Sweet Corn Seeds

Sweet corn (F1 hybrid) is a variation of corn grown mainly for fresh consumption.

Sweetcorn seeds in our webshop: sweetcorn golden bantam and the sweet corn seeds F1 hybrid. One more organic variant: Organic sweet corn seeds golden bantam

Seeds for extra sweet corn

A distinction can be made between extra sweet and normally sweet sweet corn. Normally sweet sweet sweet corn has a relatively low sugar content and is little cultivated in the Netherlands. Because the conversion of sugar into starch is genetically blocked, extra sweet sweet sweet sweet corn can contain up to 20% sugar and therefore has very little starch.

The genetic blockade of extra sweet maize is based on the gene shrunken-2. In the case of normally sweet maize it is the sugary-1 gene. Both genes are recessive. In silage maize these two genes occur dominantly. In normal sweetcorn the shrunken-2 gene is dominant and in extra sweet sweet sweet sweet maize the suggestary-1 gene is dominant. That is why extra sweet maize, normal sweet maize and silage maize should not be in the vicinity of each other, because otherwise cross-pollination will remove the blockage from sugar to starch.

The seed of extra sweet corn can be recognized by the strongly shrivelled (shunted) grains. For the amateur gardener the varieties 'Tasty sweet' and 'Early Extra' are for sale. The latter variety is earlier ripe than first mentioned.

There are also extra sweet varieties with a soft grain that have been developed in the U.S., which can even be eaten raw. This is because the outer layer (pericarp) of these grains remains soft.
These breeds are the so-called multisweet breeds. A common misconception is that sweetcorn is thought to be genetically modified. However, this is not the case. There is only one variety that has been genetically modified, but this is not permitted in Europe. However, there is also no need to grow this variety, because the disease to which it is resistant does not exist in Europe.
Harvesting of outdoor crops in the Netherlands starts at the end of July and continues until mid-October.