Sweet corn, what went wrong...?

I've grown Sweetcorn many times in the greenhouse but thought
this year I'd grow some in the greenhouse and some outside. Would prefer to grow outside as they do take up A LOT of room.
All were sown at the same time. The ones in the greenhouse ripened about a month ago and were well filled pods (shook the plants religiously when watering the Tomatoes!)
The photo is of 1 of the cobs off the outdoor grown ones. They are growing in a block of 12 and are 'open to the elements' We have had a very hot August so can't see why the development of the cobs isn't better.
I have opened 3 and they are all about the same...not good! What has been pollinated (presume lack of pollination is the problem?) are very tasty but b all of them. I can't believe my "mechanical" pollinating is better than the natural wind. Could there be another reason that the cobs are decidedly lacking in corn?.

 

Oh brilliant me forgot to add the photo! My expertise in posting, matches my Sweetcorn growing skills. Sorry you weren't tucking into nice fat cobs either @fat controller . Looks like I may have to be giving Jolly Green Giant some business.

 

Definitely lack of pollination so try spacing them a bit closer next year and see how you get on

 

And water too! It's a very thirsty crop.

 

Thanks Kandy and Noisette.They were planted about 1 foot apart which I thought was about right.
Water a possible cause, hmm well could be come to think of it. Despite living in Scotland it has been pretty dry since the middle of July and very dry for the last 3 weeks. The ones I grew in the greenhouse got loads of water as they got at the same time as the Tomatoes. I didn't water the outside ones.
The outside ones have produce roughly 3 cobs per plant. I have only tried the earliest ripe ones. Is it too late now to give the plants a real soaking?

 

I think it might be a bit late, silu. It's grown commercially here, albeit for cattle food or seed, and the timetable for watering the plants is really strict. Still, you'll know for next year! Put the celeriac, celery, sweetcorn and squashes all together and water them like crazy

 

Thanks @noisette My cucumbers have been fab and got loadsa water unlike the corn I had it in my head that Sweetcorn didn't need huge amounts of water...obviously wrong. My Brother lives in SA and I think he told me years ago that melies (spelling could be wrong) were the staple diet of the indigenous population. I therefore presumed water wasn't a huge essential to the crop's success. What made me think I was too late to rectify the problem. Right they will get drenched regularly next season!

 

It amaizes () me that's it's so widely grown here. We get about 2mm of rain between June and October, so the farmers are having to irrigate constantly!
Just as an aside, what variety are your cucumbers? They are beautiful and it's been a bit tiresome having to peel prickly ones this year

 

Its definitely a pollination problem.
They are wind pollinated so greenhouse growing would need some help.
Rubbing your hand through the male flowers, then running it through the silks helps a lot even with outdoor stuff.

It was pretty wet down here in June but only had about 30mm of rain in the last two months, I've not watered mine and the cobs are full.

I think it would hate a wet summer.

 

I'm not sure @noisette47 if you aren't trying to get me to succumb to saying something rude or not? The variety I grew this year was Unwins Vista which is an F1. All I can say is that just about everybody and anybody I know has been given several and I have at least 10 ready to find homes as I speak! They have grown right over the roof of the greenhouse and are back down the other side. Reminds me of the "Day of the Triffids" film if you are old enough to remember it!
Thanks @pete . Yes the ones I helped pollinate in my greenhouse were great and really full of corn, its the ones grown naturally outside with plenty of wind to help pollination which have been less that great. I would have thought growing 12 plants close together in a block would have ensured good pollination, obviously not.

 

Moi?? Perish the thought! It was a genuine question. I sowed 6 seeds all from the same packet that claimed to be a baby, all-female variety but only one of the plants lived up to the claim. The other plants have been prolific but with large, spiny fruits. So, although Lidl seeds are very cheap, they're not necessarily true. I'll do mail order next year. Sadly, I do remember the Triffids

 

Oh right then @noisette47 we are both in the getting on age bracket. I bought some Cucumber seed from Lidl a few years ago. The Cucumber I grew were revolting. The fruits were small and had hard knobbly skins . They looked more like the type of thing you'd pickle to make Gerkins. NOT NICE.Most seed I have bought from Lidl in the past has been fine but not the variety of Cucumber they sell.

 

I grew Suttons F1 Swift in my "igloo" and the cropping has been pretty good, although the fleece is permeable, I still gave the plants a shake to enable better pollination. I believe that we are a bit too far north silu to reliably grow corn outside, even this one that I chose as it is bred to suit cooler climates, needed the fleece to give it a bit of help to retain some warmth. I did not water my corn that much and mine was in raised beds, but has grown just fine. A bit more heat might help the kernals turning yellow rather than the paler colour some are showing. I have been giving it a bit of a feed, chicken manure when the cobs first started to show, then a foliar feed of tomato liquid once a week.

 

I've been having pollination problems with giant sweetcorn and have wondered if the distance between male flowers and cobs some 6 feet down below may be the cause of the problem as not grown in a huge block. I had a miniscule amount of successful pollination last year.

Anybody dragged some male flowers cut from above across female cobs beneath?


EDIT:

Thanks, will try that.