IRIS – Sweetcorn Seeds

If you haven’t eaten a steaming hot corn on the cob on a beautiful rainy day, you are missing out on a happy experience. In addition to being a treat to your taste buds, sweetcorn is also rich in essential vitamins, minerals, antioxidants and is a great source of fibre as well.

Sowing

• • Sweetcorn seeds can be sown throughout the year.
  • Sweetcorn seeds can be sown directly in raised beds, or in containers.
  • Choose a container with minimum depth of 8-12 inches and width according to space available.Make sure that the container of your choice has uniform drainage holes at the bottom.
  • Fill your container with proper potting layers and selected growing medium.
  • Ideal sowing medium to grow sweetcorn seeds is 2 part garden soil & 1 part any organic manure or 1 part garden soil, 1 part coco peat & 1 part Vermicompost.
  • Plant 2 seeds per spot at a distance of 3 x 3 inches.
  • Push the seeds inside the medium with your finger and cover them completely with surrounding soil.
  • Water the sown seed bed immediately by a light shower using a watering can.

Caring

• • Sweetcorn seeds will germinate within the first 6 – 8 days.
  • Tiny seedlings will be visible at this point.
  • After the second week, cut off the smaller. lagging seedlings with a pair of scissors & keep only one seedling per hole.
  • Sweetcorn needs full sunlight. Make your raised beds in a bright sunny spot and keep the Sweet Corn container under open sunlight.
  • Water your potted Sweet Corn plant every day in summer & every alternate day in winter. Water near the soil in the form of a light shower using a watering can. For your raised beds you can use a drip irrigation system.
  • Add good quality organic manure in the soil with 2:1 ratio before sowing seeds. Organic fertilizer can be well rotten cow dung manure, farmyard manure, compost or vermicompost.
  • When the sweetcorn plant is more than 60 days old, Provide 1 tablespoon of 15:15:15 (NPK) fertilizer per plant or mix handful of Vermicompost in the soil around each plant.
  • Check for early signs of any insect/fungal/ any other infections. If you notice any such symptoms, spray your plant with appropriate medicines.
  • By the third month, your sweetcorn/maize plant will start flowering.
  • Maize cobs can be harvested after 80-90 days from seed sowing.
  • Note: Male flowers are formed on Top & female flowers are formed on plant at axis of leave. Maize cobs are formed on female flowers only after successful wind pollination.

What you get

Corn is packed with fibre, minerals and vitamins. It is high in complex carbohydrates but low in protein and fats. Sweetcorn is rich in vitamin C, B vitamins, magnesium and potassium. Sweetcorn also contains a number of essential antioxidants and plant compound which offer a number of health benefits.