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Sweetcorn and the Fluffy Bits
I've noticed that on my sweetcorn one of the top fluffy bits (sorry about
the technical language!) has developed into, what looks like, an ear of corn but is much smaller, a bit sad looking, with kernals missing and mis-shapen, and some dark in colour. It, obviously, has no sheath of leaves and looks most strange.. I've never seen this happen before and, out of interest, wondered if anyone can tell me more about this peculiar ear. I believe the fluffy bits are, generally, known as 'tassels', by the way, but this, to me, is no more technical than fluffy bits! I don't intend to eat it as it looks most unappetising and even spread with butter its looks would not be improved! Just out of interest does anyone know what this is? Regards, John |
Sweetcorn and the Fluffy Bits
On 2 Sep, 11:23, "John Vanini" wrote:
I don't intend to eat it as it looks most unappetising and even spread with butter its looks would not be improved! LOL!! Just out of interest does anyone know what this is? It happened to me many times - last year I'd left about 10 cobs, looking just like the one you describe, to the 'beasts' visiting our allotment. This year our corn is not really looking good and I suspect we will have many tiny cobs - I blame all the rain and not enough sunshine but also lack of feed. In my case I didn't give enough nitrogen/potassium which the sweet corns benefit immensely from at the flowering stages, I went on holidays for too long ... and too often this year. Also I was late planting our corn this year, which didn't help. Did you straight sow or in pots first and then transplanted? And did you feed your sweet corns? |
Sweetcorn and the Fluffy Bits
"John Vanini" wrote in message ... I've noticed that on my sweetcorn one of the top fluffy bits (sorry about the technical language!) has developed into, what looks like, an ear of corn but is much smaller, a bit sad looking, with kernals missing and mis-shapen, and some dark in colour. It, obviously, has no sheath of leaves and looks most strange.. I've never seen this happen before and, out of interest, wondered if anyone can tell me more about this peculiar ear. I believe the fluffy bits are, generally, known as 'tassels', by the way, but this, to me, is no more technical than fluffy bits! I suggest it's uneven pollination. Sweetcorn is wind pollinated, it was probably wet at the time pollination had to take place which would stop the pollen blowing from the tassels onto the immature seed. Mary |
Sweetcorn and the Fluffy Bits
On 2 Sep, 11:58, Martin wrote:
Ours are perfect despite all the rain and lack of sun. The looked after feeding themselves. Amazing - how lucky you are. How big is your plot in the Netherlands? I usually mulch lots with om and comfrey - but I've been so busy this year. I'm wondering what type of soil you have to not bother given them a helping hand. What did you grown on that plot before putting in your corns? |
Sweetcorn and the Fluffy Bits
On 2 Sep, 11:59, "Mary Fisher" wrote:
I suggest it's uneven pollination. Sweetcorn is wind pollinated, it was probably wet at the time pollination had to take place which would stop the pollen blowing from the tassels onto the immature seed. Off course Mary! That rain ... must have dampened the tassels and made polination almost impossible. That's why John found lots of 'ears' without a developed or crooked corn. Do you feed yours or not? |
Sweetcorn and the Fluffy Bits
"John Vanini" wrote in message
I've noticed that on my sweetcorn one of the top fluffy bits (sorry about the technical language!) has developed into, what looks like, an ear of corn but is much smaller, a bit sad looking, with kernals missing and mis-shapen, and some dark in colour. It, obviously, has no sheath of leaves and looks most strange.. Do you mean that the cob developed without leaves on the outside of the cob? If so where did the tassel grow from? |
Sweetcorn and the Fluffy Bits
La Puce wrote:
:: On 2 Sep, 11:59, "Mary Fisher" wrote: ::: I suggest it's uneven pollination. Sweetcorn is wind pollinated, it ::: was probably wet at the time pollination had to take place which ::: would stop the pollen blowing from the tassels onto the immature ::: seed. :: :: Off course Mary! That rain ... must have dampened the tassels and :: made polination almost impossible. That's why John found lots of :: 'ears' without a developed or crooked corn. Do you feed yours or not? Had some more of ours yesterday and they are delicious although many are only producing one cob instead of the usual two |
Sweetcorn and the Fluffy Bits
Ah, no, all my cobs are fine - prpobably the best I've ever grown. This
strange thing is at the very top - where the pollination is done (the plant's rude bits) Sorry to hear about your crop not being so good and thanks for your reply. Kindest regards, John "La Puce" wrote in message ups.com... On 2 Sep, 11:23, "John Vanini" wrote: I don't intend to eat it as it looks most unappetising and even spread with butter its looks would not be improved! LOL!! Just out of interest does anyone know what this is? It happened to me many times - last year I'd left about 10 cobs, looking just like the one you describe, to the 'beasts' visiting our allotment. This year our corn is not really looking good and I suspect we will have many tiny cobs - I blame all the rain and not enough sunshine but also lack of feed. In my case I didn't give enough nitrogen/potassium which the sweet corns benefit immensely from at the flowering stages, I went on holidays for too long ... and too often this year. Also I was late planting our corn this year, which didn't help. Did you straight sow or in pots first and then transplanted? And did you feed your sweet corns? |
Sweetcorn and the Fluffy Bits
The tassels, as I've been told they're called, are those parts of the
sweetcorn at the very top where pollination is carried out. They are what you see waving in the breeze, above the plant, long before the cobs form. The cobs themselves are much lower down and this year are probably the biggest and best I've ever grown! It's just that the tassels normally look like they always did but a bit bedraggled. This time one of them looks more like a deformed cob. I've only done what I normally do excpet that I did give them one feed of tomatoi fertiliser, which is what I saw in a gardening book. John "FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message ... "John Vanini" wrote in message I've noticed that on my sweetcorn one of the top fluffy bits (sorry about the technical language!) has developed into, what looks like, an ear of corn but is much smaller, a bit sad looking, with kernals missing and mis-shapen, and some dark in colour. It, obviously, has no sheath of leaves and looks most strange.. Do you mean that the cob developed without leaves on the outside of the cob? If so where did the tassel grow from? |
Sweetcorn and the Fluffy Bits
No Robert,
Sorry but the ears or cobs are fine - a better crop than ever and the cobs are bigger and better shaped than I've seen on my sweetcorn, ever before. It's one of those tassles at the very top that has grown deformed or, then again, has it? Is it that I have never noticed this before? Perhaps, they all go like that in time. I can't find any mention on the Internet or in books, however. It's not important because the crop is fine, as I say, but it is just very interesting and I'd love to find out what the strange 'ear' is! Thanks again, Regards, John "Robert (Plymouth)" remove my other hobby to reply wrote in message ... La Puce wrote: :: On 2 Sep, 11:59, "Mary Fisher" wrote: ::: I suggest it's uneven pollination. Sweetcorn is wind pollinated, it ::: was probably wet at the time pollination had to take place which ::: would stop the pollen blowing from the tassels onto the immature ::: seed. :: :: Off course Mary! That rain ... must have dampened the tassels and :: made polination almost impossible. That's why John found lots of :: 'ears' without a developed or crooked corn. Do you feed yours or not? Had some more of ours yesterday and they are delicious although many are only producing one cob instead of the usual two |
Sweetcorn and the Fluffy Bits
Thanks to all who answered my post, by the way. There are far more than I
expected and I'm bound to miss someone out! Regards, John "John Vanini" wrote in message ... I've noticed that on my sweetcorn one of the top fluffy bits (sorry about the technical language!) has developed into, what looks like, an ear of corn but is much smaller, a bit sad looking, with kernals missing and mis-shapen, and some dark in colour. It, obviously, has no sheath of leaves and looks most strange. snip |
Sweetcorn and the Fluffy Bits
"John Vanini" wrote... I've noticed that on my sweetcorn one of the top fluffy bits (sorry about the technical language!) has developed into, what looks like, an ear of corn but is much smaller, a bit sad looking, with kernals missing and mis-shapen, and some dark in colour. It, obviously, has no sheath of leaves and looks most strange.. I've never seen this happen before and, out of interest, wondered if anyone can tell me more about this peculiar ear. I believe the fluffy bits are, generally, known as 'tassels', by the way, but this, to me, is no more technical than fluffy bits! I don't intend to eat it as it looks most unappetising and even spread with butter its looks would not be improved! Just out of interest does anyone know what this is? It happens. All ours has been eaten by mice/rats, not one left and they were looking good too. -- Regards Bob Hobden 17mls W. of London.UK |
Sweetcorn and the Fluffy Bits
On 2 Sep, 16:18, "Bob Hobden" wrote:
It happens. All ours has been eaten by mice/rats, not one left and they were looking good too. Ever the philosopher hey Bob! Last year we had badgers scoffing the lot, I'm convinced they were badgers - sounds more exotic than rats ...! A friend brought hers indoor, in her kitchen about 1 month ago - she's from India and I thought she was mad. Well, she's just tasted her first cob - called it 'Wilson' because it looked like 'Wilson' in Casteway. I smiled, but I've no idea who's Wilson as I don't watch soaps and stuff like that ... Maybe you know LOL!! |
Sweetcorn and the Fluffy Bits
On 2 Sep, 17:20, Martin wrote:
Amazing - how lucky you are. How big is your plot in the Netherlands? 100 square metres gulp That's big. I usually mulch lots with om and comfrey - but I've been so busy this year. I'm wondering what type of soil you have to not bother given them a helping hand. Sand. What did you grown on that plot before putting in your corns? Horse muck was dug in last year. You grow horse poo - interesting. I suspect you've worked out your sand amount and your organic manure. It's quite a job to have done this on a 100sqm. And when I thought you were sitting behind a computer all day ;o) |
Sweetcorn and the Fluffy Bits
On 2/9/07 20:23, in article ,
"®óñ© © ²°¹°-°³" wrote: On Sun, 02 Sep 2007 09:40:42 -0700, La Puce wrote and included this (or some of this): On 2 Sep, 17:20, Martin wrote: Amazing - how lucky you are. How big is your plot in the Netherlands? 100 square metres gulp That's big. No it's not. It's 10 metres X 10 metres. Now a 100 metres square, that's big. That's 100 metres by 100 metres (10,000 square metres) Nobody would call me a mathematician but surely what you're saying is what the mistake is all about. "100 metres square" is what Martin has. "100 metres squareD" is scaringly largely, no? Yes? -- Sacha http://www.hillhousenursery.co.uk South Devon (remove weeds from address) 'We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.' |
Sweetcorn and the Fluffy Bits
"John Vanini" wrote in message
The tassels, as I've been told they're called, are those parts of the sweetcorn at the very top where pollination is carried out. They are what you see waving in the breeze, above the plant, long before the cobs form. The cobs themselves are much lower down and this year are probably the biggest and best I've ever grown! It's just that the tassels normally look like they always did but a bit bedraggled. This time one of them looks more like a deformed cob. I've only done what I normally do excpet that I did give them one feed of tomatoi fertiliser, which is what I saw in a gardening book. Ah sorry. Got confused by your earlier description which made no sense to me. I thought you might have been mixing the corn silk up wiht the tassel from what you wrote. Can't think of any reason why the tassel would look odd, ub tif the cobs were OK and you had good rates of cobs/plant, I wouldnt worry about it. "FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message ... "John Vanini" wrote in message I've noticed that on my sweetcorn one of the top fluffy bits (sorry about the technical language!) has developed into, what looks like, an ear of corn but is much smaller, a bit sad looking, with kernals missing and mis-shapen, and some dark in colour. It, obviously, has no sheath of leaves and looks most strange.. Do you mean that the cob developed without leaves on the outside of the cob? If so where did the tassel grow from? |
Sweetcorn and the Fluffy Bits
On 2 Sep, 23:31, Sacha wrote:
Nobody would call me a mathematician Nobody would dare, surely. but surely what you're saying is what the mistake is all about. "100 metres square" is what Martin has. "100 metres squareD" is scaringly largely, no? Yes? Yes! You're right - I kept that in mind and just got totally gobsmaked by the size. I just couldn't imagine Martin on an hectare of sweet corns. I just couldn't somehow g |
Sweetcorn and the Fluffy Bits
In reply to John Vanini ) who wrote this in
, I, Marvo, say : I've never seen this happen before and, out of interest, wondered if anyone can tell me more about this peculiar ear. I believe the fluffy bits are, generally, known as 'tassels', by the way, but this, to me, is no more technical than fluffy bits! I have always known it as the "silk". But it's probably no more right than "tassels" or "fluffy bits"! |
Sweetcorn and the Fluffy Bits
On 3 Sep, 11:35, Martin wrote:
You are French and you don't understand the meaning of 100 square metres? I had read it as 100msq - as Sacha correctly spotted. And now Martin, since I find your tone slightly patronising and find your sudden aggressive attitude towards me just a little too much, I'll just bid you a good time and will move on. Tara. |
Sweetcorn and the Fluffy Bits
Sorry, La Puce, I didn't answer your question.
I grew all my sweetcorn from seed in pots first and then planted out. I planted twenty five in a block 5 x 5. The soil on that part of my plot is the best soil anywhere on the allotment but I don't know why. That's how it was whn I got the plot. Most plots here have an abundance of flint stones (we suspect is was originally a Stone Age flint mine!) but there are hadly any on this part of mine. Over the past 2-3 years, I've dug plenty of well-rotted compost in and ged the bed with Growmore before I planted anything. I, then, fed it with tomato food, as I had read to do this in a gardening book. That's all I did but it seems to have worked! Regards, John "La Puce" wrote in message ups.com... On 2 Sep, 11:23, "John Vanini" wrote: I don't intend to eat it as it looks most unappetising and even spread with butter its looks would not be improved! LOL!! Just out of interest does anyone know what this is? It happened to me many times - last year I'd left about 10 cobs, looking just like the one you describe, to the 'beasts' visiting our allotment. This year our corn is not really looking good and I suspect we will have many tiny cobs - I blame all the rain and not enough sunshine but also lack of feed. In my case I didn't give enough nitrogen/potassium which the sweet corns benefit immensely from at the flowering stages, I went on holidays for too long ... and too often this year. Also I was late planting our corn this year, which didn't help. Did you straight sow or in pots first and then transplanted? And did you feed your sweet corns? |
Sweetcorn and the Fluffy Bits
Hi FarmI,
I'm not worried, just curious! I'll re-word that before the mockery starts! I am not. personally, curious, you understand, I'm just curious about the strange mini-cob among the perfectly normal tassels!! Regardsl, John "FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message ... "John Vanini" wrote in message The tassels, as I've been told they're called, are those parts of the sweetcorn at the very top where pollination is carried out. They are what you see waving in the breeze, above the plant, long before the cobs form. The cobs themselves are much lower down and this year are probably the biggest and best I've ever grown! It's just that the tassels normally look like they always did but a bit bedraggled. This time one of them looks more like a deformed cob. I've only done what I normally do excpet that I did give them one feed of tomatoi fertiliser, which is what I saw in a gardening book. Ah sorry. Got confused by your earlier description which made no sense to me. I thought you might have been mixing the corn silk up wiht the tassel from what you wrote. Can't think of any reason why the tassel would look odd, ub tif the cobs were OK and you had good rates of cobs/plant, I wouldnt worry about it. "FarmI" ask@itshall be given wrote in message ... "John Vanini" wrote in message I've noticed that on my sweetcorn one of the top fluffy bits (sorry about the technical language!) has developed into, what looks like, an ear of corn but is much smaller, a bit sad looking, with kernals missing and mis-shapen, and some dark in colour. It, obviously, has no sheath of leaves and looks most strange.. Do you mean that the cob developed without leaves on the outside of the cob? If so where did the tassel grow from? |
Sweetcorn and the Fluffy Bits
I know this! I know this! Because I've read it! Let me tell 'em! Let me tell
'em! 'Cos I've read this just a few days ago! 'Silk' is the fluffy bit at the end of a corn cob or an ear of corn. When this turns black or dark brown it's time to check whether the corn is ready to harvest or not. The fluffy bits, I'm talking about are at the top and do the pollination. Now, the pollination is not a dance based upon the music of Frederic Chopin - I point this out before anyone gets it wrong idea! Has any of you ever had the feeling that you've started something you wish you hadn't! Best regards to all, John "Uncle Marvo" wrote in message ... In reply to John Vanini ) who wrote this in , I, Marvo, say : I've never seen this happen before and, out of interest, wondered if anyone can tell me more about this peculiar ear. I believe the fluffy bits are, generally, known as 'tassels', by the way, but this, to me, is no more technical than fluffy bits! I have always known it as the "silk". But it's probably no more right than "tassels" or "fluffy bits"! |
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