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Worthing
and District Allotments and Gardens Association
Affiliated to the Royal Horticultural Society and the National
Vegetable Society
Growing for Showing

Most of us enjoy our gardening, be it flowers and
shrubs or edible crops, without ever feeling the need to display
the fruits of our labours to anyone except a few friends but there
are others for whom showing can become a bit of a passion once
they have been bitten by the bug and picked up that first red
card.
This page is for all you growers who would like
to give it a go. You may not feel you are good enough but bear
in mind everyone has to start somewhere. You may feel you wouldn't
know where to begin but once again the tips on this page will
get you off to a good start and once you meet a few other exhibitors
you'll discover what a friendly helpful bunch most of them are,
only too willing to pass on their tips and experience.
Much of the advice in these features comes from
our own Association showman, Peter Webb, who has picked up trophies
all over the place so you can rely on what he says. Once you've
done your first show it's hard to stop. Go on, give it a go!
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Just
like your crops this page is continually growing
Click
on the category of your choice
GENERAL
Remember: when it comes to showing, uniformity and quality
are more important than size although there are some exceptions here:
longest runner bean, heaviest marrow,etc. For an up-to-date show schedule
click here.
CARROTS

Disfigured, maggoty, muddy, stunted carrots - does that
ring a bell with your experience of growing carrots? That was certainly
my experience a lot of the time whilst growing carrots at the allotment,
which I found frustrating to say the least. But growing carrots for show
can be extremely rewarding.
For me there is no reward that can replace the sheer joy
of pulling a near perfect specimen carrot from a bin or container with
good colour accompanied by good length in proportion to its weight. Equally
I have had some depressing times, struggling to pull what I would call
any decent carrots, but they still taste good. Which reminds me - it is
a total fallacy that you cannot eat show vegetables.
Early April is the time to be thinking about sowing carrot
seed. I grow my carrots in containers (large plastic drums 4ft high).
Others grow theirs in 4 or 6 inch drain pipes (3 or 4ft long). Both can
be effective and sometimes I try both. You will need some good quality
sieved soil, preferably sterilised but I have had some good results from
using soil from the allotment (1 bucket), Moss peat (2 buckets) and horticultural
or silver sand (1 bucket). The fertiliser elements are Superphosphate
(50g), Sulphate of Potash (50g), Lime (100g) and Calcified seaweed (50g).
To achieve good results you need to pass all the soil and
peat through a quarter of an inch sieve, and the fertilisers through a
finer mesh such as a kitchen sieve, but don't tell my wife! All of the
soil, peat, sand and fertiliser is thoroughly mixed together and then
put into the containers, and allowed to settle prior to sowing, which
normally takes place during March or early April.
Growing carrots in containers is no different from growing
them in open ground. Make small drills in the growing medium about half
an inch deep, thinly sow the carrot seed along the drills, fill in the
drills and water using a watering can with a fine rose. The carrot seed
takes about 7/10 days to germinate. After the carrots have germinated
and are about 25mm tall start the thinning process. Remember: if growing
for showing then you need to allow a lot more space between each carrot.
The varieties best for showing are Sweet Candle (stump)
and Javelot (Long). But the above method can be used for most varieties,
and there are many to choose from.
If you are looking at planting carrots in large amounts
then the above is probably not for you. But if you have only a small area
to grow vegetables, then carrots are great for growing in containers.
In large round pots you can harvest between 30-40 carrots and in the larger
square and rectangular plant containers you can produce many more. I have
an old bath tub on my allotment which I have grown carrots in so any type
of container will do - so why not have a go?
Peter Webb
POTATOES

Ideally you will require a 17 litre 12 inch polythene pot
or an equivalent container of similar proportions with good drainage holes.
The best growing medium is Shamrock Peat to which 4 ounces
of both Vitax Q4 fertilizer and calcified seaweed should be added per
17 litre pot. Fill the container to a depth of 3 to 4 inches and plant
one seed potato in each pot. Ideally the seed potato should be the size
of a duck egg and each seed potato should have no more than 2 to 3 shoots.
It is important to remove or rub off any excess shoots. Fill each pot
or container to within 1 inch of the rim.
Dig over the ground the container is to stand on; fork in
potato fertilizer at 3 to 4 ounces per square yard. Dig out a trench 3
to 4 inches deep to suit the container base, set the container in the
trench and spread around a few slug pellets.
Once the potatoes show strong growth feed weekly with Maxicrop.
Water if necessary between feeds if signs of drying out appear. In summer
it is worth considering spraying every two weeks with Dithane 945 against
blight. Introduce 4 foot canes adjacent to the pot or container to which
to tie the haulms. At 14 to 16 weeks after planting cut the haulms down
to ground level and leave the potatoes in situ for 10 days for skins to
harden. Remove potatoes carefully from the soil taking care not to damage
skin. Wash in cold water, dry and grade for size; ideally what you are
seeking is five potatoes of equal size and shape and about 8 ounces in
weight. Wrap in tissue paper and store in a cool dark place ready for
the show.
The varieties best for showing are WINSTON (white) and KESTREL
(coloured).
Peter Webb
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