Articles About Growing & Showing Vegetables from Medwyn Williams MBE FNVS Chairman of the National Vegetable Society - 1998

These articles were originally published in 1998

Ten-times Chelsea gold medal winner Medwyn Williams is an expert vegetable grower with decades of experience. He has kindly allowed the National Vegetable Society to re-publish them.

The individual article links will open a new window with the article on the NVS web site.

Artificial Lighting and Leeks from 7th January

For the first time ever I have different varieties of blanch leeks growing away under lights in my propagating unit and they are all doing very well at the moment. They are still receiving artificial lighting for 24 hours a day currently, but this will have to be reduced to 16 hours from the end of January onwards as I need to grow the onions inside the same growing cabinet this year.

Growing onions for the under eight ounce class or 250 grams class from 14th January

Growing onions for the under eight ounce class, or is it the 250 gram class?, is the first vegetable seed that I sow in the new year and I always try and make a point of having them sown around the middle of January. The reason for sowing so early is to make sure that they harvest in plenty of time to enable the onion to achieve it’s optimum skin condition.

Soil Analysis - Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium from 21st January

All plants require the following major or macro nutrients to be freely available in the soil and ready to be absorbed them, Nitrogen, Phosphorous and Potassium which are commonly known as the NPK. The minor or micro nutrients are also important in much smaller degrees and the need therefore to have your soil analysed is vitally important.

Howling Gales and Power Failures from 28th January

We really took a chance to venture out with the howling gale around us, but what do you do when you have a greenhouse full of leek plants for customers and a stubborn Guardsman of a son who was determined to save the day. The following morning the damage all round was extensive with one of my large polytunnels having it's anchor bolts bursting through the brickwork which should have held the wooden timber side structures firmly in position.

Large Exhibition Onions - Pests, Mixture, Form from 4th February

The large exhibition onion plants are now in 3" pots and really motoring away and very shortly they will have to be potted on into 5" square pots. The potting mixture that I used at the 3" stage was the same mix exactly as last year and it really did produce some excellent quality plants. The best onion shape is only arrived at through thorough preparation care, keeping the plant bolt upright will ensure that your harvested onions will have perfect form. Two pests in particular can destroy the onions- Red Spider Mite and Thrips. Regular spraying using Polysect at double strength dose as recommended by the makers should help to make sure that these pests are kept under control.

Peppers and Egg plants from 11th February

Two vegetables that deserve to be listed in many more show schedules than they are now are the Capsicums and the Aubergines or the Peppers and the Egg plants as they are probably more commonly known. They are not the easiest of vegetables to grow to perfection and both of them are very prone to attacks of white fly and once this dreaded little pest takes a hold, it can be extremely difficult to eradicate.

Vegetables - Celery & Parsnips from 18th February

Of all the 20 pointed vegetables, Celery must surely be one of the most difficult to grow to perfection as it can completely let you down at the very last minute through having heart rot. Next week I intend to sow my parsnips, this is about a week earlier than I normally sow them, so, if you want to follow my way and my mixture, then prepare now to have some soil brought in to dry so that you can sieve it all through a ¼" sieve.

Avoiding Malformed Shallots from 4th March

There's no doubt that the eventual shape of the shallot is dependant on when the plant was harvested, the important thing being that it should not have started any secondary growth. Once the secondary growth commences the shallot will most definitely grow out of shape and this can continue even after you have harvested them.

Exhibition Quality Potatoes in Polythene Pots from 11th March

Once the pots are filled they are placed side by side into a furrow or trench the width of the pot and about a spit deep, the soil from the row is piled up on either side of the trench to be eventually pushed back around the pots to anchor them in position. Prior to positioning the pots, the bottom of the trench is forked over and 4 ounces per metre length of potato fertiliser is incorporated into the top few inches an a good scattering of slug pellets.

Exhibition Long Carrots from 18th March

To get top quality exhibition long carrots for the August shows they have to be sown before the end of March as they need a long growing season to achieve their potential. They can of course be sown later if you have shows that run from around the middle of September through to October.

Exhibition Onions and Tomato Seedlings from 25th March

Onions - All my beds have been built up using concrete blocks to a height of around 600mm, this means that the soil is very free draining and also warms up relatively fast so that with the aid of the soil warming cables, it soon reaches the required temperature. Tomato Seedlings - My Tomato seedlings are now ready for transplanting, they were sown earlier this month in small trays filled with Levington F2 and the two varieties that I’m growing this year are my own introductions in my seed catalogue.

This Year's Two Types of Blanch Leeks from 1st April

I am growing two types of blanch leeks this year in the three long beds in the bottom polytunnel. Two of the beds will be taken up with the cleaned up Welsh seedling leek which is looking very vigorous indeed and ready for planting out in the beds as soon as I'm happy that the soil temperatures are warm enough. The third bed will be taken up with the Peter Clark leek which has a different type of foliage to the Welsh seedling and more resembles the older exhibition leek that most people grew before the Welsh seedling from Ivor Mace came on the scene.

Difficult to Judge - Globe Beetroot from 8th April

If someone asked me which vegetable I dislike judging the most then the answer would more than likely be the globe beetroot, mainly because they are relatively easy to grow to a good standard so, even at the smallest of village shows, you can be faced with quite a number of entries in the classes and I have on more than one occasion questioned myself after the judging "did I get that right?"

Judging Criteria for Exhibiting Short Carrots from 15th April

This year more than ever it's important to grow varieties that are going to fit the judging criteria of the show you intend to exhibit them in as all the National Vegetable Society Shows will be judged to their own Judges Guide and not to the RHS Horticultural Show handbook.

Preparation of the Onion Beds from 22nd April

A lot of hard work and preparation went into the onion beds this year, they were initially all forked over to a good depth during early Winter with nothing added at that time in the way of organic matter as the soil was well manured the previous season. The polythene over the roof area was then removed from the Aly traps so the soil within the beds was well and truly cleaned out. During late February the final preparation was carried out and each of the 4 beds were given 3 compost bags full of a mixture of composted oak and Beech leaves.

Growing Small Onions from Seed from 29th April

Not so many years ago, the class for small onions or onions under 8 ounces as they used to be called, would be staged predominantly by onions from sets, not any more though. The plant breeders have carried out some marvellous breeding work in the onions, giving us very high quality bulbs from seed together with the consistency and vigour that comes with the F1 hybrids.

Concentrating on Beans from 6th May

Most show schedules have classes for beans of some description and all are usually well entered in, particularly the broad bean classes at local shows during the month of August and early September. French beans is another class that is becoming more popular and there is now a class for these at the highest level. Runner beans are also regularly exhibited but, to grow them to perefection are the most difficult of them all.

A Guide to Celery Growing from 13th May

Celery is a bog plant in it’s natural environment which immediately means that it likes moist damp conditions as well as plenty of organic matter. They should always have plenty of moisture around the roots which is one reason why I like to use vermiculite in so many mixes as it helps to retain moisture within the compost whilst at the same time permitting plenty of air to get into the compost and at the root system,

Aiming for a hat trick at Chelsea from 20th May

This year my display is sponsored by Suttons, and having already had two gold's the pressure is much greater when going for a hat trick. The weather has been strange as well with January and February being very bleak with little sun to boost the vegetables along.

Collars and Supports for Leeks from 27th May

The collaring material that I use is builders damp course, this is a very flexible tough black plastic material which you can easily cut to different sizes using a sharp knife and can be bought in a roll at any Builders Merchant and a roll should last you for years. Every leek will now require support in two ways, first by means of a cane behind the plant to which the collars are also attached and secondly by means of the plastic 2.5cm diameter old drainage rods that I have to support the flags.

Growing Long Carrots from 10th June

A completely different scenario to growing onions and leeks because you can actually follow their development right through the season and well before the show day you know exactly what you have, or indeed what you haven’t got to place on the show bench.

Cauliflowers and Cabbages from 17th June

For the gardener, and in particular the Showman, the cauliflower is much more difficult to grow to perfection than the cabbage and is reflected as such in both the RHS judging handbook and the NVS one, being given a maximum points value of 20 against the maximum of 15 for Cabbages.

Long Carrots and Short Carrots from 24th June

The carrots will be filling out now and one of the first signs of this happening will be some fine cracks being noticeable along the surface of the compost, this is a sure sign that the carrot is really developing. Keep the surface of the compost evenly moist and make sure that there is plenty of air movement around the plants. Another problem to be on guard for are pests, these are usually of the small kind such as greenfly and willow aphid, the latter being a real carrot destroyer if it takes a fancy to your crop. Spray the foliage every ten days or so ringing the changes between Polysect and Tumble Bug.

Harvesting Shallots from 1st July

The biggest problem that most growers have with shallots is harvesting them at the right time so that, when they are ready for staging, they will still be perfectly round and showing no signs of doubling.

Tips on Growing Vegetables for Showing - Part 1 from 8th July

Regardless of whatever weather is thrown at us, we still have a job to do in order to get the vegetables on to the show bench. For the next few weeks I intend briefly to go through all the vegetables that I grow for showing, giving a few tips on each one.

Tips on Growing Vegetables for Showing - Part 2 from 15th July

I shall continue this week with my theme of taking you around my vegetable garden, giving you hints and tips on how to treat the various vegetables as they now approach maturity. It always amazes me how fast time seems to go by when talking in gardening terms. It only seems like yesterday when I started sowing my carrots etc. and very soon they'll be harvested, bringing to a close another growing for showing year.

A tour of the Growing Areas from 22nd July

My onion beds have been ravaged by the dreaded fungal disease White Rot. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this disease, it manifests itself first with the outer leaves turning yellow and eventually collapsing; when you pick up the onion, it will hardly have any roots left on it. The next growing area is the first of two 12 by 8 foot aluminium greenhouses; the first one has twelve tomato plants along one side and the other side, which is effectively my growing cabinet, had the 8 ounce onions in it. The next greenhouse is where I grow my Cucumbers. These are grown in the same way as I grow my tomatoes, apart from having two plants in each gro-bag, but still using the ring culture pot to grow the plant through.

What's Growing down at Jim's Garden? from 29th July

The vegetable plot I use down at my friend Jim's garden has some wonderful soil in it as it has received at least 40 bales of straw over the past 5 years. In addition it has also had loads of manure, leaf mould and spent peat, all of which came to the garden for growing exhibition potatoes in trenches.

Judging Seminar for Vegetable Judges from 5th August

Judging is not and never will be an exact science so that if one group arrived at a slightly different answer to the one Ivor and I had, then that was fine. More importantly, from such deviations in answers between the judging groups, and from the discussions that followed, we did arrive at a consensus of opinion on most of the questions.

Onions - White Rot, Botrytis and Thrip from 12th August

Even though my exhibition onion bed has been ravaged by white rot disease , I was quite pleasantly surprised that I was able to harvest over a dozen onions from the four growing beds in the end. I was rather surprised that I had no sign of any botrytis affecting the onions even though the weather was damp and conducive to spores spreading around in an enclosed area such as under a polytunnel. The disease usually manifests itself around soil level as a dullish greyish blotch on the onion skin and a very close eye needs to be kept on the bulbs throughout their development. Another pest that has kept well away this year has been the thrip.

The path towards winning the highest awards at the shows is never a smooth one from 19th August

It's at this time that the amount of work you put into the preparations earlier on in the year will either reward you with excellent specimens or conversely tax your resources if you have missed out on some minor detail.

Tomatoes and Large Exhibition Onions from 24th August

My results with tomatoes over the past few years have been variable to say the least as I have striven to change and modify various aspects of growing, always with the view of improving the end result. I suppose one drawback of writing articles for a leading gardening paper is the fact that you are constantly expected to improve and push the horizons on some aspect or other of the cultivation of various vegetables.

Bursting Foliage on the Leeks from 2nd September

Bursting of the flags is a devastating blow at any time, but when it happens within a week or two of a show date, renders your chances of winning with them as nil. The barrel will be ribbed, the button will be well down in a long 'V' formation and a white collar above the root plate is a sure sign of where the flags were attached and from where new roots would develop given time.

Transferring Vegetables to the Show from 9th September

Having spent all that time in nurturing your produce, surely it makes sense to pack them and carry them to the show in strong boxes so that the risk of any accident resulting in a blemish to your vegetables is reduced to the minimum.

Showing Vegetables at their Prime - Celery from 23rd September

It's worth remembering that, unlike pot plants, once you pull a vegetable from the soil, it’s effectively dead and all you can do is to try and keep it as fresh as possible from that point on. Therefore, ideally all vegetables should be left until the last minute before pulling and washing in order to have them as fresh as possible in front of the judge.

End of the Showing Season from 23rd September

The Summer showing season has now come to end for me, culminating in the National Vegetable Society Championships at Harrogate last weekend, my local District Association show in Gwynedd being held on the same day. This entailed a lot of work having to lift produce for both events with my father doing the staging at home. Of course running on at the same time were my preparations for next years Chelsea Show as well as another visit to the Cincinnati show in Ohio to which I have just received a formal invitation.

Shallots and Cucumbers from 7th October

The shallots had been started into growth at the end of September, directly into the soil. The early growth gave much better shallots and, as they were capable of being harvested earlier as well, there was less likelihood of them going double and misshapen. Have you ever had your cucumber plants collapse on you when they are fully grown and producing plenty of fruit? This is a bacterial disease called basal stem rot which has other common names as well such as soft rot, cucumber foot rot and canker.

Amount required in Dishes at Shows from 14th October

One of the reasons for the Welsh Championships success is the number of vegetables that are required in each dish making it possible even for a small novice grower to participate. Things however are not quite the same at some of the other shows that I attend. All show committees want as many people to enter their shows as possible, but specifying large dishes is certainly not the answer.

Carrot and Parsnip Beds from 21st October

If you have had parsnips this years that were very difficult to clean up as a result of these brown marks and you have been growing then in the same medium year in year out, then the answer is to have clean sand. I had problems with my Long Carrots this year as my selection was badly depleted because of a black canker type disease that developed around the shoulder of the carrot. This is a disease that is not seen too often in growing carrots but mainly in those that are kept in store.

TIme to clean up in earnest from 28th October

At long last I have some time on my hands to get all the clearing and cleaning completed and start on turning over all the relevant beds. The first attack was on the greenhouses during late September, the tomatoes were pulled out with the wife making tomato soup with the spare red ones and chutney with the green.

Winning through Inclement Conditions from 4th November

This Summer was anything but grower friendly with constant rain wind and very little sun making things rather difficult for the best of us. However some growers had a good year and I would like to take my cap off to all of them because in spite of the above conditions, some really managed to stage superb vegetables.

Onion & Leek Beds - Problems with Access from 11th November

The main problem that I have, as those of you who have visited my garden know, is the lack of a rear entrance to get access into the back garden. The only access I have is along the side of the house which is only a footpath, this means that everything has to be wheel barrowed down to the back. This makes it an enormous task to empty out all the soil from the beds and dispose of it.

Excellent Heads of Leek Bulbils from 18th November

The important thing with such heads is to make sure that the root plate of the young bulbils are clean and white with no sign of corkiness or browning, that is a sure sign of disease and though the bulbils might appear to be rooting away they could well collapse after a few weeks as the dampness around the roots spreads the disease further.

Precision Sowers and Supports for Leeks and Onions from 2nd December

An invention that caught my eye at the Shepton Mallet show was the Precision Seed Sower which allows you, very effectively to pick up the tiniest of seeds and position them accurately on top of the compost. With the Precision Sower you can accurately space the onion seed on top of the compost giving each germinating onion seedling the same amount of space to fully develop to it’s full potential. More importantly there is no need to transplant the onions which is always a time consuming job. At the Harrogate Show a gentleman came up to me with a cheap but very effective method of supporting the flags or leaves of leek and onion plants when growing in their pots in the greenhouse. It’s easily made, anyone can put it together, all you require is a strip of grooved plastic and a spring type clothes peg. The proper name I believe for this grooved plastic is Cable Ties and it is used for numerous jobs.

Demise of Vegetable Varieties from 9th December

Some of the varieties that I introduced have more than proved themselves as they are still winning today, cultivars such as Buffalo onion, Corrie carrot and Archer and Javelin parsnip as well as Carmen Cucumber to name a few. Other varieties that have also been excellent in every way have, unfortunately for us growers, been dropped off after a few years because the plant breeder decided it wasn't selling enough or the end product wasn't suitable for the purpose intended, whatever that might be.

How to Become a Better Grower from 16th December

A question I'm very often asked when visiting gardening clubs to give a talk on growing vegetables is "How can I become a better vegetable grower than I am now’. My answer to them has always been the same; your knowledge and skill will certainly improve if you join the National Vegetable Society.

Vermiculite as part of Mixes and for Covering from 23rd December

I have used vermiculite as part of my mixes for both onions and leeks for a few years now and I find that I have quicker growth, probably as a result of a stronger root system as more air is able to get into the compost. My sowing mix is three parts F1 and one part vermiculite thoroughly mixed together. Also there is no doubt at all in my mind that vermiculite is best to cover the seed over in preference to the same compost in which they are growing.

Seed Potatoes, Onions and Shallots from 30th December

I have now received my seed potatoes for next season and as I explained a few weeks ago, my intention is to grow just two banker varieties that always seem to turn out the goods for me. They are the purple splashed Kestrel and the smooth white skinned Winston. My onions were sown a few days before Christmas and I had an excellent fast germination rate from my own selected seed in an electric propagator. The shallots that I planted as an experiment during September haven’t grown as much top growth as I had excepted, probably around four inches. They are though very well anchored in the soil which suggests that there is a good strong root system developing and once Spring appears they should really put on a lot of quick growth.

Allotment Articles
Help & Advice

Medwyn Williams said of Vegetable Growing Month by Month:

Forget about any glossy pictures, what’s in this book is solid words of advice, written in plain to understand English from a grower who’s had frustrating years of experience behind him in trying to grow nutritious vegetables, whilst at the same time running a business and raising a family.