popcorn- need help!

Loncey · Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 6:00 pm Post subject: popcorn- need help!

I have no idea if or when my popcorn is ready. it looks nothing like the pictures on the packet. when i peel it from the sheath it is very small and when i put it in microwave nothing popped. i dont know if im too late or still a bit early. any help is good. please. i posted about the popcorn before...

verge · Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 11:40 am Post subject: Re: popcorn- need help!

Loncey · Posted: Wed Nov 12, 2008 7:58 pm Post subject:

unfortunately no pics, but it looks nuthn like the pic on the packet. and they are small and i dont see any kernels on them. i dont know what to do with them. leave it with me and ill try and sort out a photo or so but it will take me awhile Very Happy

Loncey · Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 1:19 pm Post subject:

this is the best i can do in the photos. first one is how they were on the plant and the second is after everything is peeled away. im lost what to do with them.

walltoall

Loncey
You are doing nothing wrong. Just keep trying and some day you'll pop a few. Do you know that to pop it has to be bone dry? If you mike it off the plant you'll only cook it. And it will taste awful, the moisture in the cob turns rapidly to steam, breaks down the cell walls, but it does not pop so much as 'sizzles'.

Maize needs on avarage about six hours sun per day every day of the growing period. Cobs should be at least nine inches long about mid-August cause from then on you are losing sunlight every day that passes! In Achill you are pushing the northernmost limits of the maize growing area to extremes.

However if you have a floor to ceiling window, (or a glasshouse) you can grow single specimens in large pots. The plant should be six foot tall mimimum to produce any worthwhile cobs. You need to have special "daylight bulbs" to switch on every morning from dawn for about four hours. The light enable photosynthesis and the warmth saves plant energy. You need to feed a little nitrogen early on, potassium once the stalk starts climbing and a bit of potash in June. There's a fair amount of maize grown around here but we are at 51.5 degrees north. Most of the maize in this country grows to the south of that line. Most of the maize in the US is south of 48North.

Here's a quote from the Irish Dept Ag.regarding Maize Growing in Ireland

"Forage maize grows best in areas of Ireland with a long growing season, freedom from late spring frosts and early winter frosts, high overall temperatures and maximum sunlight. Fields chosen for maize production should be south facing where possible in order to maximise sunlight and temperatures over the growing season. Elevated and exposed sites are generally unsuitable. Maize needs good soil and is not tolerant of soil compaction, so care must be taken to avoid this problem. Very light sandy soils will give reduced yields. Growing on very heavy clay soils, particularly if they have underlying poor drainage, can delay sowing date and make harvesting difficult as well as causing damage to the soil structure."

Loncey · Posted: Sat Nov 15, 2008 3:50 pm Post subject:

well i have had to pick them all off the plants as the plants are now dead and i am drying them out now in a box. not one of them popped any corn for me. i have alot of cobs but am thinking they will go to waste cos they sure arent popping!!!

rathfuadagh · Hazel Tree Joined: 10 Oct 2008 Posts: 19 Location: tulsk

Hi Loncey ,

I have grown aztec black and multi coloured corn before but never for poping,
Anyway I do know that your cobs are under ripe .
When did you sow them and when did you harvest them ?
As corn needs 100 days of frost free weather.
You could always boil them and eat them asbaby corns.

I saw this on a website somewhere and thougt of you hope it helps.

When is it ready to harvest?

For popcorn to pop fully, it must contain the right amount of moisture. If it's too dry or too wet, it either won't pop at all or kernels open only part way.

Harvesting at the right time helps ensure the right moisture content. Let ears dry on the stalks, then pick them when stalks and husks are completely brown and kernels are hard. If you expect hard frosts or extended rain, you may have to harvest before the stalks dry. As long as husks have turned brown, you can harvest the ears and finish drying them off the stalk. To determine if ears are mature, pull open a husk and poke a kernel with your fingernail. If it doesn't make a dent, the corn is ready.

After picking, husk and hang the ears in a perforated or loosely woven sack that allows good air circulation. Or spread them out in the garage and turn them periodically until ready (one to four weeks, depending on kernels' original moisture).

When kernels push off the cob easily,they're ready for poping(to be sure, try popping a few kernels first).

Loncey · Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 9:02 pm Post subject:

thanks but they have gone to the birds as i think they were past their time. the weather was crap for them anyhow. feck it anyway,this year has been a failure for me... my tomatoes got a disease,my lettuce just didnt bother,my rainbow carrots laughed at me and did nuthn and my popcorn didnt pop. Crying or Very sad

all i got was my strawberries which was a huge success

walltoall · Posted: Wed Nov 19, 2008 10:25 pm Post subject: Chin up laddie

We all of us had disasters to report this year Loncey. It was mainly due to the tiny amounts of sunlight that fell on the British Isles between April and September and the massive amounts of rain which flooded everywhere as well. Everyone is reporting in their own disaster. Mine was to lose over 200 figs from a plant I have been nurturing for five years. There are still 150 of them on the tree (each one about the size of my thumb) and all the leaves have fallen so you can't miss them. As they rot, I will be picking them off one by one and dumping them in the compost. Chin up young gardener. This is what gardening is about. It is a steep and often cruel learning curve where only the toughest [gardeners] survive. In years to come, you will actually thank the year it all went wrong. One day you WILL be a great gardener. Just pick yourself up, dust yourself down and start over right now with next years cabbage.

Loncey · Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 4:43 pm Post subject:

i am starting on my winter lettuce on saturday. dont think ill grow anything cept my strawberries and carrots... no more popcorn!!!!! thanks i love growing stuff even if i dont eat any of them

Loncey · Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 4:44 pm Post subject:

i am starting on my winter lettuce on saturday. dont think ill grow anything cept my strawberries and carrots... no more popcorn!!!!! thanks i love growing stuff even if i dont eat any of them

Loncey · Posted: Thu Nov 20, 2008 4:44 pm Post subject:

i am starting on my winter lettuce on saturday. dont think ill grow anything cept my strawberries and carrots... no more popcorn!!!!! thanks i love growing stuff even if i dont eat any of them

rathfuadagh · Hazel Tree Joined: 10 Oct 2008 Posts: 19 Location: tulsk

Hi,
At least you had some strawberries I had to share mine with the slugs so you must have a magic touch or a slug free garden .

Good luck with the winter lettuce.

I am going to sow some leeks,parsnips and carrots in pots bit risky but hey ho.

Loncey · Posted: Sat Nov 22, 2008 9:23 pm Post subject:

you should put plastic forks under the berries and the slugs cant get them. i did have a few casualties but thats to be expected i guess. i found that tip on the net somewhere and it worked... hope this lot of lettuce grows better than the last 2 lots... cheers

rathfuadagh · Hazel Tree Joined: 10 Oct 2008 Posts: 19 Location: tulsk

Hi Loncey,

What exactly do I do with the forks? Do I prop up the strawberries?