the unheated lean-to ( a wonderful space 12'x10' that was originally built as a caravan shelter on the back of the garage by one of the previous owners) in a variety of covered pots with lots of newspaper, old curtains and fleeces handy.

 

Putting things out in a sheltered spot is fine in the early Spring. As you have patience you can always bring them in on cold nights, or even leave them in on really cold days (not ideal, but better than a cold bath!)

 

The remaining 'stumps' have started to grow leaves, is it worth perservering with them or would it be better to re-plant completely?