Page 2 - Simply Vegetables Autumn 2021

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Skin In The Game – Competition Potatoes with Medwyn Williams
The essential functions that a biological skin performs make it a veritable living miracle. Between keeping moisture in, facilitating heat exchange, and keeping nasties out, it’s understandable that such a front-line component on any living thing takes
a few knocks. When cropping veg for the dinner table, misshapes and blemished skin are to be embraced, it’s no big thing, it tells a tale.
There is, however, pleasure to be had in honing the art of pristine veg with impeccable skin. This involves giving the crop the absolute best, as and when required. Nowhere is such devotion and attention to detail more evident than in veg competition circles. Of late we’ve been following Medwyn Williams on his quest to reach the pinnacle of potato growing with AutoPot.
Exquisite finish and a vibrant variety are high ranking priorities for growers like Medwyn. He kindly talked us through the potatoes he has underway for RHS Chelsea 2021. These include “Red Duke of York, Winston, Bonnie, Kestrel, Casablanca, and Lady Christl
- my favourite first-early to eat that matches well with a knob of butter.”
A delicious prospect but how to go about potato growing using a watering system?
Medwyn sets up some of the AQUAbox Spyders that will be feeding and watering his potato beds
Potatoes aren’t often a first choice with AutoPot pot-and-tray modules.
To achieve reasonable numbers or sizes only the 25 L 1Pot XL module
is nearly capacious enough. Happily there’s more than one way to skin a potato. AQUAbox Spyder allows you to apply AutoPot’s power-free, zero-waste watering to your raised beds.
The AQUAbox is buried in the
bed with it’s lid at surface-level. An AQUAvalve sits in the box, connected to your reservoir via supplied pipework and fittings. This AQUAvalve will regulate the supply of water
and nutrient solution to the beds.
The supply is delivered via capillary matting strips that radiate out from the AQUAbox, irrigating areas of
the bed responsively and serving individual plant requirements in a way that hand-watering would struggle
to anticipate. Medwyn has extensive experience with potatoes grown by other means. Combine that experience with his first tilt using the AQUAbox and you’ve got invaluable insights - which he’s been keen to share.
“Two years ago I tried potatoes
in an XL module, they grew well. However one potato would have been far better in order to have a good size for exhibition. Anyway, it was the skin finish that caught my eye - smooth with no marks whatsoever, this was probably down to the way in which AutoPot waters and feeds. As the tuber developed it had all the nutrients it required as and when necessary.”
A little over a month from planting out and Medwyn’s potatoes are over waist height. “Already they’re showing flowers and these will be regularly removed to help channel the plants energies into producing potatoes.”
“After 12 weeks I shall have a feel around the stems. When I think the majority are up to size I’ll turn off
the AQUAboxes. The haulms will be removed but the potatoes will be left in their growing position for another ten days. This should allow the skin the set firm. After setting, the potatoes will be lifted and graded. Those good enough for the show will be kept in layers in buckets of CANNA Coco from the bed they were growing in with the buckets kept in the dark in my shed.
Six varieties will be AQUAbox grown in preparation for RHS Chelsea
A few days before Chelsea they’ll be washed and individually wrapped.”
Needless to say, excitement over this year’s Chelsea Flower Show is ramping up ahead of it’s later-than-usual opening in September. It’s a long- awaited opportunity for growers to show what they’ve achieved, but also to share ideas - as Medwyn explains.
“Since the pandemic there have been no shows at all and that is where the exhibitors meet up and compare notes as well as recommend what they have been using. If I can grow potatoes and 25-inch circumference onions using AutoPot then everyone should be able to do the same. It brings growing on to a level playing field with no muck or magic involved, and it couldn’t be easier to use.”
Be sure to follow Medwyn’s progress @medwynsofangle on Instagram but don’t forget to catch up on Twitter too @medwynsofangles - for a slightly different, conversational experience.
Our thanks to Medwyn for his superb work with AutoPot. In the interests of balance we should note that this work is an entirely personal collaboration and does not reflect the views of the NVS as a whole.
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