My Tiny PlotMini-Sweetcorn
Oooh! Get me, growing Mini-Sweetcorn. I bought the seed as a bit of an afterthought really. I saw it for sale on a seed website and as I was buying some other things I threw it into the basket with a view to maybe having a go.
And this year I did! My normal sweetcorn came to nought (something ate the seedheads). But then, from nowhere, came the dark horse. The small, insignificant (in truth, half forgotten about) little seedlings from the Mini-Sweetcorn seeds started to romp. And boy did they grow. They ended up about a foot taller than my regular Sweetcorn.
In my mind I had expected some sort of miniature plant sporting miniature cobs. In reality, Mini-Sweetcorn turns out to be the same size as regular Sweetcorn with more cobs that are smaller but also longer and thinner than usual.
The difference comes when you open them up. Inside, you’ll find what looks like small, unpolinated corn. Infact this is Mini-Sweetcorn. Ready to eat and ever so slightly more buttery than the ones you buy in the shops. Coool.
There is a downside. The plants are, well, huge and I only managed to harvest two or possibly three cobs from each plant. That means a grand total of (drum roll please) 12 Mini-Sweetcorns. Yey!
Hang on…
So I dedicated a whole swathe of my tiny plot to growing err… 12 Mini-Sweetcorns. Right, okay. Well I’m glad I grew them at least once. Now I can say I’ve done it, I just won’t be doing it again.
Exactly the same happened to me last year. I used up a massive patch and harvested about three plants. Lovely to east but not really worth the effort or space!
It really puts into perspective the price you pay in the shops for mini corncobs! Worth knowing that they take up a lot of space – do you know why they suddenly grew when the others failed?
Interesting! I grew Tom Thumb this year, a mini variety of popcorn. It offered small plants with cute cobs easy to dry and tasty in the bowl. Maybe give that a shot?
My normal sweetcorn were rubbish this year, dry spring? Mini-sweetcorn look great!
It’s always good to try something new – like you say, at least you can say you’ve done it. Crops have to earn their space in my garden! Tick it off on the list and move onto the next one!!!! x
Hi ..I also had one mini sweetcorn . . grown to a scary height with just 2 cobs on it . Problem is it is smothered in greenfly which I vainly tried to wash off with soapy water to little effect. It is now covered in a horrible sticky substance . So although it would be interesting for school show n tell pics there,s no way it could be eaten . Any ideas on how to have avoided that would be gratefully received . It was grown indoors .
Oh we have them a lot here in indonesia. We call them baby corn. I like them
Hi Carolyn – lot’s of rain followed by sunny period probably. My normal sweetcorn grew tall but the seeds where eaten by something and so it never pollinated :(
Hi Gill, thanks for that info; I guess that the weather we should have had in April/May to get the first lot of sweetcorn growing! It’s all been a bit topsy turvy this year hasn’t it?
I figured the same, lot of effort, lot of space used, not much result. But the kids and the missus love them, so what choice. Wouldn’t mind if you could plant them close… oh well… but damp is right, they did better this year with it being dry than the normal corn. Normal corn made it to about 3-4 ft high rather than the usual 6-7, and the corn was mostly half length.
These are called baby corn here in India and they are becoming more popular by the season, although they are not widely available. Sold in packs of 250gms, usually, they are not available at markets and vendors in bushels/heaps.
We use them in a variety of ways, as a crunchy addition to salads, soups, and mixed veg dishes. Love their subtle flavour
lol nice post! :-)
I didn’t know that sweet corn grows in “bundles” either. Shame it grows to the same size as normal corn, since as you mention, it’s really not worth allocating space to it for such a small yield.
Another small plant I would like to try growing is baby carrot They’re expensive in our supermarket and they won’t take up nearly as much space as your mini corns, so I will be giving them a go next growing season.
Pavel.
Sorry to be pleased at your corn misfortune, but I am so relieved to read that it wasn’t only my cob harvest that was a complete wash out. Out of all my 9 plants a big fat none have survived. I have to say I was a little disappointed. I thought they’d be easy to grow, as when I was a child they seemed to blossom on my parents patch. I think cobs are off the veggie patch plan for next year.
Hi just to let you kmow of a tip I saw here on gardening australia. When your corn is finished dont pull out the stalks instead strip them of leaves and use them as stakes to support a fresh crop of peas.
regards, genny