- Germinate indoors (or in a greenhouse if it's mouse-proof) in April or May. Start taking the seedlings outdoors during the day for about a week to acclimatise before planting them out.
- Plant out in June (or after the chance of a frost has completely cleared) with plenty of organic matter.
- Plant in blocks of 4 rather than rows, to aid pollination.
- Give them plenty of water and use mulch to keep the roots cool and moist. Corn is shallow rooted, so keep them out of the wind by planting in a sheltered position, build up soil around the stem bases to keep them stable and avoid root disturbance.
- You might like to try the Three Sisters companion planting system, which was developed in Mexico and has been used by many Native American communities. In this technique, corn is planted close to beans and squash - and this is how these seeds were grown at Murray Edwards College last year. The corn provides the beans with structure to grow up, the beans provide the soil with nitrogen and the squash grows along the ground, preventing weed growth.
- Fiesta is an ornamental popcorn variety, but can also be used as a sweetcorn. It's best to plant it in a warm, sunny position so the kernels can fully ripen.
- When you've finished harvesting your corn, don't forget to keep some to save the seeds (more tips on this later in the year)!
More tips from the RHS, Gardeners' World and Real Seeds.
