Sweet Corn

Question

I bought sweet corn seed for market. My stalks are already producing corn but the corn is not sweet. The company says it’s sweet, but once you bite it, the corn is just plain. They told my husband that with one more irrigation the corn will be sweet. I don’t think that is possible or is it? Is there any way that if you planted sweet corn seeds that your corn will not come out sweet? They said that that is the only seed they sold that didn’t come out sweet. I think that the company that sold it to us should know what they sell; what do you guys think? I think that the person who took the order for my husband did this on purpose because he has some sort of anger towards him and didn’t even tell the company what had happened until my husband went and told them.

Answer 1

It could be bad seed like you suggest. Or, this could be a case of cross-pollination of your sweet corn with a non-sweet variety growing nearby. If there are farmers nearby growing other varieties, pollen from those varieties could have drifted over and caused most of your kernels to be less sweet than they should.

https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/vgen/cross-pollination.htm
https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/edible/vegetables/corn/corn-pollination-how-to-hand-pollinate-corn.htm

This article talks about mingling of GMO and non-GMO corn pollen, but this can also happen with any variety:

https://www.agry.purdue.edu/ext/corn/news/articles.00/gmo_issues-000307.html