SWEETCORN / MEALIES

Zea mays

Sweetcorn is a warm season crop and should only be sown when the weather has warmed up sufficiently. The plants
“tassel” at the top is the plant’s mail flower, and the “silks” lower down are the female flowers. The plants are wind
pollinated, and in prolonged wet weather, there are often unfilled cobs because of poor pollination.

SOIL
They require full sun, and clean fertile soil of good depth. A side dressing of balanced organic fertilizer of 2:3:2
proportions at the rate of 60 – 75 g per m sq should be adequate. Add compost is always beneficial.

PROPAGATION
Sow the seed direct from September to December. October and November are the best months for sowing.
Sow seeds 25 to 30 cm apart in the row, and space the rows 60 to 70 cm apart. Sowing depth is 4 cm. for better
pollination, try and have the patch in a square formation as much as possible. (If you have 100 seeds, plant 10 rows,
with 10 plants in each, rather than 2 long rows of 50)

Try and plant the crop to run north/south, to minimize the shading on the other vegetables.

GENERAL CARE
Carefully remove all weeds next to the seedlings. Hoe carefully between the rows. When the plants are knee high, and
again 2 weeks later, apply an organic side dressing with a relatively high nitrogen. A poultry manure product will be
great, or very well decomposed poultry manure. (the chemical alternative is LAN – Limestone ammonium Nitrate) For
the truly organic garden, only use the poultry manure, or sheep manure, mixed with loads of compost. Compost can
never burn your plants.
After each dressing, it is a good idea to draw up soil around the stems of the plants, as it provides them with a little wind
protection.
Keep the soil well mulched

HARVESTION
The cobs should be picked when the kernels are plump, but sill milky when pierced with the thumb nail. The silks are
usually withered and dry. Most plants take 2 1/5 months to 3 months from sowing to harvest. Remove the cobs with a
sharp downward twisting pull. Harvest and eat on the same day.

TROUBLE SHOOTING
Pests
Cutworms, - they come out at night and eat the young plants stem. For the non-organic garden, use cut worm
baits, as it only target the cutworms. Inspect the area every morning, and remove all dead cutworms. Better still
use the alternative organic method: Put collars made of paper, cardboard, or plastic around transplant stems at
planting. Collars should be 3 or 4 inches tall; push collars into soil until about half of the collar is below soil level.
COMPANION PLANTING
Plant any legume next to the plants. Many people have great success planting a runner bean next to the maize,
once the maize is knee high. The maize provides the bean with something to climb, and the bean fixes nitrogen to
the soil for the maizes growth.

Nasturtiums are excellent companion plants.