I've just bought a tray of 6 spinach plants and a tray of 6 Early Gold sweet
corn.

I don't really have much space in the ground for vegetables, but the trays
were only 80p each so I thought what the heck, it's worth a try.

Anyway, can spinach be planted in grow bags or in pots?

And what about sweet corn? I don't imagine sweet corn can be grown in grow
bags or large pots --- or can they? And can corn be grown outside in the
Manchester area or are they greenhouse plants?

Any hints or tips from anyone who has grown spinach or corn would be greatly
appreciated.

Many thanks.

In article ,
Adrian Jones wrote:
I've just bought a tray of 6 spinach plants and a tray of 6 Early Gold sweet
corn.

I don't really have much space in the ground for vegetables, but the trays
were only 80p each so I thought what the heck, it's worth a try.

Anyway, can spinach be planted in grow bags or in pots?

Almost certainly. With spinach, the key is to never let it get
anywhere near dry. It does better in cool conditions, and weak
sunlight, or it tends to run to seed.

And what about sweet corn? I don't imagine sweet corn can be grown in grow
bags or large pots --- or can they? And can corn be grown outside in the
Manchester area or are they greenhouse plants?

I don't see why not. And they can be grown outside, just. They need
as much heat and light as you can get them, and are drought-resistant
when established (at least in the ground).

Any hints or tips from anyone who has grown spinach or corn would be greatly
appreciated.

With 6 sweetcorn plants, hand pollinate them. Shake some pollen from
the tassles at the top onto the silk of the neighbouring cobs. They
are naturally wind-pollinated, and should be grown in large blocks,
not rows. But 3x2 won't help much, hence manual intervention :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I've just bought a tray of 6 spinach plants and a tray of 6 Early Gold
sweet
corn.

I don't really have much space in the ground for vegetables, but the trays
were only 80p each so I thought what the heck, it's worth a try.

Anyway, can spinach be planted in grow bags or in pots?

And what about sweet corn? I don't imagine sweet corn can be grown in
grow
bags or large pots --- or can they? And can corn be grown outside in the
Manchester area or are they greenhouse plants?

Any hints or tips from anyone who has grown spinach or corn would be
greatly
appreciated.

Many thanks.


Spinach I grow every year in the vegetable plot. Not tried it in pots but I
guess it should be ok provided they are big enough. I'd say an 8 inch pot
minimum per plant would be about right. They like plenty of water and feed
such as Miracle Grow.

Sweetcorn I also grow outside in the veg plot, but this year I'm short of
space so am trying containers also. The containers are quite large (60+
litres each) with three plants per container. The containers are against a
South facing wall so should get enough sun and be warm. Sweetcorn grows
fairly tall - about 8 feet high in my garden in the Midlands, and needs
plenty of watering - so bear this in mind with your choice of container -
avoid one that would restrict root growth, blow over in the wind or simply
dry up on a sunny day.

--
Drakanthus.


(Spam filter: Include the word VB anywhere in the subject line or emails
will never reach me.)

On Sat, 17 May 2003 15:42:16 +0100, "Drakanthus"
wrote:

I've just bought a tray of 6 spinach plants and a tray of 6 Early Gold
sweet
corn.

And what about sweet corn? I don't imagine sweet corn can be grown in
grow
bags or large pots --- or can they? And can corn be grown outside in the
Manchester area or are they greenhouse plants?

I think it depends on the variety. I have grown 'Sundance'
successfully several times in Manchester but it is said to be
particularly suitable for northern areas (I even got decent crops from
the ones I sowed direct in the soil to fill gaps). This year I am
trying 'Incredible' - no real reason for the change, it's just what
they had in the shop. I think I have read since buying the seeds that
'Incredible' requires a long growing season, so here's to a long and
sunny autumn!

Any hints or tips from anyone who has grown spinach or corn would be
greatly

I have never had much success with spinach but I am trying again this
year.

Sweetcorn I also grow outside in the veg plot, but this year I'm short of
space so am trying containers also. The containers are quite large (60+
litres each) with three plants per container. The containers are against a
South facing wall so should get enough sun and be warm. Sweetcorn grows
fairly tall - about 8 feet high in my garden in the Midlands, and needs
plenty of watering - so bear this in mind with your choice of container -
avoid one that would restrict root growth, blow over in the wind or simply
dry up on a sunny day.

The height of sweetcorn depends on the variety. Sundance is only
about 5ft high and I've seen other types on our allotment site that
are even shorter so don't panic if yours don't look like reaching 8ft!
I think that maize (varieties of corn grown for animal feed or
processing) tends to grow taller and is grown as far north as
Manchester (there is a farm at Dunham, near Manchester, that grew a
maize maze last year and is doing the same again this year).

Also, protect the cobs as they ripen by netting the whole block of
plants or by putting plastic bottles with one end cut off over each
cob, or the birds will beat you to the ripe ones! You can grow other
crops between the sweetcorn plants to make the most of the space that
you have. I have successfully grown french beans this way but haven't
tried any of the other crops that I've seen recommended, such as
pumpkins, spinach, lettuce, etc.
--
Stuart Baldwin
news\at/boxatrix\dot/co\dot/uk

You can grow other
crops between the sweetcorn plants to make the most of the space that
you have. I have successfully grown french beans this way but haven't
tried any of the other crops that I've seen recommended, such as
pumpkins, spinach, lettuce, etc.
--
Stuart Baldwin


That sounds like a good idea. I'm always desperate for space. At the moment
we are eating cabbages every day to make room to plant the sweetcorn, which
are all in 6" pots on the yard at the moment. I'll try growing some spinach
between the sweetcorn this year.
--
Drakanthus.


(Spam filter: Include the word VB anywhere in the subject line or emails
will never reach me.)

On Sun, 18 May 2003 09:43:07 +0100, "Drakanthus"
wrote:

~ You can grow other
~ crops between the sweetcorn plants to make the most of the space that
~ you have. I have successfully grown french beans this way but haven't
~ tried any of the other crops that I've seen recommended, such as
~ pumpkins, spinach, lettuce, etc.
~ --
~ Stuart Baldwin
~
~
~That sounds like a good idea. I'm always desperate for space. At the moment
~we are eating cabbages every day to make room to plant the sweetcorn, which
~are all in 6" pots on the yard at the moment. I'll try growing some spinach
~between the sweetcorn this year.

There's an old Native American technique called three sisters: They would
grow the corn, train nitrogen-fixing climbing beans up them (special
varieties which don't mind the extra shade and are picked dry: try
VidaVerde, who have some of these cornfield beans
http://www.vidaverde.co.uk/frenchbeans.html and see note at bottom) and
grew trailing squashes underneath as a mulch and for winter food. Putting
"three sisters corn squash bean" into Google will throw up a lot of pages.

I'm hoping to try a two sisters approach, simply cos I can't work out where
else to plant my trailing marrows and my beans are conventional full-sun
climbers (Cobra and Enorma). They are going to share canes with the sweet
peas for extra bee attraction. :-)

On the sweetcorn side, last year I grew minipop cos I love mini sweetcorn
and I got about 60% germination of the seed inside the conservatory. This
year, after getting a £10 heated propagator from B&Q (same as the £16 one
but without the seed trays and capillary matting so much better value!) and
some roottrainers, I've got 100% germination with Ovation (supersweet) and
in the three (!) days since I planted the Minipop, 7/12 appeared over last
night. So I definitely recommend bottom heat!


--
jane

Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone,
you may still exist but you have ceased to live.
Mark Twain

Please remove nospam from replies, thanks!

In article ,
jane wrote:

I'm hoping to try a two sisters approach, simply cos I can't work out where
else to plant my trailing marrows and my beans are conventional full-sun
climbers (Cobra and Enorma). They are going to share canes with the sweet
peas for extra bee attraction. :-)

This is very common in hotter climes. The sweetcorn like their
roots kept cool, and the squash like a bit of shade. In the UK, of
course, those requirements don't apply :-(

But it does help with space ....


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

On Sun, 18 May 2003 10:25:03 +0000 (UTC),
(jane) wrote:

On the sweetcorn side, last year I grew minipop cos I love mini sweetcorn
and I got about 60% germination of the seed inside the conservatory. This
year, after getting a £10 heated propagator from B&Q (same as the £16 one
but without the seed trays and capillary matting so much better value!) and
some roottrainers, I've got 100% germination with Ovation (supersweet) and
in the three (!) days since I planted the Minipop, 7/12 appeared over last
night. So I definitely recommend bottom heat!

I sowed 52 seeds of 'incredible' indoors in toilet roll tubes with no
extra heat and got 100% germination. A couple are a bit weedy though
and may not end up being planted out if I'm short of space.

There's a bit of mould on the outside of the cardboard tubes but I'm
assuming that this is not going to cause any problems (not much I can
do about it anyway!).
--
Stuart Baldwin
news\at/boxatrix\dot/co\dot/uk

In article ,
() wrote:

You can grow other
crops between the sweetcorn plants to make the most of the space

I'm planning to transplant my mussleborough leeks in between the sweet
corn. I'm growing "blue jade" sweet corn,

Steve Harris - Cheltenham - Real address steve AT netservs DOT com

In article , says...

In article ,
Adrian Jones wrote:
I've just bought a tray of 6 spinach plants and a tray of 6 Early Gold sweet
corn.

I don't really have much space in the ground for vegetables, but the trays
were only 80p each so I thought what the heck, it's worth a try.

Anyway, can spinach be planted in grow bags or in pots?

Almost certainly. With spinach, the key is to never let it get
anywhere near dry. It does better in cool conditions, and weak
sunlight, or it tends to run to seed.

And what about sweet corn? I don't imagine sweet corn can be grown in grow
bags or large pots --- or can they? And can corn be grown outside in the
Manchester area or are they greenhouse plants?

I don't see why not. And they can be grown outside, just. They need
as much heat and light as you can get them, and are drought-resistant
when established (at least in the ground).

Any hints or tips from anyone who has grown spinach or corn would be greatly
appreciated.

With 6 sweetcorn plants, hand pollinate them. Shake some pollen from
the tassles at the top onto the silk of the neighbouring cobs. They
are naturally wind-pollinated, and should be grown in large blocks,
not rows. But 3x2 won't help much, hence manual intervention :-)


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

I had no problem with four plants last year without hand pollination.
--
Jonathan Ward
Remove the 'X' when replying

In article ,
(Jonathan Ward) writes:
|
| I had no problem with four plants last year without hand pollination.

That happens. You were lucky. Given another year, you might get
nothing, or useful cobs only on two plants.


Regards,
Nick Maclaren.

The message
from (Steve Harris) contains these words:

In article ,
() wrote:

You can grow other
crops between the sweetcorn plants to make the most of the space

I'm planning to transplant my mussleborough leeks in between the sweet
corn. I'm growing "blue jade" sweet corn,

I've tried variations of "3 sisters" (in Scotland) a couple of times
and as Nick says, it just doesn't work because of the differences
between UK and USA climate and growing season. "Northern", short-season
breeds of sweetcorn tend to be too short to support runnerbeans
adequately, to the detriment of both; and squash need all the sun and
light they can get. Even courgettes don't like any competition for
light/sun, and tend to make more leaf and less flowers.
I have successfully underplanted sweetcorn with low level short-term
catch crops such as lettuce and rocket, which are harvested well before
the sweetcorn starts fruiting, or do I mean seeding.At cob-forming
stage, UK sweetcorn need light, sun, and fresh air circulating; I
reduce the cobs to two per plant to ensure ripening and as they start to
fatten up, drastically reduce the plant's top leaves.I think you'll find
leeks are a hindrance to cob-ripening.

Janet.